Zero Waste in North Canterbury (excluding Christchurch City)

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Our heartfelt gratitude to Sugarcube Studios, for bringing our guides to life – designing a map for us and creating such joyful imagery to go with it!

The following shops sell unpackaged meat, sausages, smallgoods, seafood, cheese and/or deli foods and will happily put these straight into a BYO container – woohoo!

• Cods & Crayfish, 81 Beach Road, Kaikōura – BYO container for fresh fish, crayfish and mussels.
• Kaikōura Cheese, 45 West End, Kaikōura – you can get cuts of these beautiful locally made cheeses into your own container.
• Harris Meats, 23 Hall Street, Cheviot – here they are happy for you to BYO container to avoid having your meat wrapped in disposable plastic.
• The Butcher’s Mistress, 84 High Street, Rangiora – here they are happy for you to BYO container to avoid having your meat, sausages and small goods wrapped in disposable plastic (and you get 10% off if you BYO container too!!)
• North Canterbury Seafood Market, 2 High Street, Rangiora, and Ohoka Market, 531 Mill Road, Ohoka – while you are welcome to BYO container for fresh seafood, they do prefer to use a plastic sheet on scales for hygiene reasons. We would recommend asking if they can just put your container on the scales, tare it, and then put the fish directly in the container (to avoid the plastic sheet!) If you BYO container you’ll get 10% off!!
• Cattermoles Butchery, 159 Williams Street, Kaiapoi – here they are happy for you to BYO container to avoid having your meat, sausages and smallgoods wrapped in disposable plastic.
• The Lincoln Pantry, 4 Eastfield Drive, Lincoln – you can get cuts of cheese off the round into your own BYO container, as well as unpackaged salami.
• Bin Inn Rolleston, 41 Tennyson Street, Rolleston – you can get cuts of cheese off the wheel into your own BYO container.
• Unpackaged live mussels – there are a few stores around town that stock unpackaged live mussels at self-serve counters. We put them straight into upcycled ice cream containers/BYO containers rather than the plastic bags the stores usually provide. You can find unpackaged live mussels at Cods & Crayfish, 81 Beach Road, Kaikōura; New World Kaikōura, 124-128 Beach Road, Kaikōura; Countdown Amberley,  Brackenfields Retail Centre, 129 Carters Road, Amberley; New World Kaiapoi, 52 Charles Street, Kaiapoi; Countdown Kaiapoi, 87-97 Hilton Street, Kaiapoi; New World Lincoln, 77 Gerald Street, Lincoln; Countdown Rolleston, corner of McCauley Street and Rolleston Drive, Rolleston; and New World Rolleston, 92 Rolleston Drive, Rolleston.
• Supermarket delis – Most supermarkets have a deli section offering unpackaged meat, seafood, olives and other antipasti, salads, lunch foods and more. All Countdown supermarkets officially allow you to BYO container for these goods! Watch this space for when New World and PAK’nSAVE extend this practice to the South Island also… although New World Lincoln already allows BYO containers!

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The following stores bake and sell unpackaged bread and bakery goods (in some of these stores some items might be pre-packed or wrapped in cling film, just avoid those things!). Simply BYO bread bag to put the bread/bakery goods into. Some places will bag up their bread later in the day, so you want to get in there before they do that (i.e. before 1pm).

• Kaikōura Bakery, 69a Beach Road, Kaikōura – sells bread and bakery goods unpackaged (BYO bag).
• Paris Bakery & Cafe, 96b Carters Road, Amberley – makes and sells sourdough and French breads/pastries unpackaged.
• Stonebaked, 144 High Street, Rangiora – a range of unpackaged loaves at a range of prices. They also sell beauitful locally made cotton bread bags!
• Artisan Bakery, 18 High Street, Rangiora – makes and sells fresh unpackaged bread and other baked goods (BYO bag).
• Mediterranean Food Co, 7/188 High Street, Rangiora
• The Lincoln Pantry, 4 Eastfield Drive, Lincoln
• Rolleston Bakery, 11/70 Rolleston Drive, Rolleston
• Fork in Fresh, 855 Jones Road, Rolleston – made to order, so call in advance
• Most supermarkets (and even some Four Squares) stock unpackaged bread, bread rolls and/or bakery goods in their bakery section – just pop them into your BYO bags!

