Wash Trailer Club
In late 2022, Envirohub Marlborough launched an innovative circularity project, the Zero Waste Dishwashing Trailer. The concept is simple and really effective: a dishwashing station for events (market days, weddings, Christmas parties, you name it!) that provides reusable dishes and cutlery, and washes them during the event. The trailer is equipped with all the wares needed, and operated by staff and volunteers following hospitality sanitation best practices. Guests can collect dishes from the trailer or these can be made available to the vendors directly, and collection buckets are placed around the venue for the trailer staff to collect and clean the dishes to be put back to use.
Following a short teething period, the trailer is now on high demand in Picton, where it started. “We were definitely the odd one out at our first event, and we had much to learn about how to make the process smoother, easy for guests and vendors”, comments Ailie Suzuki, Envirohub Marlborough’s General Manager. And in just 12 months of operations, they have saved around 5,000 items from being discarded. “We are working hard to be at as many events as we can to begin the process of normalising the practice of reusables over single-use takeaway containers”, she adds.
“The community and event organisers, overall, have been extremely supportive.”
Now the project is getting ready to take off throughout Aotearoa through our Wash Trailer Club. The idea is to work together to gain beneficial pricing when purchasing and servicing equipment, and share learnings, experiences, and social enterprise ideas for our communities.
Want to join? Get in touch with Tash tash@environmenthubs.nz
More info and FAQs here.
