Orange Sky Announces Significant Fleet Upgrades To Reduce Environmental Impact In Aotearoa

Orange Sky Aotearoa – a not-for-profit providing free mobile laundry and shower services to people experiencing homelessness or hardship – is today announcing an innovative project to upgrade its entire hybrid laundry and shower van fleet across Aotearoa.

As part of Orange Sky’s broader initiative to create smarter and more efficient ways to help more Kiwis in need, the new Vehicle Upgrade Project will enable the organisation to significantly reduce its environmental impact and maximise service reliability across its network.

Within the fleet of hybrid laundry and shower vans, four vans will be upgraded with eight key features – all designed to reduce environmental impact, simplify and reduce cost of maintenance, enhance safety measures, and more importantly, increase the usability of their vehicles to improve the overall experience on shift for friends and volunteers.

Two key features included in the upgrade project will see the removal of the diesel generators replaced with solar-powered equipment and battery banks, and the installation of Orange Sky’s ‘Waru Dryer’ - the world’s first clothes dryer to use fuel-powered air heaters and solar-powered batteries.

The project is set to reduce electrical consumption by up to 90% per shift and is forecast to reduce greenhouse gases by up to 70%.

Orange Sky Co-Founder Nic Marchesi (OAM) has been spearheading the organisation’s Innovations Team and said Orange Sky’s goal is to triple its impact by 2025 and help support the country’s most vulnerable communities, with this project playing a key part in this.

“Innovation is at the heart of what we do. We are passionate about pushing the boundaries and ideating, testing, trialling, and adopting innovative ventures to drive greater impact within the communities we operate in, with these vehicle upgrades doing just that,” Mr Marchesi said.

According to 2018 Census data, more than 41,000 Kiwis are currently experiencing homelessness, which includes those without shelter and people living in temporary accommodation, shared accommodation and uninhabitable housing.

Orange Sky Aotearoa's Senior Fundraising Manager, Katie Hart, said the vehicle upgrade will not only significantly reduce the organisation’s environmental impact, but it’ll make a huge difference to the hundreds of friends Orange Sky supports on a weekly basis.

“It’s no surprise that times are tough for many right now, and a growing number of Kiwis are struggling to make ends meet. Friends who use Orange Sky’s services rely on us to show up for every shift, every week, so it’s vital our vans are reliable, easier to use, and better for the environment.”

Since launching in 2018, Orange Sky has completed more than 15,625 loads of washing, provided 8,748 warm showers and participated in more than 24,563 hours of genuine, non-judgemental conversation with the community.

Today, Orange Sky operates five vans across Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch, and is staffed by more than 250 volunteers who lend an ear and offer genuine conversation in a safe, positive and supportive environment to friends in need.

Kiwis wanting to support Orange Sky’s Vehicle Upgrade Project are encouraged to head to orangesky.org.nz to donate. Every little bit helps.

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