The councillor who generates just two bags of rubbish a year

Nicole Reporter from Dunedin News

As Dunedin councillors debate the pros and cons of a new kerbside recycling scheme, one councillor has revealed they barely generate any waste at all.

Dunedin residents currently have a large yellow-lidded wheelie bin for recyclables and a blue crate for glass. They can buy black plastic bags for general household waste.

The 45-litre and 60-litre bags will be consigned to the scrap heap though as the council’s preferred option is to add a general waste bin to be collected fortnightly and a food waste bin to be collected weekly.

The move would cost ratepayers between $270 and $310 a year.

The cost would increase further if a household opted for the addition of a fortnightly garden waste bin.

At a meeting discussing the council’s 10-year plan on Tuesday, Cr Steve Walker said the preferred option was the closest match to the city's waste management goals, and would help wrest back control of a system that had become eroded by private contractors.

The option was also supported by the majority of residents, he noted.

The food waste option could serve as a “wake-up call” for residents. Household habits may change when people saw their waste “looking at you in the face”.

Walker said he regularly bored people by saying he and his wife only put out two black bags per year, and he had no plan to stop talking about reducing waste.

That led to a debate over waste minimisation, including from Cr Rachel Elder who noted the dress she was wearing was second-hand.

“We have to pull all the levers to change what is happening in this world.”

Cr Carmen Houlahan supported the change, but said if Walker had children his rubbish “would increase a lot”.

She noted a lot of rubbish was generated from children’s lunches, including uneaten lunches.

“The real world is people like me who have kids and run around and fill up bins with too much rubbish.”

Cr Sophie Barker said children could be offered a banana instead of a purchased item wrapped in plastic, as it was a “self-wrapped morning tea”.

Mayor Aaron Hawkins said it was an “exciting opportunity” to change the city’s kerbside collection system.

He was pleased plastic bags would no longer be used for household waste, saying they were not only harmful to the environment but also posed a danger to contractors.

The council would now work with interested parties on the design of the scheme, but would still consider alternative collection options for those who lived in high density residential areas.