Local Business Turns Trash Into Cash For Schools
During Clean Up New Zealand Week one local firm is putting its money where it's mouth is - literally.
Cartridge World is helping local schools to reduce waste by offering a $2 school donation for each empty ink printer cartridge refilled at their stores between September 13 and December 31.
"We wanted to do something to support local schools because school pupils have always been such avid supporters of Clean Up New Zealand Week," says Geoff Smith, Master Franchisee of Cartridge World New Zealand. "Because schools are constantly needing to raise funds we wanted to come up with a new initiative that was easy for people to be part of and that also has a positive impact on the environment."
Clean Up New Zealand Week, which runs from 13 -19 September, is the country's largest environmental event and last year inspired more than 110,000 school children to remove waste from the environment.
"Every year New Zealand households dump an estimated 1.2 million printer cartridges that can be refilled many times over, so that's a significant amount of toxic waste ending up in our local landfills," says Mr Smith. "People don't often immediately think of printer cartridges as a recyclable item, so we are also wanting to raise awareness amongst children of the environmental impact of throwing cartridges away instead of refilling them. Printer cartridges can be refilled at up to 50% saving on the cost of buying a new cartridge, so people end up saving both money and the environment."