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Make a difference during Recycling Week 2023!

11 Oct 2023

Recycling Week, 16th – 22nd October 2023, is an annual initiative to raise awareness and educate New Zealanders on best practices for waste minimisation and recycling, encouraging conscious procurement, and disposal of items, creating a waste free future. Launched in 2013, an ever-increasing number of organizations (schools, corporates and everyone in between) are having fun and learning by taking part in the week. 

Each day of Recycling Week features an easy-to-remember theme that will challenge and encourage you to re-think your waste minimisation and recycling behaviours. Each of these themes has plenty of activations, interactions and games to select from, click here to find out more and follow along!

Here are some ways you can get involved this Recycling Week:

Recycle your old phone with RE:MOBILE

Mobile phones have become an integral part of our lives, and we rely on them for everything from communication to entertainment. However, the rapid pace of technological advancements means that we often upgrade our phones far too frequently, leading to a huge amount of electronic waste that has a significant impact on the environment.

When you recycle your mobile phone with RE:MOBILE over 95 percent of the materials that make up your mobile phone will be reused. By recycling your mobile phone instead of throwing it away, you are contributing to a circular economy, which means that the resources can be used over and over again.

Recycling mobile phones benefits the environment in several ways. It prevents harmful substances from leaching into land and water and safely disposes of lithium ion batteries, reducing the risk of fires. Refurbishing and reselling functional phones extends their lifespan, reducing the need for new devices and their environmental impact. Recycling with RE:MOBILE supports Sustainable Coastlines, a New Zealand charity working to reduce plastic pollution and litter in coastal areas. You can bring your old cellphone into your local Resene owned ColorShop for recycling.

 

Resene PaintWise

More than six litres of household paint is sold each year for each and every person here. That's a lot of paint particularly as much of it is left sitting in paint containers and ends up in landfills. There are lots of ways you can reduce this burden on the environment... here's some ideas to get you started:

Resene donates recycled paint, known as Resene EchoPaint, to community groups for their activities. If you’re part of a community group that needs paint, click here to find out more and apply. 

Be PaintWise! Bring unwanted paint and paint containers into your local Resene ColorShop and let us recycle or dispose of them responsibly. Resene will offer good quality Resene paint to community groups for reuse, recycle packaging materials that are recyclable, send solventborne paints to solvent recovery, find alternative uses for waterborne paints, such as graffiti abatement, and dispose of the rest for you.

 

Heads Up for Kids 

Still finding old and foreign coins in your purse, pockets or couch? Bring them into any Resene ColorShop and help bring amazing opportunities to Kiwi kids. 

Heads Up for Kids is a charity that collects obsolete money, redeeming it for New Zealand dollars and funding education programmes for young Kiwis who would otherwise not get the opportunity. 

Since 2010, the Lions Club NZ has run Heads Up for Kids, helping more than 100 kids to become involved in leadership opportunities, including scholarships to Spirit of Adventure and Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centres.

You can donate by simply taking in your old money and foreign currency to any Resene ColorShop and anywhere you see a Heads Up for Kids collection tin.

 

Kan Tabs for Kidney Kids 

Hope in a Can - The Lions Club of New Zealand introduced the Kan Tabs program to support Kidney Kids by gathering can tabs. To expand its reach, they partnered with Resene and NCI to distribute 4-litre cans as collection points at locations across New Zealand.

Kidney Kids, established in 1990, aids parents of children with kidney disorders through resources, annual camps and support meetings with specialists. By placing your 'Kan Tabs' in these designated cans, you make a significant impact on a Kidney Kid's life, offering them moments of hope and support. Each tab represents a second of hope for children awaiting dialysis or a kidney transplant.

 Collect tabs, recycle them, and the funds raised go to Kidney Kids Support Group in New Zealand. Help spread hope by collecting tabs and donating them to your local Lions Club, contributing to the well-being of children with kidney disease. The more tabs collected, the more support we can provide to Kidney Kids.

If you want to collect Kan Tabs at home simply collect in a clean ice-cream container or bag and pass onto the local Lions contact. Or if you have a business, you can order a Resene Kan Tabs collection to help collect in kan tabs online.

Published: 11 Oct 2023