Be a Tidy Kiwi, is a new initiative devised by the region’s councils. It is running as a three year campaign to get us to take personal responsibility for litter in the region. Littering is a major issue for the Auckland area. It makes streets and the environment look bad, costs ratepayers millions of dollars every year and pollutes waterways. You, your family and friends are encouraged to pledge to Be Tidy Kiwis as part of the “Come on, in the bin mate” campaign. It’s as simple as making sure you put all your rubbish in the bin and encouraging others to do the same.

When developing the campaign it was found that some of the things that influence people to litter are:

• Cultural and social attitudes
• Infrastructure deficiencies
• The ‘rubbish attracts rubbish’ effect
• Excessive packaging
• A lack of enforcement

The Be a Tidy Kiwi campaign aims to:

• Get people to accept that littering is important and serious
• Make it clear that the cost of littering is to the community, even though someone may clean it up
• Identify ways to motivate people who are lazy or cannot be bothered to dispose of their waste correctly
• Clarify what constitutes litter, highlighting food waste and cigarette butts
• Maximise use of litter bins by designing them well
• Incorporate urban design principles when developing or regenerating public places
• Consider enforcement approaches as part of the implementation plan
• Target special initiatives such as cigarette butt litterers, this group of people have significantly different behavior to others observed
• Target Initiatives that focus at ‘transition’ points, e.g. when getting on buses
• Stress that it is the small, individual pieces of litter that accumulate to cause the litter problem

Keep an eye out for regional and local initiatives and check out the website here: www.beatidykiwi.org.nz

The bookabin website has a great live chat function. During business hours you can click on the live chat button which is located on every page of the website. One of our customer services staff will be able to help you with any question you have.

To help you out now, we will provide you with 2 of the most popular questions asked, along with the answers.

1) How do I get a quote? - To get a price and to order your skip, just follow the steps on the homepage. Start by entering your postcode on the homepage and follow the process by entering in your bin type, size and the dates that you require it for. Bookabin will then calculate and present you with a price matching your requirements. If you like the price you can book and pay online.

2) What waste type do I need? - If you have general light waste you will need a general waste bin – green garden waste can be disposed of in a general waste bin as well. If you have green garden waste only, you will need a green waste bin. If you have concrete, soil, bricks, tiles or any heavy waste you will require a cleanfill waste bin.

Lastly, if you have pure soil and dirt, you will need a 100% pure soil and dirt bin.

• Christchurch residents are making a big difference with their new 3 bin system. In the first year an additional 12,000 tons of recycled material was collected in the new yellow recycling bins, which are complemented with green organic bins and a red bin for rubbish. Contamination is less than 3% - one of the lowest rates in Australasia. This enthusiasm has lead to a problem with over full bins, council is no longer collecting bins that do not have closed lids, and stickering them to let residents know why.
• Greenfingers has been appointed to take over operation and management of the Masterton District Councils rubbish and recycling contract, and composting services.
• Earlier this year the Porirua City Council set up waste minimization systems for both the Festival of Elements and Creekfeast. Porirua’s “Mana Community Enterprises” provided recycling services alongside Wellington City Councils “Kai to Compost” Scheme. This collaborative approach and high level of community involvement meant 320kg of recycling and 280kg of compost was collected. Careful monitoring identified low levels of contamination.
• Clutha District Council wheelie bin collection truck caught fire recently, after ashes were disposed of in a wheelie bin. The council is continuing to publicise this ongoing Health and Safety issue.
• The Auckland Councils are jointly promoting “Ecobiz”. The subsidised business partnership program helps businesses create savings through smart, simple practices that improve their environmental performance. These practices involve reducing solid waste, energy and water usage and enhancing materials efficiency. Seminars are offered to business during the year on related topics, there are two coming up in September. If you are interested in finding out more, visit the Waitakere City Council website for more information.

If you have a look at any wesbites of publications about waste news in New Zealand, you will see that councils all around the country are imposing fines for illegal dumping of rubbish. If you are a person who thinks that ordering a bin, which probably costs considerably less than a fine, and wants to look after the environment then go to www.bookabin.co.nz to see what we have to offer. We have a range of bin types and sizes with coverage all over New Zealand.