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• Markets – No two ways about it, if you want a good source of unpackaged (often locally grown) produce, markets are the place to go! At most markets you can meet the grower/producer face-to-face, making them an ideal place to start fruitful conversations about waste-free food, and to develop relationships and systems that enable you to get your favourite fruit, vege and preserves without the packaging. You may also find local producers of pre-made foods like tofu, preserves and sauces etc. Have a chat to see if you can leave containers with the stall holders for them to fill with your desired product for you to pick up from them the following week, or if the stallholder uses glass jars for packaging, ask whether they will take their empty glass jars back for sterilisation and reuse. Often the answer is yes! We loved the Ohoka Farmers’ Market, 531 Mill Road, Ohoka – a great little market with plenty of low waste options, including lots of unpackaged produce, cheeses, olives/sundried tomatoes/artichokes/hummus and other antipasto goods (by Volcano) – just BYO bags and containers for all of it! Another great market to check out is Kaiapoi Farmers’ Market (Saturday mornings from 9:30-12:30).
• Fresh Organic and Produce, Rolleston – this was a great store which we found as we were leaving Rolleston with HEAPS of organic, non-packaged produce. However we can’t retrace our steps to find the address! If anyone knows which store we are talking about, can you please let know so we can update this. We have a hunch this may be Tuahiwi Organic Gardens‘ Rolleston store… are we right??
• Trade Aid – New World, 92 Rolleston Drive, Rolleston stocks Trade Aid’s 1.5kg sugar bags which are also great for upcycling as bulk bin bags, and are home compostable also when they do wear out.
• Unpackaged chocolate/truffles/fudge/sweets – these stores have sweet treats unpackaged that you can have put into your own containers:
  • Fresh Fudge, 16 Conical Hill Road, Hanmer Springs – store-made fudge unpackaged
  • The Decadent Fudge Company, 1/30 Conical Hill Road, Hanmer Springs – store-made fudge (including dairy and sugar-free options) and sweets unpackaged.

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Look out for places that sell whole or ground coffee beans unpackaged, and bring your own bag and container to fill. Going direct to coffee roasters is the best option, but you can also look out for bulk dispensers of unpackaged coffee in other stores (which usually have in-store grinders also). Here are the spots we found that offer these options:

• Star Roast Coffee, 598 Kincaid Road, Hapuku, Kaikōura (just give them a call before you go to make sure they’re around).
• New World Rangiora, Good Street, Rangiora
• Bin Inn Rangiora at 87 Ivory Street, Rangiora
• Crema Cafe, 196 High Street, Rangiora, who stores their locally-roasted ‘Custom Roast Coffee’ in glass jars, the contents of which can be transferred into a BYO bag or container
• Coffee Culture, 113 High Street, Rangiora; 121 Raven Quay, Kaiapoi; 19 Gerald Street, Lincoln; and 9 Masefield Drive, Rolleston.
• Three Llamas Gourmet Coffee, 65 Main North Road, Woodend
• Red Eight, 145 Williams Street, Kaiapoi
• The Lincoln Pantry, 4 Eastfield Drive, Lincoln <– this awesome cafe will not only give you unpackaged coffee beans, but if you want a brew as well, they’re entirely disposable coffee cup free – YAY!
• Black and White Coffee Cartel, 67 Tennyson Street, Rolleston
• New World Rolleston, 92 Rolleston Drive, Rolleston – Hummingbird coffee in bulk bins.
• Bin Inn Rolleston, 41 Tennyson Street, Rolleston

We avoid teabags as most have plastic in them, which we don’t want in our tea or our soil. Using loose leaf tea is an easy way to get around this. The trick is to find somewhere that sells loose leaf tea packaging-free, so you can put the leaves straight into BYO jars/containers! You’ll find loose tea leaves in bulk dispensers at:

• Bin Inn Rolleston, 41 Tennyson Street, Rolleston – loose leaf black, green and jasmine teas in bulk bins

Sourcing cow’s milk without the plastic bottles or non-dairy milk without the dreaded Tetra-pak is no mean feat! We’ve found the following options:

