Waste not want not! Reuse, Reduce and Recycle

Hi, I’m Jo Dean, Zero Waste Co-ordinator representing the three Wairarapa District Councils.

With a background in community work and roles specializing in waste minimization, I hope that my experience will help empower the Wairarapa Community to fulfill our obligation to reduce the amount of waste we send to the landfill.

Zero Waste is our aspirational goal where we can empower our communities to consciously think more about reducing, reusing and recycling our waste so that we can further minimise the amount of waste we currently transport to the landfill.

Every year Wairarapa consumers throw 1000s of tonnes of rubbish into the landfill without a conscious thought of the future impact, this isn’t great for our environment and comes at increasing costs for our region. We are looking at options to find better ways.

As communities we must look at ‘waste’ as being a ‘resource not a problem’. We all generate waste through our daily activities, at home at work and when we are out and about, but waste does not need to be wasted.

Wairarapa already has many secondhand shops that enable us to reuse stuff we don’t need anymore. Bikes for Kids project, The Oversew Fashion Awards, Boomerang Bags and the regions Toy Libraries are just some examples of community-led events & activities that help with waste minimisation.

Enviroschools is another popular initiative that engages with our Wairarapa schools to teach and encourage our children how to become “waste free”.
It is only by empowering our communities to sort their waste and find ways to reduce reuse and recycle that we will achieve our Zero Waste goal.
Connect with me via email jo@cdc.govt.nz

Those cell phones

The recently released statistics on cell phone use caused fatal and serious car crashes surely give pause to thought.

My own realisation of the danger came very early on. A man who in the late 1990s regularly called on us on business had purchased one of the first cell phones. He was very pleased with it and showed us what it could do.

He missed his next scheduled call and then another, when he did finally come he was limping badly. On being asked the problem he explained that on his way from Featherston to Masterton he was following a lady along the Greytown straight. Just as they were coming up to the town’s 50kph sign his cellphone rang, at the same time as the lady braked heavily. Distracted by reaching for the phone he tail crashed her writing off his rather nice new car, badly smashing his knee and causing the lady serious whiplash.

To add to his misery he was charged with dangerous driving and given a heavy fine plus loss of licence for a year. He had been given a dispensation to drive for business purposes. So I realise that it’s best not have your cell phone on while driving.

Clearly despite the law being well publicised many people still do use their phones while driving – last year 28,896 tickets were issued. Maybe the fines should be increased, currently our $80 fine is among the lowest in the world. Britain’s is $379, Australia’s is $450 and Canada’s $575 Mike Beckett

The Return of the Queen

Jan Preston ‘the queen of boogie woogie’ will return to Martinborough early next year for a third concert at The Village Café on the 18th of January.

“Jan is a magnetic live performer and an astonishing piano player” says Martin Lewis, Marketing Manager for Jazz in Martinborough, “She’s also great communicator who can really captivate an audience with her charm and wit” says Martin.

As well as playing a mix of boogie, ragtime and blues piano, during the intermission Jan will also answer questions from the audience about the experiences she has had in her long and varied career as a musician and performer.

From a background in classical music with a long-time interest in composition and song writing, Jan created her own original style through her piano playing, singing and songwriting and has won 5 music awards. She has sold out concerts throughout Australia, NZ, Europe and the UK, and performs side-by-side with the best boogie piano players in the world.

Martin has some advice for those hoping to herald the return of the queen “Jan has a strong local following with her last two concerts here selling out quickly. It would be wise to book your tickets early to avoid missing out on what is sure to be another knockout show.”

Tickets are available online at iTicket.co.nz or can be booked through Martinborough Wine Merchants or i-Sites. For more information go to www.jazzinmartinborough.co.nz

Greytown Little Theatre play sweeps top awards

Greytown Little Theatre’s production of ‘An Unseasonable Fall of Snow’ written by Gary Henderson and directed by John Gilberthorpe has won the ‘Best Overall Production’ Award in the Wellington District Theatre Federation Full Length Play Competition 2017.

In addition to winning the Best Overall Production the play also won the Best Drama Production and the plays two featured actors, Colton Stuart and Alexander Southey won the award for ‘Best Ensemble Actors’

The Full Length Play Competition is organised by the Wellington District Theatre Federation to promote full length productions by community theatre groups throughout the Wellington Region. The competition is spread over several months and this year attracted seventeen entries from groups in Mana, Hutt Valley, Porirua, Eastbourne, Newlands, Wellington City and Greytown. Each play is evaluated by the same Adjudicator who attends a performance during the production season for each play.  The awards are known as the ‘Antoinette Awards’. … Continue Reading