Theme: Celebrating our Localised Solution

Transcription

1 Growing Confident Communities Together Whakarangatira Ngaa Hapori N O V E M B E R I S S U E 5 I N T H I S I S S U E Earth Action Trust.. p2 Blessing of the Earth Action Trust by Kaumatua Tame Cassidy p3 Acknowledgement of the Working Group p4 Gift from Sukhmani Charitable Trust s Children s Art Class p5 SAIKI Waste Minimisation Education Programme p6 Pallet furniture ideas as mentioned by Mathew p7 Working Group site visits to resource recovery facilities p8 Theme: Celebrating our Localised Solution O n 3 November 2013 a forum was held to celebrate our achievements since the first forum of Growing Confident Communities Together on 2 November 2011; indeed, Trust Manager Agnes Granada summarised it very well in her closing remarks when she said that, this is not only a continuation of community engagement story but also a fresh beginning to start a new endeavour. To create a social enterprise that is in line with economic, social, cultural and environmental purposes. We came together, conquered our isolation and worked as one to solve our issues. The result was the formation of the Earth Action Trust. This forum was facilitated by Helen Te Hira, who facilitated our four previous forums. During our celebration, our Kaumatua Tame Cassidy blessed the Earth Action Trust in a symbolic way that reflected the diversity and the values that the Trust stands. It reinforced our recognition of the Treaty of Waitangi and our regard for Maori customs and traditions. In addition, we were honoured to receive an art gift from Sukhmani Charitable Trust Children s art class. Our keynote speaker, Mathew Luxon from Envision NZ, captured the attendees attention with his personal story and his message to them, especially the migrants and former refugees, of the power of internal resolve to address the challenges in their situation. He was also patient enough to answer all the questions directed to him during his presentation. Mathew s experience working with former refugees and migrants in Toronto, Canada, made him an excellent and very suitable speaker for a multicultural group such as Migrant Action Trust. We all went away having a sense of achievement after the presentation of the future of Earth Action Trust and determined more than ever to support its operation in the community. Jane Mueke, community development worker for the Growing Confident Communities Together project Kaumatua Tame Cassidy saying the blessing to the Earth Action Trust

2 Earth Action Trust T he focus of the 3 November forum was to give feedback on the work undertaken by the Working Group and the way forward of Earth Action Trust to all stake holders of Growing Confident Communities Together. The following is a summary of report to the participants given by Trust Manager, Agnes Granada. Granada started with a brief explanation of the journey of the Growing Confident Communities Together movement that has led to the formation of Earth Action Trust. She mentioned that the creation of Earth Action Trust was the culmination of two years of community consultations and engagements. Its aim is to create solutions to common issues with the main one being unemployment and underemployment for migrants and former refugees. The proposed solution to this problem was the formation of a social enterprise in the recycling industry that will lead to creation of jobs. This initiative aligns with Auckland Council s Waste Management and Minimisation Plan which has a goal of zero waste by In May 2013, a Working Group was formed to develop a community recycling social enterprise and its first meeting was held June The group had 11 meetings between June and October 2013 and conducted four site visits to Xtreme Waste Raglan, Waitakere Transfer Station, Trash Palace in Porirua and Community Business Environment Centre in Kaitaia, respectively. The Group had also hoped to visit landfills but this was not possible because they are privately owned and therefore not open to the public. The Working Group researched what might be the most suitable structure to adopt for the proposed community social enterprise by looking at businesses operating community resource recovery centres. George Misa, one of the Working Group members, presented to the Group the cooperative structure model that is successful in the Philippines. However, the Group decided that this was too complex and so it was parked for future consideration. A charitable trust was considered to be the most appropriate option. The Group had fun generating names for the proposed trust and suggested the following: Earth Capital, Earth Action, Earth Captains, Earth Warden, Earth Keepers, Earth Lovers, WORMS: Waste Organization Recyclers of Mt. Roskill, Harvest, Earth Healing, Reduce Recycle Reuse Warden, Roskill Redeemers and Waste Wise. In the end, the name agreed upon for the trust was Earth Action Trust. The overall goal of the Earth Action Trust is to create sustained economic prosperity while protecting the natural resources of the earth for future generations. Its specific objectives are to: Operate a resource recovery centre as a social enterprise that contributes to the creation of high employment and stimulates the creation of other enterprises that will benefit Mt Roskill community first and other communities Be a living wage social enterprise that allows for the integration of social, cultural, economic and environmental aspects of sustainable development Recognise the cultural diversity of New Zealand and integrate it into all aspects of the Trust s operation Provide culturally appropriate education programmes on the practice of sustainability and protection of the environment Affirm the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and give regard to Maori traditions and custom among the actions of the Trust Conduct research into waste minimisation and/or elimination (continued on page 3) Growing Confident Communities Together (Whakarangatira Ngaa Hapori) 2