• Milk on tap or from a vending machine – TWO options for milk on tap from a vending machine: Cavan Farm Fresh Milk, 56 Ashley Gorge Road, Oxford AND Aylesbury Creamery, 862 Aylesbury Road, Kirwee. Simply BYO bottle to fill up, or purchase a reusable glass bottle there that you can then refill on future occasions.
• Glass bottle return/swap scheme for dairy milk – THREE options for milk sold in-store in reusable glass bottles: (1) local Kaikōura milk from Kaikōura Cheese, 45 West End, Kaikōura; (2) Canterbury’s Choice milk at The Butcher’s Mistress, 84 High Street, Rangiora; and Waikuku Beach General Store, 54 Park Terrace, Waikuku Beach. (3) Roan Farm full cream organic milk available at Veg’n Out, 73 Main North Road, Woodend; The Lincoln Pantry, 4 Eastfield Drive, Lincoln; Les Délices, 9/736 Weedons Ross Road, West Melton; The Fat Beagle Cafe, 51 South Terrace, Darfield; and The Leeston Grocer, 110 High Street, Leeston
  • How do these systems work? The first time you buy a bottle of milk, you pay a little extra to cover the cost of the bottle and to ensure that you return it when you’re done. Return empty bottles to any stockist of the milk, and exchange it for a full bottle for only the price of the milk (or else get your deposit back). The empties are then returned to Aunt Jean’s or Roan Farm for sterilisation and reuse – so the bottles just go around and around – true zero waste!
• Milk powder in bulk bins – available at Bin Inn Rangiora, 87 Ivory Street, Rangiora; and Bin Inn Rolleston, 41 Tennyson Street, Rolleston (or the ingredients to make non-dairy milk – oats, threaded coconut, nuts – from a bulk bin)

Look out for places that sell beer on tap and BYO bottles/flagons to fill up. Breweries are awesome, but lots of liquor stores offer this option too! We found beer on tap at:

• Emporium Brewing, 57A Beach Rd, Kaikōura 
• Brew Moon Brewing Company, 12 Markham Street, Amberley
• Super Liquor, Brackenfield Shopping Centre, 121 Carters Road, Amberley.
• The Good Drop, 7 Durham Street, Rangiora (20 (!) craft beers on tap). You can either BYO bottle, or for $10 get a new glass rigger (screw top or flip top) which includes a fill.
• The Plough Hotel, 398 High Street, Rangiora – we’ve heard through the grapevine that this establishment can fill riggers over the bar.
• Eagle Brewing, 184 Williams Street, Kaiapoi
• The Bottle-O, 67 Williams Street, Kaiapoi.
• You can also find Christchurch-made craft beer by Brewers Union at the Ohoka Farmers’ Market, 531 Mill Road.

Also, don’t forget that most liquor stores do ‘swappa crates’ of beer – i.e. crates of twelve 745ml bottles of classic NZ beer (e.g. Lion Red/Brown, Speights, Tui, Export Gold etc.) which can be returned (when the bottles are empty) and are then sent back to the brewery for sterilisation and refill (a better outcome for glass bottles than recycling because reusing the same bottle over and over requires way less energy and resources than recycling).

• Bin Inn Rolleston, 41 Tennyson Street, Rolleston – stocks drinking chocolate in bulk bins – BYO bags/containers.
• Uh-oh – we didn’t come across any other drink options – did we miss anything? Drinking chocolate? Juice on tap? Kombucha in refillable glass bottles?

Reusable drinking vessels (cups and water bottles)

Refills of cleaning products

The following stores stock liquid and/or powdered cleaning products in bulk dispensers – BYO containers/bottles!

• Bin Inn Rangiora, 87 Ivory Street, Rangiora
• Bin Inn Rolleston, 41 Tennyson Street, Rolleston – Ecostore and chemical cleaners

Low-waste dishwashing

You can find dishbrushes with wooden handles and removable + replaceable, home compostable heads at The $tockroom, 130-134 Beach Road, Kaikōura; Stevens, 151-183 High Street, Rangiora; and Bin Inn Rolleston, 41 Tennyson Street, Rolleston. Also, you can get Go Bamboo wooden veggie brushes with plant fibre bristles which can also be used as dishbrushes (they just don’t have a handle) at The $tockroom, 130-134 Beach Road, Kaikōura – as these are made only of bamboo and plant fibre, they’re home compostable should they ever wear down.

We also encourage people to move away from using dishclothes, sponges and bench wipes made out of synthetic material (as these leach microfibres and they’re also destined for landfill when they wear down) and to use natural fibre cloths instead:

• For something more like a traditional dishcloth sponge, check out the various brands of 100% cotton + cellulose dishcloth sponges (home compostable at the end of their life) which are available at Jade Kiwi, 78 West End, Kaikōura; The $tockroom, 130-134 Beach Road, Kaikōura; Up the Garden Path, 5 Conical Hill Road, Hanmer Springs; Mumma T, 86 Carters Road, Amberley (though the cloths at Mumma T are wrapped in plastic, unfortunately); New World Lincoln, 77 Gerald Street, Lincoln; and New World Rolleston, 92 Rolleston Drive, Rolleston (get the Munch brand from New Worlds – don’t be fooled by other brands of ‘biodegradable’ ones – they contain synthetic fibres!)
• Various locally made 100% cotton dishcloths are available at Lascivo, 86 Carters Road, Amberley; and Gather & You, corner of Ivory and Alfred Streets, Rangiora.
• You can get other types of 100% cotton dishcloths at Blossom, 44 West End, Kaikōura; Ruby Six, 6 Markham Street, Amberley; and New World Lincoln, 77 Gerald Street, Lincoln.
• If you’re after a coarser scrubby, you can get the Safix 100% coconut fibre scouring pads from The $tockroom, 130-134 Beach Road, Kaikōura; and Bin Inn Rolleston, 41 Tennyson Street, Rolleston.

