KAItiaki Composting - A Social Enterprise
Community gardens are spaces for education, collaboration, building relationships, and healing. Not to mention, they offer a source of fresh produce and seasonally grown veggies that are locally harvested. Affirming this notion, a manifold of opportunities has sprung from the moment Marfell Community Garden broke ground in November 2020, attracting volunteers, new ideas, and vibrant energy.
One key driver of positive change is a social enterprise called KAItiaki Composting started by Bishops Action Foundation (BAF) and ZEAL Taranaki, supported by Brittany Ryan from Sustainable Taranaki. Simon Cayley, CEO of BAF, felt personally connected to the garden through his trapping efforts to support the copper skink populations, and when he and Brittany connected about what else the garden needed, the discussion naturally led to composting.
Composting was at the forefront of the garden’s needs.
Without compost, food production comes to a standstill. Composting builds biodiverse soil full of beneficial organisms, which then grows healthy kai. It also is the best way to put carbon and food waste back into the ground, so the opportunity to redirect local cafe and hospitality food waste from landfill to the community garden led to the creation of the KAItiaki Composting social enterprise.
Every Thursday, the ZEAL composting team, Te Reinga Rangiwai, Kanye Taipiri, and Caesar Davis meet at the Māra (garden) to make compost. Using a technique called lasagne layering, the students use the correct ratio of greens to browns. For every bucket of food waste, two buckets of sawdust or shredded paper or cardboard are layered on top.
The rangatahi have learned the true value of community, and that “it stinks if you don’t do it properly,” as noted by Kanye.
In addition to learning to compost effectively, the Māra offers a space for intergenerational learning, and Sustainable Taranaki’s efforts to educate young people are backed by scientific studies on how to enact positive behavourial change. Not surprisingly, the highest retained information, and perhaps the most coveted knowledge, are skills passed down by generations. Community gardens foster this opportunity by bringing together many generations of knowledge, culture, and skills for one common purpose - to grow healthy kai together.
Local businesses that support the composting efforts include Pepper’s Construction which helps the students construct the bays, the Junction Reuse Shop which donates gutter for planting, Mitre 10 Mega New Plymouth which has donated the garden tools, Joe’s Lawnmower Shop which fixes the equipment, Professionals who provide the paper shreddings, and Smithers Lumberyard who donate the sawdust shavings. Mason’s Appliances has offered to drop off cardboard boxes which are in high demand in the garden, and the food waste is currently collected from WITT’s culinary school, with other hospitality venues ready to jump on board too. Coffee grounds are collected from Top Town, and various lawnmowing services drop off grass clippings regularly.
The logistics offer the biggest challenge for KAItiaki Composting, as making it convenient for business owners and organising drop-offs at the right intervals is important to effective composting and managing raw materials. Local businesses that have cardboard, paper shredding, or untreated sawdust are in high need right now.
The space along the Mangaotuku awa (river), and Endeavor Street, is fulfilling its purpose as a designated space for growing kai (food) and learning together while building confidence, connections, and friendships. The ZEAL students among other groups like Spotswood alternative education have been the driving force behind maintaining the garden and helping to take steps forward.
Working bees and planning Hui’s take place every other Sunday from 2 pm - 5 pm at the garden. It is an inclusive space where everyone is invited to contribute. Please contact Sustainable Taranaki if you’d like to help.
By Brittany Ryan
Volunteer at the Marfell Community Garden
& Sustainable Backyards Manager
