Nearly two decades of waste reduction was the catalyst for celebration at The Seagull Centre on July 6, as the Thames-based recycling and recovery centre celebrated its 18th birthday.
The event was a community affair, with the public invited to join in. Along with a storewide sale and raffles, there was also sausages, soup and cake. The climax of the event was the unveiling of the education centre’s new name. It was graced with the moniker “Robin’s Room” in honour of Robin Plummer, one of the centre’s original trustees with a passion for community education.
Community waste educator Lucci Hennah said the centre’s longevity and success was a sign of the community’s commitment to reducing waste.
“We can’t do any of this without our community, having their buy-in and having their support is so awesome,” she said.
“And making Coromandel that really green, beautiful environment that everyone thinks of when they think of Coromandel is really important as well.”
The project began in 2004 as a vision of reducing the amount of material heading for landfill. In July 2006, the shop was opened, and from there the centre continued to grow and evolve. Today, it employs 20 paid staff and three volunteers.
“I don’t even think [the trustees] knew what they were going to be expecting,” Lucci said.
“As the shop became really more successful, and the buy-in from the community grew, and the understanding and that respect and mana from the community was there, we were able to expand, and they continuously looked for new ideas and new projects.”
The Seagull Centre runs a number of initiatives alongside its pre-loved goods store. It collects hard-to-recycle items like batteries, e-waste, scrap metal, polystyrene, soft plastics, food and beverage containers, and plastic lids, sending them away to recycling operators around the country. It has drop-off locations at Pauanui and Tairua, regularly partners with the Kerikeri Recycling and Reuse Centre, and offers mentoring to other waste minimisation groups throughout the Waikato.
It also offers annual community grants for local environment-focused projects. This year applications are open from July 20 to August 20.
“Our grants are important, because we can’t do everything,” Lucci said.
“We just need people doing one thing, and then that changes the next thing, and the next.”
