When I started working at Wanaka Wastebusters it felt like playing pass the parcel.

(I could use the analogy of an onion, but that’s way less appealing than pass the parcel!)

The game where you pass round a present to music, when it stops you unwrap a layer to find a treat, and another layer….. and off you go again, nice music, the excitement of what treat is going to be next, how many layers there will be no one knows!!!

Well, Wanaka Wastebusters for me has been like that for the last 2 1/2 years. Always another layer to unwrap, always another treat, and always the constant music of everyday life whizzing by in a blur of recycling, projects, phone calls, education, learning, teaching, sharing, and of course….fun!

Every day I sit in the office working at my desk, listening to the comings and goings of trucks, the chatter of all the workers, the constant hum of activity.

I take phone calls from the public, customers of ours, businesses we deal with, people with queries about recycling, people wanting to find out what we do here, about our latest projects, people wanting to congratulate us on a good job, people wanting to complain about services we don’t provide, or about bins not being collected, bins overflowing, what time we open, questions about the transfer station next door and green waste over the road, questions on composting … the list is endless.

I have to say, It wasn’t until I worked here that i had that feeling of the parcel. Before that WW was to me: a fantastic shopping place in our community, the wonderful people who picked up my recycling, a place where some really awesome folks worked, people trying to make our world a better one, starting here on our own doorstep….. but I didn’t quite know what went on beyond..

It’s easy to assume, after being here for a while and knowing what we do, that everyone else should too.

I see all the adverts that go out, I see most of the trucks come in, I am involved in a lot of the projects that we do. It’s quite easy to say that through my working day I eat, breathe and speak Wanaka Wastebusters, but not everyone knows, not even close.

People may hear stories from friends, they may shop here, they may have ‘like’d our Facebook page. Maybe people keep updated on our (I have to say rather awesome) new website, maybe they have been to one of Sue’s talks, or their kids have been inspired by the wonderful Simon Williams, but it would be fair to say that even though over 90% of people in Wanaka may have heard of Wanaka Wastebusters, a rather smaller percentage will know what goes on behind the scenes!!!

I have decided to Go Behind the Scenes over the next few weeks and bring you the What’s Hot and What’s Not at Wanaka Wastbusters.

 

I will be writing blog posts covering the Business Collections, The kerbside collections & processing, Education, The Reuse shop, The front yard & Metals, and the Office.

I hope that by the end of my wee forage into the layers of our exciting parcel I would have answered a few questions, brought some understanding, and hopefully inspire some of you out there with our work, and our passions…. maybe even our blood sweat and tears…

 

So…. Watch This Space!!!!!