New Zealand Celsias

During 2008, we challenged ourselves to live without creating landfill waste from our home in Christchurch, New Zealand. By the end of our Rubbish Free Year we had collected just 2kg of landfill waste, compared to the 1.5 tons the average couple throws away in NZ.

Eighteen months later, a move to Auckland, constantly changing accommodation due to house sitting, and we are no less passionate about reducing landfill waste. Our motivation is not just to stop the post-consumer environmental damage of plastic in the ocean, polluted waterways, and methane emissions from landfills, but also to reduce the pre-consumer environmental impacts of production of items marketed as 'disposable', in which paradoxically non-renewable resources are used.

We believe it is as possible to be 'rubbish free' living in an apartment in downtown Auckland as it is on 10 acres in Nelson, and we are eager to share knowledge we've gained from our experiences so that others can make changes where they feel they can in their own lives.

The result is www.rubbishfree.co.nz

Central to the site, and the Project we'd like help with, is the Rubbish Free Guide, a database of ideas searchable by either typing in a keyword, looking up a sub-category, or browsing the A - Z listing of the over 80 topics (and growing) full of ideas and suggestions on how to be 'Rubbish Free'! We want the guide to be as relevant, wide reaching and informative as possible. So if you have any ideas and suggestions for the guide please let us know. Our goal is to continually be adding two items to the guide each week.

Also on the site is the Rubbish Free Store, where items we've found really useful as we attempt to live with a lighter environmental footprint are available for purchase. If there is something you think we should add to the store we'd love to hear it so please let us know.

We are also available for Rubbish Free Consulting, so if your workplace is trying to find ways in which they can make a difference to their footprint we can help!