Oranga Haapori
A programme for organisations that want to reduce their waste. The waananga are interactive, full of opportunities for discussion, and have heaps of practical learning.
About
Get up close and personal with your rubbish to help divert more from landfill. Oranga Haapori is a programme for organisations that want to reduce their waste. At Para Kore Waananga Tuuaapapa, your staff, volunteers and the wider community can come together to learn about a zero carbon, zero-waste world. We get up close and personal with your rubbish at these workshops, auditing what your group throws out, explaining what can be diverted from landfill - and how to do it! The waananga are interactive, informative, fun, full of opportunities for discussion, questions and answers, and have heaps of practical learning.
For community centres, we also offer Arotakenga Para/Waste Checks to measure, record and set waste reduction goals for your centre using an interactive data tracking dashboard which gives you a really clear view of what is happening with your waste.
Waste is often a symptom of broader systemic issues — overconsumption, disconnection and extractive economies. Although change at an individual level can chip away at the problem, at Go Eco we want to expand that focus to community-led systems change and empower people across the Waikato to reimagine waste as a resource and to co-create circular, regenerative alternatives.
Why it matters
Each year, the Waikato sends 309,000 tonnes of rubbish to landfill - a mix of household, industrial and construction waste. (2020, Waikato Regional Council). That’s equivalent to 631kg of rubbish per person. Landfill waste is a significant contributor to climate change, generating nearly 4% of our GHGs, and 7% of our methane emissions. (2023, Ministry for the Environment). Nearly two-thirds of what we throw out in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty could be recycled or diverted from landfill. If we could achieve that, our emissions would drop by 50%. (2020, Waikato Regional Council).
Landfills also present a serious risk to our land and water ecosystems. For example, contaminated water from rubbish dumps can leach into our groundwater and rivers, and discarded plastic breaks down into microplastics, which also end up in our waterways, and in our soil.
What you can do
If you’re an organisation looking to partner with us to reduce your emissions, email parakore@goeco.org.nz.