July 2023 marks the second year New Zealanders celebrate Matariki as a public holiday. Like the first holiday in 2022, there will be no changes to Hamilton Kirikiriroa kerbside collections.
This year, the Matariki holiday falls on Friday 14 July, and Hamiltonians can expect kerbside collections to go ahead as usual. Bins should be on the kerbside by 7am.
Known as the Maaori New Year, Matariki provides an opportunity to gather with family and friends, reflect on the past, celebrate the present, and plan for the future.
Through Matariki, we honour Papatuaanuku (Earth Mother), Ranginui (Sky Father) and Tangaroa (the god of the sea).
Council’s Sustainable Resource Recovery Service Delivery Manager, Trent Fowles, says Matariki acts as a good reminder we all have the responsibility to act as kaitiaki (guardians) of the earth.
“We can all be doing more to divert waste from landfill, and in doing so, look after the environment.
“We often find food scraps in red lidded kerbside bins, where it will go to landfill and create methane, a toxic greenhouse gas. An easy way to avoid this is to use your kerbside food scraps bin or if you prefer, your own compost bin or worm farm,” said Fowles.
“When you use your kerbside food scraps bin, you are helping make Tronpost – that’s like compost, made locally from Hamiltonian’s green waste and kerbside food scraps.”
For those with excess recycling or waste to dispose of on the Matariki holiday, the Lincoln Street Resource Recovery Centre will be open from 9am to 4pm, and the Hamilton Organic Centre will be open from 8am to 5pm.
If you have a missed collection or aren’t sure which day of the week your bins are collected, use the address finder on fightthelandfill.co.nz, or download the Antenno app for weekly reminders.
Antenno provides the most up-to-date Council notifications direct to your phone, such as collection reminders, and can be downloaded free from Google Play or the App Store.