Wairarapa MP Kieran McAnulty and WaiWaste Chairperson Jeremy Logan cut the ribbon on a new electric van. PHOTO/GEORGE SHIERS.
WaiWaste is continuing to expand by adding a second van to its fleet, coming at a time of high demand for food as the cost-of-living crisis continues to affect families across the region.
WaiWaste is a charity based in Masterton that collects donations of food that are good enough to eat but not good enough to sell and redistributes it to community organisations for use.
WaiWaste chairperson Jeremy Logan said that about one-third of food produced for humans never makes it to plates, and 90 per cent of food waste is taken to landfills.
“Those are scary and huge statistics,” he said.
“WaiWaste is just a small organization doing our part to reduce waste and emissions.
“We started out as a tiny organisation that would go out in tiny cars to the stage where we couldn’t fit food in the station wagon, so we had to expand.
“We’ve grown and there’s more demand for food and wanting to send food further afield, so we needed a bigger van.”
Wairarapa MP Kieran McAnulty said the launching of the van was a small way of tackling two of the biggest problems currently affecting communities.
“Today is a great opportunity to raise awareness and launch the van.
“There are two issues every country in the world is facing at the moment: the cost-of-living crisis and climate change. Two issues that WaiWaste is addressing.”
Funding for the van came from the Ministry of Social Development and the van was charged on-site and was not only cheaper to run than its petrol alternative, but better for the environment.
A recharge for the van recorded yesterday morning cost $0.99 for a range of 22km, meaning to charge the van for its full 350km range would “be a lot cheaper” than its petrol alternative, WaiWaste coordinator Geoffrey Roberts said.
“It’s a lot cheaper than petrol, and it’s zero emissions too so it fits in with our environmental Kaupapa.
“The old van is electric too but its an old battery and has about half the range.”
As WaiWaste continued to grow, the van would serve an area as far north as Pahiatua and as far south as Martinborough.