Laundry

• Eco Planet and Earthwise 1kg laundry powder both come in a cardboard box with no inner plastic lining, and Eco Planet’s scoop is made of cardboard while Earthwise has no scoop at all. You can get both from PAK’nSAVE Rangiora, 2 Southbrook Road, Rangiora; New World, 52 Charles Street, Kaiapoi; New World Lincoln, 77 Gerald Street, Lincoln; and New World Rolleston, 92 Rolleston Drive, Rolleston; or just Earthwise from New World Kaikōura, 124-128 Beach Road, Kaikōura; and Countdown Rolleston, corner of McCauley Street and Rolleston Drive, Rolleston. You can also get Living Green laundry powder in a cardboard box with a paper bag inside and a bamboo scoop from any Countdown supermarket.
• Soap Nuts – these are a fruit that contain saponin and are thus good for laundry (when spent, they can be home composted). You can get That Red House Soapberries which come in a paper bag inside a cotton bag at Mumma T, 86 Carters Road, Amberley.
• Local Amberley company Studio Star makes bars of laundry soap which are wrapped only in a paper tag. You can buy them from Mumma T, 86 Carters Road, Amberley.
• Non-plastic clothes pegs – Bamboo pegs available at New World Kaikōura, 124-128 Beach Road, Kaikōura; and Bin Inn Rangiora, 87 Ivory Street, Rangiora. Or get stainless steel pegs at Blossom, 44 West End, Kaikōura; Genevieve’s, 47 West End, Kaikōura; Bin Inn Rolleston, 41 Tennyson Street, Rolleston; Industria, 15 Masefield Drive, Rolleston; and both bamboo and stainless steel pegs at The $tockroom, 130-134 Beach Road, Kaikōura.

Ingredients for DIY cleaning products

• Bin Inn Rangiora, 87 Ivory Street, Rangiora – stocks baking soda, epsom salts, borax, and washing soda unpackaged in bulk bins.
• Bin Inn Rolleston, 41 Tennyson Street, Rolleston – stocks baking soda, washing soda, borax, epsom salts and soda ash in bulk bins
• Bars of castile soap, which you can use as a base for homemade dishwashing and laundry liquid (see how it works here) – get USA-made Dr Bronner’s castile soap at Kaikōura Pharmacy, 37 West End, Kaikōura; Bin Inn Rangiora, 87 Ivory Street, Rangiora; and Bin Inn Rolleston, 41 Tennyson Street, Rolleston. You can also just get dishwash bars that don’t need melting down, made by Studio Star, from Mumma T, 86 Carters Road, Amberley.

Zero waste teeth and mouth

• Bamboo toothbrushes – a great alternative to plastic toothbrushes because they have wooden, home compostable handles (though bristles are still plastic and need to be removed from the handle and put in a rubbish bin). You can find bamboo toothbrushes at New World Kaikōura, 124-128 Beach Road, Kaikōura; The $tockroom, 130-134 Beach Road, Kaikōura; Health Works Pharmacy, 7/5 Conical Hill Road, Hanmer; Four Square, 2 Rolleston Street, Cheviot; Mumma T, 86 Carters Road, Amberley; Countdown Amberley, Brackenfields Retail Centre, 129 Carters Road, Amberley; Unichem Medical Corner Pharmacy, 237A High Street, Rangiora; Reality Bites Cafe, 96 High Street, Rangiora; Bin Inn Rangiora, 87 Ivory Street, Rangiora Countdown Rangiora, 44 Ivory Street, Rangiora; The Lincoln Pantry, 4 Eastfield Drive, Lincoln; Selwyn Community Pharmacy, 5B Gerald Street, Lincoln; Lincoln Pharmacy, 8 Gerald Street, Lincoln; New World Lincoln, 77 Gerald Street, Lincoln; Industria, 15 Masefield Drive, Rolleston; Bin Inn Rolleston, 41 Tennyson Street, Rolleston; New World Rolleston, 92 Rolleston Drive, Rolleston; Countdown Rolleston, corner of McCauley Street and Rolleston Drive, Rolleston; and Unichem Rolleston Central Pharmacy, 9 Masefield Drive, Rolleston.
• Dental Floss –  Countdown Amberley,  Brackenfields Retail Centre, 129 Carters Road, Amberley; Countdown Rangiora, 44 Ivory Street, Rangiora; Countdown Kaiapoi, 87-97 Hilton Street, Kaiapoi; and Countdown Rolleston, corner of McCauley Street and Rolleston Drive, Rolleston all stock Do Gooder floss, which comes in a refillable glass tube with a screw on metal lid. The WHITE floss is made of 100% silk and is home compostable (the black floss has polyester in it so is landfill only). When you run out of the floss, no need to get a new dispenser, you can get refills of the floss in a paper bag from all stockists listed above – just pop the refill into your original metal/glass dispenser.

