Wairarapa Road Safety Council Projects Coordinator and Car Seat Technician Holly Hullena.
The Wairarapa Road Safety Council, the SeatSmart child car seat recycling programme and South Wairarapa District Council have teamed up again ahead of the summer travel season to offer free child car seat recycling.
Residents can take their expired or damaged seats to the Featherston Community Centre between 9am and 3pm, Monday to Friday until 25 November. The free offer is available to the first 50 seats, thanks to funding provided by the council. This means the seats will be dismantled and the plastic, metal and straps to be recycled or repurposed, says SeatSmart Programme Manager Toni Bye.
Wairarapa Road Safety Council Projects Coordinator and Car Seat Technician Holly Hullena says they will also be holding a free child car seat clinic at the Masterton Plunket Rooms on 4 November and at the Featherston Plunket on 11 November.
“If anyone who wants help fitting or checking the fit of their seat, or is unsure about the expiry date, they can come along and we’ll give them a hand,” Holly says. The clinics are held monthly in Masterton and quarterly in Featherston, both between 10am and noon.
Helping people correctly fit their child car seats and ensuring the seats are still fit for purpose is an important function of the road safety council, Holly says. “Children aged seven and under (or up to 148cm tall) are required by law to be in a proper restraint in an appropriate car seat. With so many different seat models on the market we know it can sometimes be confusing when it comes to fitting them, but it’s vital it’s done correctly.”
Toni says it’s great to partner with the road safety council and the district council again. “We haven’t been able to set up a dedicated collection site in the area, so we hope South Wairarapa residents take advantage of this opportunity to keep their expired or damaged seats out of landfill and, take advantage of the seat clinics too.”
For more information about the seat clinics visit the Wairarapa Road Safety Council’s Facebook page.