Following our successful pilot of KAItiaki Composting in New Plymouth BAF has continued to partner with Zeal Taranaki to continue this initiative.
KAItiaki Composting is a social enterprise engaging a group of young people from Zeal so they can learn the operational side of running a small start-up enterprise. It has been developed as a solution to mounting food waste. Food waste is collected, composted and then used to grow more fruit and vegetables.
KAItiaki Composting provides a wheelie bin to collect food waste (with advice on what can and can’t go in the bin). Each bin is collected once a week and replaced with a fresh, clean one. By composting food waste, we prevent it going to landfill and creating harmful gases as it decomposes. We also use the compost we create to grow fresh fruit and veges for our local communities.
KAItiaki Composting is not only providing valuable skills for young people learning how to establish and run a small business, but they are also paid for the work that they do alongside receiving funded driving lessons and additional training courses, such as Health & Safety Training & achieving their First Aid Certificate completely free of charge.
In 2023 this programme expanded to incorporate Kaitiaki Community Care – BAF provided expert advice and coaching as we worked closely together on this expansion.
The team service/renovate/maintain sections for families in the community who in return provide a koha. The team are currently fully booked and travel right across the entire district providing this much-needed service.