Steam Junk promotes low waste Waitaki

Country music and comedy superstars the Topp Twins will reward local creativity when they present prizes in Waitaki’s first ever ‘Steam Junk’ competition during their appearance at Totara Estate’s Harvest Home festival on Sunday, the 28th of March.

The slogan, “Turn Junk into Funk” sums up the aim of the Waitaki District Council-run competition, which challenges entrants to let their imaginations run wild and create something amazing using only recyclable material or scrap which would usually be thrown away.

Entries in the three age categories opened on Monday, giving creative Junksters of all ages six weeks to build something weird and wonderful out of waste.

The Council’s solid waste officer, Gerry O’Neill, says the inspiration for Steam Junk was last year’s hugely successful Steampunk exhibition at the Forrester Gallery.

“People really enjoyed the great creations in that show, and because it was so popular, we thought it would be fun to add another dimension to the idea.”

Mr O’Neill expects there will be a wide range of entries, some large, some small, some for indoors, some for outside and all inspired by different themes and fantasies.

The Steam Junk competition is part of the Council’s campaign to reduce the amount of waste dumped in the District’s tips.

“Most people know the Oamaru landfill is filling up fast. At the current rate, it will be full about four years from now in 2013 or 2014. However we choose to deal with our waste will be a big expense for ratepayers, so we’ve got to be smart and take every chance to cut waste and stretch the life of the landfill as long we can.”

Mr O’Neill says the Council started promoting waste minimisation last year in a number of ways.

“There’s Greenwaste Saturdays at the Tamar Street landfill, glass recycling at the Resource Recovery Park, the Business Resource Exchange, plus our new grocery voucher draw for recyclers and a great compost bin promotion we’ll be announcing very soon.”

Having a range of different campaigns helps to reach as many people as possible with the waste minimisation message, Mr O’Neill says.

“It’s not just about recycling, but also about the amount of waste we create in the first place. We can all do our bit by making wiser choices as consumers. I would like to see Waitaki leading the way on waste minimisation, and with all the great things happening in the community already, that’s certainly possible”.

“The Steam Junk competition is a fun way to get people thinking about how to reduce levels of waste, and will also show what we can do when we put our minds to it and re-use or recycle the things we buy.”

Mr O’Neill says he is grateful for the support of Totara Estate, the Waitaki Resource Recovery Park, and Dick Smith, Oamaru who are supplying three mini-laptop computers as first prize in each category.

Entries will be on show at Totara Estate’s Harvest Home on Sunday, March 28, when winners will also receive their prizes from the Topp Twins and other local identities. Full details are on the entry forms which are available from Dick Smith Oamaru, the Get Sorted shop at the Resource Recovery Park in Chelmer Street, the Council’s Service centres in Palmerston and Oamaru, or on the Council’s website - www.waitaki.govt.nz. Entries close Friday, 12 March.