2024 Sustainable Summer Carnival!

On the 22nd of March 2024 Kristin hosted their annual summer carnival. As usual, this included rides, food trucks and the stalls run by working groups from Kristin. However, thanks to the Sustainable Guidelines that the CoS submitted last year, all stalls this year used recyclable materials! This very much helped to minimise waste which was a huge issue of last year's summer carnival. The Sustainable Guidelines included clauses which prohibited stalls from using plastic where possible and encouraged them to promote recycling and composting. 

Many of the sustainable working groups held stalls to raise money for different causes. The Council of Sustainability even had a stall where we had carnival games such as trying to throw a tennis ball at a stack of cans. This was very successful, as we made a lot of profit and also didn’t use any plastic!               

One of the most sustainable stalls at the Summer Carnival was that of the waste team. They had a game to educate people on what goes in what bin. They had participants sort cards of different rubbish items, as accurately and as fast as they could. Later, the top 5 people with the best times won prizes. This not only was completely waste free but also educated the Kristin community about waste management. Additionally, they were collecting the community’s E-waste with the help of an external organisation to avoid it going into the rubbish.

Outline of the CoS’s sustainability guidelines

1. All stalls To use sustainable packaging that can either be recycled or composted.
2. All stalls are to avoid plastic where possible.
3. All utensils, cups and plates must be recyclable or compostable.
4. Promote recycling or composting products where possible.
5. Strive to use reusable utensils, cups and plates where possible.
6. Strive to produce as little waste as possible.
7. All stores are to aim to reduce the amount of single use items used.
8. Where possible, use sustainably sourced materials eg. Fairtrade items.
9. If using reusable items, eg. mugs, encourage customers to return these.
10.  If possible, use a  bring-your-own-container scheme to reduce waste where applicable.
11. If possible all stores are to use locally-sourced materials or ingredients.
12. If possible all stores are to use New Zealand-made materials or ingredients.