Unpackaged Bars of Soap

It’s easy to get soap without packaging in Canterbury. The following stores sell totally naked bars of soap (or barely wrapped in paper):

• Little Rock, 60 West End, Kaikōura
• Blossom, 44 West End, Kaikōura
• Fresh Fudge, 16 Conical Hill Road, Hanmer Springs
• Up the Garden Path, 5 Conical Hill Road, Hanmer Springs
• Amberley Pharmacy, 127 Carters Road, Amberley 
• Out of the Bleu, 98 Carters Road, Amberley
• Mumma T, 86 Carters Road, Amberley – locally made by Studio Star
• L’Adour, 2 Durham Street, Rangiora – a range of Canterbury made soaps
• Gather & You, corner of Ivory and Alfred Streets, Rangiora
• Ohoka Farmers’ Market, 531 Mill Road, Ohoka – check out the Naturalus  and Atawhai Farm stalls
• The Gift Box of Lincoln, 6/19 Gerald Street, Lincoln
• Bin Inn Rolleston, 41 Tennyson Street, Rolleston

Bars for Shampoo/Shaving/Deodorant/Moisturiser

We’d encourage you to get your everyday toiletries – from shampoo through to shaving soap – in bar form, which means you totally avoid the plastic/aluminium bottles that liquid products usually come in!

• Many places stock the popular Ethique range which includes shampoo bars, conditioner bars, shaving bars, deodorant bars, moisturiser bars, etc. (all of Ethique‘s bars come in home compostable packaging): Amberley Pharmacy, 127 Carters Road, Amberley; Unichem Medical Corner Pharmacy, 237A High Street, Rangiora; Life Pharmacy, 172-176 High Street, Rangiora; Unichem Fenwick Pharmacy, 129 Williams Street, Kaiapoi; Lincoln Pharmacy, 8 Gerald Street, Lincoln; Unichem Rolleston Central Pharmacy, 9 Masefield Drive, Rolleston; and Industria, 15 Masefield Drive, Rolleston.
• Little Rock, 60 West End, Kaikōura stocks shampoo bars and facial cleanser bars by The Crafty Chook. 
• Get a range of Dirty Hippie bars at Genevieve’s, 47 West End, Kaikōura
• Mumma T, 86 Carters Road, Amberley sells Studio Star face and body soap bars.
• L’Adour, 2 Durham Street, Rangiora – stocks a range of Canterbury made shampoo, face and body soaps
• Gather & You, corner of Ivory and Alfred Streets, Rangiora – sells Lavender Fields shampoo & conditioner bars, and Global soap shampoo bars
• Ohoka Farmers’ Market, 531 Mill Road, Ohoka – you can find unpackaged bars of shampoo & shaving bars at the Naturalus stall. The Atawhai Farm stall also sells handmade deodorant in home compostable cardboard packaging.
• Global Soap – get Global Soap’s shampoo, conditioner, 3-in-1 shower/shaving/shampoo and body soap bars at The Gift Box of Lincoln, 6/19 Gerald Street, Lincoln – stocks
• Inga Ford shampoo and conditioner bars are sold at Industria, 15 Masefield Drive, Rolleston.

Reusable Menstrual Products

There are zero waste, low cost alternatives to disposable sanitary items like tampons and pads.

