We’ve started a mulcher club! Here’s the story…
The Kapiti Coast District Council (KCDC) has something called the Waste Levy Fund, which it’s possible not nearly enough peeps in the Kapiti region know about. Basically, community groups can apply for up to a maximum of $5000 towards initiatives which set out to reduce waste being sent to the dump.
The happy day our new 'Simplicity' arrived!
So our brilliant idea was to purchase a community mulcher, safety training and gear (which was no where near $5k by the way). We applied for the funding as the Kakariki Street residents, but our intention was always to make the Mulcher Club open to the entire Paekakariki community to join. We currently have about 30 people signed up and quite a few of them have already hired.
Training with Bruce
Members are required to do a short one off safety training/operating session before they can use it. We are really lucky to have the wonderful local arbourist Bruce to train us. We also charge a small membership fee and minimal hire costs purely to cover running and maintenance of the machine. The club itself is organised by a few volunteers. And that’s about as complicated as it gets.
Included in the mulcher hire is all the safety gear needed for the operator plus a buddy because two people on the job makes it more fun and safer. We have a visor-earmuff set, gloves, safety glasses, and more ear muffs. The hire also covers fuel so there’s no unnecessary trips for users who would have to travel a 30km round trip from Paekakariki to the nearest petrol station.
Hannah in training
The great thing about the mulcher is that we now have a really easy way of processing our more tricky garden waste onsite. It works out to be more convenient, cheaper and quicker than hiring a trailer, driving to the tip and paying for dumping.
Oh but wait there’s more… the added bonus is, you get a pile a lovely fresh mulch to put on your garden or compost heap!
kakarikistreet 