Living Pā waste could be your treasure
The Living Pā must divert 90 percent of its waste from landfill to achieve the Living Building Challenge—the summit of sustainability standards. Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington and the wider Wellington community have an important role to play in achieving the project target and supporting creative and practical waste management solutions.
Setting up a waste pick up scheme
To connect with the community, the Living Pā team is setting up a waste pick up initiative, where the Living Pā’s trash can be your treasure.
On the Living Pā blog, He Pā Kaiao, the team will be regularly posting information about the waste available for your pickup, and we’re starting with plasterboard offcuts. There will be timber offcuts of various sizes available in upcoming weeks and months.
Plasterboard offcuts—great mulch and soil conditioner
Plasterboard offcuts do not have a reuse option in Wellington. In other regions there are businesses that will mulch the offcuts for compost.
Plasterboard, such as GIB, has several beneficial uses in gardens. Plasterboard is made of 90 percent gypsum, a naturally occurring resource, 7 percent paper and the other 3 percent is soap, starch, and fibreglass for strength. Red List® free, meaning it contains no toxic chemicals, plasterboard is 100 percent recyclable.
The offcuts can be added to your garden to enrich and insulate the soil, and to suppress unwanted growth. It can be mixed in with soil for planting out, used as an economical way to fill raised beds, and added to compost as a conditioner. Let the team know if you can think of other uses.
Available in 8–12 kg or one metre cubed bags, you can pick up Living Pā plasterboard offcuts from the Living Pā on Kelburn Parade. Contact Rhonda Thomson to arrange.
The Living Building Challenge
To meet the Living Building Challenge requirements, the Living Pā has a 90 percent general waste diversion target. The project has so far diverted over 75 tonnes of waste that would have otherwise gone to landfill.
This impressive achievement has been accomplished through a huge effort by many—procurers, suppliers, subcontractors, partners—as well as forward-thinking and imaginative conversations about doing things differently, and leaving no stone unturned. The project team must also understand the chemical composition of all project materials to make cradle to cradle (reuse and recycling) procurement choices.
The team is using good design and workplace practices, take-back schemes, repurposing offcuts (like the timber piles used in the Makara Peak Bike Park), prohibiting waste from entering the site, and advocating to manufacturers and industry to do things better.
Currently the Pā’s diversion rate is sitting at around 85 percent. There’s a pesky, extra tough 3–5 percent of waste that is proving difficult to divert and we need to work hard to close the gap.