• Menstrual cups – stocked at Kaikōura Pharmacy, 37 West End, Kaikōura; Countdown Amberley,  Brackenfields Retail Centre, 129 Carters Road, Amberley; Amberley Pharmacy, 127 Carters Road, Amberley; Unichem Medical Corner Pharmacy, 237A High Street, Rangiora; New World, Good Street, Rangiora; Countdown Rangiora, 44 Ivory Street, Rangiora; PAK’nSAVE Rangiora, 2 Southbrook Road, Rangiora; New World Kaiapoi, 52 Charles Street, Kaiapoi; Countdown Kaiapoi, 87-97 Hilton Street, Kaiapoi; New World Lincoln, 77 Gerald Street, Lincoln; Countdown Rolleston, corner of McCauley Street and Rolleston Drive, Rolleston; and New World Rolleston, 92 Rolleston Drive, Rolleston.
• Reusable, washable pads – You can order beautiful reusable, washable pads from Red Fox Reusables, made in Leithfield, North Canterbury. To save on postage waste and cost, you can arrange an appointment to pick up your order!

Shaving

Toiletries/cosmetics in refillable packaging

• Pure and Natural Skincare, Rangiora – if you’re into getting natural, organic, chemical-free skincare without the wasteful packaging, look no further than the Precious Serum and Precious Balm by Pure and natural skincare, handmade from natural ingredients by the radiant and very talented Ute Hoffmann. Apart from being scrumptious skincare products, they are refillable! When you’re finished with your first batch, simply return the bottles to Ute, who will retain them for sterilisation and re-use, and you’ll get $1 off on your next purchase.
• Back to the Wild, 338 Williams Street, Kaiapoi (open by appointment only) – Back to the Wild is a fabulous local Kaiapoi manufacturer of skin & home products that are natural, organic where possible, and affordable. Safe for babies, great for people with sensitive skin, and anyone who wants to cut down on the amount of toxins in their life! Back to the Wild accommodates people living low-waste lifestyles because many of their products come in refillable glass jars, in fact, you get a discount if you return your jars in a good condition – or by bringing a suitable jar in good condition also. Jars are sterilized, and then re-used. This keeps the costs down, as new jars don’t have to be purchased, and saves the jar from needing to be melted down, or going into landfill! It also saves the resources that would be used to make a new jar. If you are local to Kaiapoi then contact Back to the Wild directly to arrange a pick up, so you can save on shipping packaging.

Ingredients for DIY toiletries/cosmetics

• Baking soda – an essential ingredient in homemade toiletries like deodorant and toothpaste. Available in bulk bins at Bin Inn Rangiora, 87 Ivory Street, Rangiora; and Bin Inn Rolleston, 41 Tennyson Street, Rolleston.

Other

• Cotton Buds – Go Bamboo makes home compostable buds so you can avoid the single-use, unrecyclable plastic ones. Get them from New World, 124-128 Beach Road, Kaikōura; The $tockroom, 130-134 Beach Road, Kaikōura; New World Lincoln, 77 Gerald Street, Lincoln; and Bin Inn Rolleston, 41 Tennyson Street, Rolleston.
• Make Up Wipes – Lascivo, 86 Carters Road, Amberley makes and sells lovely 100% cotton small round wipes.

