Tools

You want to reduce your energy consumption, but what's the most effective way of doing it ? Here's some tools for working out what to do:

Also, do you know how much space you are taking up on the planet ? Use the Ministry for the Environment's ecological footprint calculator to find out.

Organic Waste Processing

Urban Sustainability

The problem

Organic waste makes up a significant part of our urban waste stream, particularly household waste. Local authorities are starting to tout the considerable benefits of better management of organic waste (the Christchurch City Council has some good resources on this).

Centralising waste management not the answer

Reurbanise believes that, in order to minimize the use of energy in the organic waste recycling process, recycling needs to happen as close to the source of waste as possible, either at a household or neighbourhood level (basically walking distance from where the waste is produced). Centralising organic waste recycling at a few points in a city results in a large amount of energy expended in transporting the waste to these centres, and then transporting the resulting compost back to where it will be used.

Community garden network

We believe that local organic waste recycling (as well as recycling of a lot of other resources) will probably happen naturally over time as commodity prices increase as a result of increasing energy prices. This will be driven largely by individuals but also by community gardens. Local government has a significant role to play in re-localising waste management by fostering a network of community gardens so that there is a community garden within walking distance (perhaps 500 metres) or every point within the city.

Reurbanise organic waste initiatives

Reurbanise will be supporting localising of organic waste by:

  • Providing organic waste management solutions to homes, schools and businesses.
  • Encouraging and facilitating the creation of a greatly expanded community garden network throughout Christchurch city.
  • Providing online forums for discussing local organic waste management issues, ideas and opportunities.