3 Blessing of the Earth Action Trust by Kaumatua Tame Cassidy K aumatua Tame Cassidy brought the blessings of the language and customs of the land to the new initiative. He said that from the earth comes everything and he thought that the name Earth Action Trust was an appropriate one. In Maori it is called Nuku Nuku A Papatuanuku, which means action of the earth; the earth is moving, receiving and responding. The blessing of the Earth Action Trust included the presentation of a basket that had a mix of New Zealand native and indigenous plants mixed with exotic ones. It symbolised diversity, strength and the skills necessary to create a future for our children and to look after the earth. Earth Action Trust continued from page 2 Engage in activities that advance the goals of the Trust. Granada noted that as a result of lessons learnt from community social enterprises such as Xtreme Waste Raglan, Earth Action Trust will offer goods and services. The goods will be sourced through donation where such goods will be repaired or used as raw materials to create new products. Because people often throw away goods instead of having them repaired because of the high cost of repairing them, the service offered by Earth Action Trust will be at a cheaper rate. This will hopefully encourage people to recycle. Services provided will include education programmes, campaign awareness, advocacy, drop off points for all recyclable goods and the contracting of services to Auckland Council for the collection of recyclables and other waste. A fully operational resource centre requires a huge amount of capital and small and progressive steps will be undertaken to acquire it. While building capital and learning to operate the business, the Trust will sell donated goods through inter-cultural garage sales. This type of trading does not require a massive office or space. The Trust will also deliver an educational programme called SAIKI, which can be run in people s homes. Details of SAIKI are provided later in this newsletter. Earth Action Trust would like to contribute, even in a small way, towards New Zealand achieving zero waste by 2040 and it is achievable if everybody participates. Granada finished by asking What good are our jobs, programmes, social services, our meetings if our land is contaminated and our children can no longer drink, clean safe water? If we are not going to do anything about it today, that dangerous situation is not too far away. Maybe I will not live to see it but our children will and I am concerned about it. Growing Confident Communities Together (Whakarangatira Ngaa Hapori) 3

4 Acknowledgement of the Working Group T he Working Group was recognised for its work in developing the Trust. It was all done on a voluntary basis and all members gave their time and put their hearts, skills, competence and expertise into the process of developing a social enterprise. The following were the Working Group members: Mussa Evans, Ugandan Community Arjeet Baweja, Sukhmani Charitable Trust Fukiko Otsuka Japanese Community Mussa Evans Thin Myat Khine Zena Wrigley Arjeet Baweja Liban Ahmed Malabika Bhaduri Hajime Otsuka, Japanese Community Alvin Jung, University of Auckland Haruko Tabuchi, Japanese Community Zena Wrigley, Roskill Community Thin Myat Khine, Auckland Burmese Network Malabika Bhaduri, Probasee Community Liban Ahmed, ONKOD Somali Youth Bengalee Association George Misa, Migrante Aotearoa Development Inc Society Rebecca McIlwraith, Independent Agnes Granada, Migrant Action Contractor Trust Lena Yang, Chinese Action Network Bridging Trust Tatsuo Nishimura, Migrant Action Trust Mohammed Ousman, New Zealand Jane Mueke, Migrant Action Trust Nejashi Trust Fukiko Otsuka Rebecca McIlwraith George Misa Hajime Otsuka Lena Yang Agnes Granada Haruko Tabuchi Mohammed Ousman Tatsuo Nishimura Growing Confident Communities Together (Whakarangatira Ngaa Hapori) Alvin Jung Jane Mueke 4