Reuse and Recycle

• Food waste and composting – food waste in a bin gets sent to landfill where it breaks down anaerobically, producing methane (a potent greenhouse gas). No! Here are some alternatives:
  • Home composting/worm farms/bokashi – Having a composting, worm farm or bokashi bin system at home is the best and cheapest way to deal with your food scraps. If you’d like help setting one up or working out what the best system would be for you, in Hurunui District, the council subsidises Bokashi bins and zing (and also pet waste composting systems too!!), which you can purchase at the Amberley Transfer Station, 52 Grays Road, Amberley, or at the Hanmer Springs, Amuri or Cheviot libraries (order and pay in advance). In Waimakariri District, you can buy discounted bokashi bins and zing at the council service centres and the ReSale store at Southbrook Resource and Recovery Park; at the ReSale Store you can also get Earthmaker compost starter kits at a discounted price. Hurunui District Council also subsidises EnsoPet composting systems, which is like Bokashi but for your pet’s waste – pet poo should never go to the landfill when it can make great compost for trees! You can also attend a composting workshop by Eco Educate.
  • Food scrap collections – If you live in Kaikōura, Waimakariri or Selwyn District then, luckily for you, Innovative Waste Kaikōura, 80 Scarborough Street, Kaikōura runs a food/organic waste collection for composting at their commercial compost, and both Waimakariri District Council and Selwyn District Council offer an opt-in user pays organic waste collection service.
  • Somewhere you can drop off food scraps – If you don’t want to set up your own system or sign up to the user-pays one, then Rangiora Community Garden, 115 East Belt, Rangiora will also accept food scraps from households for its compost, so you could take your scraps there instead!
  • Edible food waste – If you are a business in Hurunui and Waimakariri (especially Amberley, Kaiapoi, Rangiora) that is chucking out food that is still edible but not saleable, you can get in touch with Satisfy Food Rescue – an excellent initiative that takes edible food from businesses that would otherwise go to waste, and redistributes it to people who need it.
• E-waste – electronic waste is the world’s fastest growing waste stream, with huge environmental implications because of the toxins that can be leached from this waste, but also the loss of incredibly precious resources embedded in these items that are not recovered when the waste is dumped in landfill.
  • Repair – Rather than throwing you broken electronics out – have you considered trying to get them repaired first? You could pay someone to do it, or look out for Repair or Fix-it Cafes where experts donate their time to fix people’s broken items for free at a designated repair event (usually run by community centres, churches or councils, so ask around to see if someone might be interested to run one).
  • Recycle – If your electronics really have given up the ghost, rather than chucking them out, take them to be recycled – Innovative Waste Kaikōura, 80 Scarborough Street, Kaikōura takes a wide range of electronic-related waste, from batteries and appliances through whiteware and old phones and chargers – see here. In Hurunui District, all transfer stations accept e-waste for recycling, as do the Southbrook Resource Recovery Park and the Oxford Transfer Station in Waimakariri. In some of these places, and/or for some items, you will have to pay a small fee (until the Government starts to regulate manufacturers of these products), but it’s a small cost relative to damage these items otherwise cause in landfill.
• Innovative Waste Kaikōura, 80 Scarborough Street, Kaikōura – this place is amazing and is recognised as one of the leading community recyclers in the country, with a long legacy of diverting huge amounts of Kaikōura’s waste from landfill (over 70%). The team is passionate and super helpful – they’ll have you recycling in no time! The on-site re-use shop is beautiful and a stellar place to find secondhand items rather than buying them new. If you’re undertaking a craft, building or home maker project and need some wood off-cuts, scrap metal, bolts, nuts or other building equipment, come to Innovative Waste first, rather than buying new, you’ll be amazed at what you can find. There’s a reason why locals call this place “Mitre 11” 😉

Zero Waste Information and Support Networks

• Eco Educate – run by Lesley Ottey, Eco Educate is a force of waste minimisation wonder in Waimakariri. Eco Educate runs workshops in schools and in communities on a wide range of waste reducing topics, from composting, gardening, recycling, and rethinking waste. You may have also heard about Lesley’s toy rescue progamme, which is quite amazing! Get in touch if you’re based in Waimakariri and would like to have Lesley run a workshop for you or your local school.
• Businesses fighting disposability – In Rangiora, you’ll surely know about Plastic Straw-Free Rangiora, an initiative triggered by Elisa Leach who owns two eateries/cafes in Rangiora (Fools of Desire and Reality Bites). Elisa decided that she didn’t want her businesses to be contributing to the world’s plastic straw problem, and so she eliminated plastic straws from both Fools of Desire and Reality Bites. Since then, she’s started a larger campaign to rid Rangiora of plastic straws. Thanks to her, Rangiora is leading the way in New Zealand in encouraging businesses and cafes to go plastic straw-free. This is a great model that could spread throughout the region (and the country!), so the next time you order a drink out, give the initiative your support by saying “No straw please!”. You may also be aware that, this year, Elisa is working on making both Fools of Desire and Reality Bites “zero waste” eateries(!!) So do support Elisa in her endeavours. For those in Selwyn District, we were also really impressed by The Lincoln Pantry, 4 Eastfield Drive, Lincoln that has recently stopped offering disposable takeaway coffee cups at their cafe. Now, coffee drinkers can either choose to have their coffee in the cafe in a washable mug, or they can bring along/purchase a reusable coffee cup for their takeaway coffee. Yay!
• The Rubbish Runner – Matt Akehurst, AKA The Rubbish Runner, is based in North Canterbury. Matt has been raising awareness about litter after he decided to test whether he would be able to pick up 7000 pieces of rubbish off Kaiaraki, the beach he runs on every day, in 70 days. Unfortunately, he achieved this target in 47 days. So he then decided to try for 10,000 pieces, but achieved that in 65 days. As he stated in a recent press release, his challenge was “a disappointing success“. Matt is continuing to run and pick up rubbish, sharing his finds on his Facebook and Instagram pages. You can hear him talking about his project in this interview with Radio New Zealand. Recently, he collaborated with artist David Thorpe to produce this video. We recommend following Matt/The Rubbish Runner on social media – he’s planning on taking on new projects and maybe sharing his story in schools, so he’s one to watch in the region!

