Here are a couple of good ideas that add to urban livability and sustainability that I saw during my recent travels that I haven’t seen in Auckland and cannot see why we don’t have them.
Firstly Bicycle Cops:
Come on, even the yanks have these. The downtown station in Auckland is a beat only station while Newmarket has some but only constables, get em on bikes!
Secondly, public recycling bins:
To Landfill or Recycling Centre - simple you'd think
These ones are in Christchurch at the International Antarctic Centre but everywhere I went in Wellington and Christchurch you could find these but they are nowhere to be seen in Auckland, they were great, my recycling went up hugely while I was there because I had a choice wherever I was rather than the choice not to recycle or carry my rubbish around with me all day.
I’ve seen quite a few public recycling bins around Auckland. Particularly down by the viaduct harbour.
I’ve seen one in New Lynn but I understand that this welcome initiative has been dumped by the current National party government; if it survives it will be ratepayer funded.
Christopher – What would the government have to do with providing recycling bins. Rubbish collection has and likely always will be a council function, this includes bins on the street. The only area that the government would have any input would be if they set a national policy around recycling. It makes sense that you saw it was in New Lynn seeing as the Waitakere City Council sees the area as an ecocity.
I think the government had previously provided councils with some money to do these kinds of projects, but that money was pulled.
Yes, the idea of encouraging street-based recycling was a national policy of the previous administration but, obviously, not a National party policy. Just as not ‘investigating’ potential mining operations in National Parks was a national policy of the previous administration that has been overturned by the current National party administration. As the British supermarket chain Tesco’s slogan suggests ‘Every little helps’.
I walk around the Viaduct quite a bit and haven’t seen any SJ… Maybe I should open my peeps…
Many of the bins had sustainability.govt.nz…