5 Gift from Sukhmani Charitable Trust s Children s Art Class T he children from Sukhmani Charitable Trust presented an artwork to the Earth Action Trust as a show of support for the Trust from the community. The class has children aged 4 years and above and their teacher helped guide them in creating the art. They had the idea of earth planet behind the Earth Action Trust and the city of Auckland in the background. The art work was created from recycled fabrics and took the children five hours to complete. It symbolises where we live, our environment and getting back to the environment that gives substance for life. It has the following motto: Right to Success through Recycle. The artwork also includes the names of the founders of the Earth Action Trust. The team of Sukhmani Charitable Trust s Children s Art Class presented the artwork to Earth Action Trust. SAIKI Waste Minimisation Education Programme (Funded by the Auckland Council) S AIKI is one of the services offered by Earth Action Trust and is currently being facilitated by Rahma Dimbil, Project Officer at Migrant Action Trust. The word SAIKI was coined by the Trust Manager, Agnes Granada and is derived from the word, psyche. SAIKI aims to identify the root cause of the creation of waste as oppose to fixing the problem. Behavioural change is the key to achieving waste minimisation goals. Bad habits developed overtime, such as not sorting out waste from the source, are hard to break and therefore education will help people shift their mindsets. SAIKI seeks to influence behavioural change through families by providing the programmes at home. The programme started by researching things that influence our psyche, mindset, behaviour and attitude. In addition, it looked into consumerism, the effects of ethnicity on learning, generational characteristics, religion and existing waste minimisation education programmes. The project starts with breaking bad habits and introducing families to the principle of refuse, reduce, re-use and recycle. Once they understand the principle of sorting waste at the source they can start the composting process and later create their own Eden. This process Rahma Dimbil, SAIKI Project Officer, explained to the group the importance of changing habits to achieve zero waste at home. requires the participation of the whole family in order to make it sustainable. The goal of the project is to create a network of families who will act as champions by influencing other families thereby causing a ripple effect. So far, 15 families have signed up for the project. It is expected that each family will influence 4 other families thereby creating a network of 60 families. The cycle would then continue. Growing Confident Communities Together (Whakarangatira Ngaa Hapori) 5

6 Mathew Luxon - Envision NZ Mathew Luxon (above) shared his journey of becoming a waste minimisation advocate to the participants of the November 2013 forum. He also inspired the community to start with something doable and expand the services over time. M athew Luxon, a consultant and Project Manager at Envision NZ ( was our keynote speaker. He started by sharing his personal story and journey that showed the power of internal shifts in bringing about change. Mathew and his wife made a decision to live a rubbish free life as a result of their experience in Toronto, Canada. They learnt that some cities in the US, particularly Chicago and Michigan, were paid to dispose of their rubbish from Toronto. Awareness of the situation where other cities are paid to dispose waste prompted them to take responsibility for their own rubbish and with determination they achieved their goal of a rubbish free year. This was a learning curve for the couple as they explored different ways of dealing with rubbish and started by composting organic waste. They later changed to the Bokashi system, a system that manages disposal of household waste in a natural way with the aim to reduce, reuse and recycle organic waste. This was because they realized that citrus, garlic and onions were not good for worms. In addition, they started recycling and later became conscious consumers by which they evaluate the purchase of a product from the source to the bin. One of their main challenges they discovered was product packaging which generates a huge amount of waste.they also discovered that people are addicted to plastics and this requires behavioural change. With the help of a friend, Mathew developed an online consultancy ( They sell over 50 products, including compostable toothpaste made from bamboo, and offer recipes, such as for toothpaste, as well as offering advice on compostable toothpaste packaging brands. Mathew now works for Envision NZ which, among other things, consults with community groups who are willing to engage in environmental and economic initiatives with a view to local economic development. He told the meeting that Envision NZ is building a network of resource recovery centres which will offer alternative solutions to the challenges facing Auckland Council in reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfills. He gave a brief history of the current situation where in the 1990s the Auckland City Council privatised waste transfer and landfills and as a result it now controls 17% of these resources. The network will offer an alternative system in which the centres will take inorganic rubbish then repurpose and resell it, thereby reducing (continued on page 7) Growing Confident Communities Together (Whakarangatira Ngaa Hapori) 6

7 Mathew Luxon continued from page 6 the amount of waste that goes to the landfill. Mathew cited Rekindle as a good example. Rekindle is an organisation based in Christchurch that recycles wood from construction and by upcycling it transforms low value products to high value products. He added that one does not need to operate a full resource recovery centre and that there are other options. A good example is making furniture from pallets waste materials. Pallets waste material is listed as the highest waste material generated according to an audit undertaken by Envision New Zealand. The audit was carried out to find out what generated the most waste in Auckland. The meeting finished with Granada informing the participants of the registration of Earth Action and its effort to build capital and capacity as Earth Action Trust continues to learn about the industry. Mohammed from NZ Nejashi Trust closed the meeting with a word of prayer. Note: At the time of writing this newsletter, Earth Action Trust was registered on 11 December 2013 or 11/12/13 Some pallet furniture ideas as mentioned by Mathew Source: Growing Confident Communities Together (Whakarangatira Ngaa Hapori) 7

8 Working group site visits to resource recovery facilities Waitakere Transfer Station, Henderson, Auckland The Community Business & Environment Centre, Kaitaia Mana Recovery Trust, Porirua, Wellington Growing Confident Communities Togeth er project is supported by the Department of Internal Affairs Community Development Scheme Fund. For more information about the project, please contact Jane Mueke Community Development Worker Sandringham Road Extension, Mt Roskill, Auckland Growing Confident Communities Together (Whakarangatira Ngaa Hapori) 8