Share and Exchange

• Clothes Swap – Textile waste is becoming one of the world’s fastest growing waste streams, driven in part by the human desire to replenish our wardrobes regularly with new clothes. But what if there were a way to rejig our wardrobe without having to buy brand new clothes? Enter the idea of the clothes swap! At a clothes swap, you bring along items of clothing you no longer wear or feel you can part with, and take home with you items that you fancy that someone else has brought along. That’s a free, low-impact upgrade to your wardrobe – perfect! If this sounds like a great idea to you, check out the Prebbleton Drop ‘n’ Swap in Selwyn District.
• Toy Libraries – reduce the wasteful over-consumption of toys and save money by joining a toy library! Check out this list of toy libraries in North Canterbury to find the nearest one to you!
• Timebanking – Through timebanking you can share skills and services without the exchange of money, making it a great way to reduce waste on a budget because you can harness skills of creating and repairing that exist in your community (repairing broken clothes or electronics, for example), or having someone pass these skills on to you (how to garden, how to build). Perhaps you have some of these skills already that you could pass on to someone else for time credits? Check out Time-Bank Hurunui, TimeBank Waimakariri, or Time Exchange Kaikōura.
• Sharing Sheds/Community Fruit and Veg Stands – these are stands/shelves in the community where anyone can drop off excess fruit and veg from their garden, and anyone is free to take what’s there, free of charge. The wonderful art of sharing means that excess produce doesn’t go to waste. Furthermore, items can be shared without excessive amounts of packaging. These are popping up around the country. There’s a shelf in Kaikōura at Ludstone Ave, and in Amberley. To find more (or to log in one you know of that’s not in this directory yet), check out Free Food. 

Skills and Resourcefulness in Communities

• Community Gardens – community gardens and are an excellent way for residents to get kai without packaging, and to learn skills of growing food and setting up composts – both very useful skills for low-waste living. There are community gardens dotted around the region, including one run by Te Hā o Mātauranga in Kaikōura, Amberley Community Garden, Rangiora Community Garden and Kaiapoi Community Garden – definitely worth checking out! Community gardens are always looking for volunteers to help out and come along to working bees, so if you are interested in picking up gardening skills, or if you are already a keen gardener and would like to have the opportunity to share your skill with others, consider getting involved with your local community garden.
• Kaiapoi Food Forest, corner of Cass, Meadow Streets and Oram Place – this is a really special place overseen by Brent Cairns (with a group of awesome trustees and the support of the community) on land that was red zoned following the Canterbury earthquakes in Kaiapoi. Along with the help of the community, the Kaiapoi Food Forest trustees are transforming this land into a forager’s dream – a 1.5 acre plot filled with fruit trees, edible plants, mushrooms, and rongoā. It’s open to the public at any time and there are lots of spaces to picnic and relax. Food forests are an excellent place for people to come and learn about how to identify food without packaging, and to increase food resilience and security (i.e. moving beyond reliance on supermarkets). The Food Forest regularly holds planting days where anyone can come along, contribute a plant or some seeds, take part in the planting, or just learn a thing or two about the food forest and the kinds of kai that are growing there.
• Menzshed – Menzshed provides a great opportunity for men of all ages to share tools and a workspace (reducing the wasteful overduplication of these resources) and to pass on skills of woodworking and other trades. Menzsheds frequently offer communities the service of repairing broken items like furniture (at a small cost), work with upcycled material that might otherwise go to waste, and also create bespoke items for community and charitable purposes. Definitely look up your local!
• Te Hā o Mātauranga – Learning in Kaikōura, 14 Ludstone Road, Kaikōura – this place is a total hive of activity, running a wide range of projects that help with low-waste living. The organisation runs a community garden where locals can learn how to grow food and compost (and also take home freshly grown unpackaged food!). They also have a Community Shed on-site that has a shared workspace equipped with tools where locals can come to do their own projects or work with upcycled materials to create items for the community or Te Hā o Mātauranga to use (so allowing materials that might otherwise go to waste get a second life, while also creating a space where people can share tools rather than having to go out and buy their own version of everything). The organisation also runs workshops such as reusable t-shirt bag making workshops. Finally, they’re even setting up a Time Exchange – an excellent way to share skills and services without the exchange of money, allowing you to reduce waste on a budget, harness skills of creating and repairing in your community, or have someone pass these skills on to you.
• The Crafty Place, Beach Road, Kaikōura – come along to The Crafty Place on Monday or Thursday, between 10am-2pm, to carry out your craft, sewing, knitting or other crafty projects with like-minded people. You may even be able to learn new skills to boost your resourcefulness, or pass on your skills to others – like knitting dishcloths, sewing bags, or repairing clothes. Yay!