From a little sustainability seed planted for a better world and ever-blooming future, grew a remarkable tree. With roots deep in our whenua and community,  Sustainability Trust supports and spreads practical solutions to the environmental challenges of our time. With branches in electronic waste, recycling, curtain upcycling, home insulation, waste minimisation workshops and training, their agenda is ecological and social in essence – they believe in keeping waste out of landfill and adding social benefits in the process. Based in Wellington, the organisation covers the whole Wellington region.

Avoiding landfill and closing the loop

Located in central Wellington, Sustainability Trust can easily collect different types of ‘waste’ and pass them on to other organisations to be processed as part of their recycling programmes.

In the e-waste section, volunteers sort screens, wires, domestic appliances and/or printers dropped at the Trust by individuals and organisations. You can drop off your mobile phone, as well as all sorts of batteries that are then taken to IT recycling companies in the region.

Sustainability Trust collects everyday items that would otherwise end up in landfills. Not sure what to do with your writing material, oral care products, plastic and metal bottle caps? Drop them at the Trust so they can be recycled! The Trust partners with Method Recycling to offer recycling bins and has developed bilingual English/Te Reo signage that you, your company or your school can order from their website. They sell worm bins and bokashi kits too!

For a small fee, the Trust will take care of your worn-out car seat. They will be dismantled and repurposed by SmartSeat. The plastic components are recycled into pellets that can be transformed into other stuff, like this cute little bike!

Sustainability Trust is a depot for ReBicycle, a charitable organisation located in Newtown that fixes donated second-hand bikes and gifts or loans them to people experiencing financial difficulty. Just drop your old bike at the Trust for free and you’ll give it a second life, while helping out those in need!

The Curtain Bank, a social and ecological project

As part of their recycling programmes and drive to help keep homes warm, the Trust is home to the Wellington Curtain Bank. The Curtain Bank is a programme which has great environmental benefits, as well as social benefits. A team of volunteers and sewers upcycle donated curtains and fabric into free, high quality curtains for people on low incomes.

The Trust are happy to collect your old curtains providing they are in a good condition and free of mould. Hats off to the volunteers who make all of this possible!

Curtains that can’t be turned into new curtains are used for other projects in collaboration with sewing communities. You can use those fabric scraps for your own DIY projects. They are available free or for a donation in the ‘Free Fabric Box’ at the Trust. Need fabric to make cushions? Tell the Trust about your project as they might have off bits of insulation material available for the stuffing, too!

An eco-conscious shop

In line with their values and mission, Sustainability Trust sell an array of products helping people to reduce waste in their own life. They are happy to make partnerships with New Zealand businesses that integrate ecological sustainability and social justice into their production processes. Among the current suppliers are Wellington-based companies, businesses that give work to people with disabilities and entrepreneurs who use re-purposed fabric.

A free library and a venue

If you are keen to learn and read more about the many aspects of ecological sustainability and waste minimisation, the Trust has a broad line up on the shelves of their free library. Just sign up and get inspired!

Their building is an ideally located venue for your official and professional events and meetings.

Waste minimisation and sustainability workshops and programs

If you can’t go to the Trust, chances are that the Trust can come to you! In addition to everything you can find, drop off, buy and borrow on their premises, the Trust is active across the whole region, with assessors and educators out and about to spread their environmental message and help you take action. Check out their success stories at RNZ, the Treasury, the Embassy of the Netherlands, EightyOne, Vinnies and the Environmental Protection Agency for example.

Find out about the various workshops and programs they support to make your workplace or  school more sustainable. Get your tamariki to connect with nature during the school holidays or learn how to make beeswax wraps, cleaning products or toiletries together with your friends, family, colleagues or community in a workshop.

And because waste is not only about what you ditch in the bin, learn more about what you can do to make your house healthy and more eco-friendly. Ask for a free home-energy assessment and see how heating, insulation and lighting can become a financial and ecological good deal, even if you are renting!

Want to keep in touch? Like the Sustainability Trust Facebook page and regularly check their event page.

Here are a few tips from Sustainability Trust for your own journey:

-Say goodbye to cling film/plastic wrap and grab yourself a Snaxpax food saver wrap

-Add yourself to our life-hacks zero-waste DIY workshops mailing list

-Invest in reusable sanitary products.

-Don’t be a food waste fool, composting is cool. Get yourself a Worm Farm or a Bokashi Compost Bin.