Paper short abstract:

This paper explores community building, alternative economies and holistic approaches to sustainability as practised by the Xtreme Waste community recycling centre in Whaingaroa, New Zealand.

Paper long abstract:

In light of the systemic problems evident in current global corporate capitalist practice, through which much of the world's food is produced, the complex interconnectedness of food and ecological systems must be taken into account. This requires careful analysis and reflection in order to build deeper understandings of how human beings currently sit within our wider environments and to develop more sustainable and beneficial models for practice. This applies to the production of food as well as to consumption and to how we treat refuse. This paper, which draws upon a recent ethnographic doctoral study, looks at the values, practices and achievements of the Xtreme Waste community recycling centre in Whaingaroa, New Zealand. This community focused non-profit business, started by a committed and visionary group of Pakeha and Maori ecologists and activists, has worked toward social, economic and environmental sustainability over the past two decades. Their achievements include diverting close to 80% of the local area's waste from the landfill, regenerating the local eco-system, supporting the local economy and providing as many jobs as possible. Matua Rick, co-founder of Xtreme Waste says there's no point in filling up a leaky bucket with more and more water, you have to plug up the holes first. Findings from the doctoral project suggest much can be gained from holistic approaches to sustainability, including alternative economic activities, community building and making good use of the areas which have traditionally been problematised, overlooked and undervalued such as unemployment and waste disposal.