We Compost turns compost into currency this weekend in Auckland in new initiative via DDB NZ

| | 3 Comments

We Compost Weekend_Carrot_TobyMorris.jpgThis weekend Aucklanders can leave their wallets at home and instead, can exchange a bag of food scraps for goods such as coffee beans, muffins and t-shirts, thanks to an initiative by Auckland organic waste collection business, We Compost, with support from Auckland Council and DDB.

 

In a bid to promote mindful composting by Auckland residents and business owners and to encourage them to think twice before throwing out food scraps, We Compost will host the We Compost Weekend on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th of September.

We Compost Weekend_HugoSmith.jpgMore than 40 local businesses have come on-board in support of the event including Kokako café, fashion label Sitka, Little Bird Organics café and Ponsonby Central. This week official We Compost Weekend bags can be collected from these outlets and can be filled with food waste and exchanged for a variety of rewards this weekend.

 

Steve Rickerby, managing director of We Compost, is calling for Aucklanders to think before they bin organic scraps, with the equivalent of 1,866,664 trailer loads full of organic waste being sent unnecessarily to landfill each year. To dispose of this waste at an average cost of $165 per tonne, is a total cost of approximately $77 million each year.

 

Says Rickerby: We Compost Weekend_Machiavellian_ChrisHutchinson.jpg“Organic waste is not waste at all, in fact it can be turned into a useful resource by composting. Our business provides a collection service for businesses that are unable to compost on-site so it can be recovered for beneficial reuse as a high quality, natural soil amendment.

 

“The We Compost Weekend, in association with our clients, is an opportunity to encourage Aucklanders to think about their food scraps not as waste but rather as something of value that can be traded. We hope that by attaching a value to WeCompostWeekend_Poster1_Ashleigh Yates_DDB.jpgthe waste for this weekend, the public will always think twice before binning their food scraps. It’s a small step in our aim to help save the planet – one banana peel, apple core and coffee grind at a time.”

With 1.4 million tonnes of waste sent to landfill every year, Auckland Council is also focused on getting this region’s rubbish sorted. The council’s Waste Minimisation and Innovation Fund helps to seed new ideas and support projects that reduce waste to landfill, and has provided a grant to the We Compost Weekend. 

Says Ian Stupple, solid waste manager: “This project is a great example of the kind of innovation we want to support, to ensure people are being educated about reducing their waste, and even rewarded for WeCompostWeekend_Poster2_Jim Pachal_DDB.jpgdoing the right thing.”

DDB partnered with Rickerby from the start to conceive the idea of We Compost Weekend and bring it to life. Together, business toolkits for the participating businesses were developed. The campaign includes six unique illustrations, three commissioned by DDB artists and another three by Auckland-based illustrators, which have been used for promotional posters for the compostable We Compost Weekend bags – making them as collectable as they are practical.

Rickerby has been overwhelmed with the support from his clients jumping on his environmental movement in a bid to help his compost crusade.

Says Shane Bradnick, WeCompostWeekend_Poster3_Supercrafti.jpgexecutive creative director, DDB: “We heard about Steve, his truck and big vision to reduce Auckland’s waste problem about a year ago and wanted to help. We got  together to see how we could spread compost love for him and the We Compost Weekend was born, with a mission to help Steve share his message in a unique way that would get people talking.”

 

Says Rickerby: “The loss of topsoil for any country has huge environmental and economical implications and when I arrived back in New Zealand, I realised there was increased awareness  and education about recycling but still not enough about organic waste so I decided to devote my time to change this.”

 

For more information, and to learn about all of the businesses and offers, visit wecompost.co.nz or visit ‘We Compost’ on Facebook.

Click to see the weekend menu – We_Compost_menu[2].pdf

 

We Compost

Steve Rickerby – Managing Director

 

DDB

Damon Stapleton – Chief Creative Officer

Shane Bradnick – Executive Creative Director

Liz Richards – Creative

Nicholas Dellabarca – Creative

Jake Barnes – Creative

Sasha Arendelovic – Creative

Kevin Bachtiar – Creative

Jim Pachal – Digital designer

Rachel Turner – Senior Account Director

Maria Bjorkman/Melanie Cutfield – Senior Account Manager

Genevieve Rogers – Account Executive

Craig McLeod – Planner

Michiel Cox – Digital Planner

Andy Robilliard – Print Producer

Kate Moses – TV Producer

Mark Tretheway – Editor

 

Mango PR

Sean Brown – Group Account Director

Eleisha Balmer – Senior Account Manager

 

Other credits

Hugo Smith – Illustration

Chris Hutchinson -Illustration

Supercrafti – Illustration

Toby Morris – Illustration

Jim Pachal – Illustration

Ashleigh Yates – Typography