Zero Waste in Tauranga City (including Mount Maunganui and Papamoa)

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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, tofu and/or deli foods and will happily put these straight into a BYO container – woohoo!

• Doug Jarvis Traditional Butcher, two locations: 3/2 Owens Place, Mount Maunganui; and Papamoa Plaza, Papamoa – this butcher is super keen for people to BYO containers – the owner has even actively encouraged this on social media – yay!
• The Original Aussie Butcher, Gate Pā Shopping Centre, 1000 Cameron Road
• Blackforest Gourmet Butcher, Gate Pā Shopping Centre, 1000 Cameron Road – get European sausages and cheeses into BYO containers
• Merivale Butchery, 393 Fraser Road, Tauranga
• Cherrywood Butchery, 58 Cherrywood Drive, Tauranga – they’re happy to put their products into any container. They told us that some people even bring in a roasting dish on a Saturday to get their roast meat for Sunday without packaging 😉
• Bethlehem Butchery, 237 Tauranga West Road, Tauranga
• Col’s Gourmet Selection, 237 Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui – great range of meat and meat products available in a BYO container
• Sanford Seafood Market, 1 Cross Road, Tauranga – good selection of whole and filleted fish, shellfish and other seafood unpackaged – very keen for people to use their own containers.
• Bobby’s Fresh Fish Market, three locations: 1 Dive Crescent, Tauranga; 213 Chadwick Road, Greerton; and Papamoa Plaza, Papamoa
• Mag’s Fresh Fish, corner Totara and Rata Streets, Mount Maunganui
• The F & C, 30 Gravatt Road, Papamoa – a small range of fish fillets unpackaged you can get in your own container.
• PAK’nSAVE Tauriko, 2 Taurikura Drive, Tauranga; and PAK’nSAVE Papamoa, 42 Domain Road, Papamoa Beach – sells whole fish and prawns in a self-serve area – just BYO container and put them straight in to avoid using the plastic bags provided.
• MuDan Tearoom & Eatery, 4/100 Grey Street, Tauranga – sells home made tofu! BYO containers
• Unpackaged live mussels – there are a number of stores in Tauranga 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 Bobby’s Fresh Fish Market, 1 Dive Street, Tauranga; Sanford Seafood Market, 1 Cross Road, Tauranga; PAK’nSAVE Cameron Road, 476 Cameron Road, Tauranga; New World Gate Pā, 948 Gate Pā Shopping Centre, 1000 Cameron Road, Tauranga; New World Brookfield, 89 Bellevue Road, Tauranga; New World Mount Maunganui, corner Tweed Street and Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui; PAK’nSAVE Tauriko, 2 Taurikura Drive, Tauranga; and PAK’nSAVE Papamoa, 42 Domain Road, Papamoa Beach.
• Gouda Cheese Shop, corner Cameron Road and Sixth Avenue, Tauranga – get many varieties of cheese cut fresh off the round and put straight into your own container.
• Supermarket delis – Most supermarkets have a deli section offering unpackaged meat, seafood, olives and other antipasti, salads, lunch foods and more. All Countdown, New World and PAK’nSAVE supermarkets officially allow you to BYO container for these goods!

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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).

• One Tree Bakery, 109 Devonport Road, Tauranga
• Breadhead, 2a St John Street, Tauranga
• Pocket Bakery – get their breads and baked goods unpackaged at the Mount Mainstreet Farmers’ Market, Phoenix car park, 141 Maunganui Road.
• Flaveur Breads, Bakery at 31 Totara Street, Mount Maunganui; Tauranga cafe at 94 Second Avenue, Tauranga – although this store pre-bags their fresh bread in brown paper bags, you can have them take it out and put into your own bag, and they will reuse the paper bag. Make sure you get in early at the Second Ave cafe or else you can only get bread pre-packaged in plastic!
• Get Mount Sourdough Co breads unpackaged from the following places: their own Factory Outlet, Unit 10/5 York Ave, Mount Maunganui; Col’s Gourmet Selection, 237 Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui; Tay Street Store, 154 Marine Parade, Mount Maunganui; Central Deli, 520 Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui; Plum Organics, 22 Gravatt Road, Papamoa; Four Square Papamoa, Excelsa Centre, 4 Golden Sands Drive, Papamoa; Delicacy Cafe/Juz Catering, Shop 7, 11th Avenue Shopping Plaza, 11th Avenue, Tauranga; Thy Neighbour Coffee Bar, 45 Grey Street, Tauranga; and Bin Inn Bethlehem, Shop H7, Bethlehem Shopping Centre, Bethlehem, Tauranga.
• Get local Better Bread loaves unpackaged at Be Organics, 6 Tawa Street, Mount Maunganui; and Huckleberry, 35 MacDonald Street, Mount Maunganui.
• Gouda Cheese Shop, corner Cameron Road and Sixth Avenue, Tauranga – sells Volare sourdough bread (from Hamilton) unpackaged – BYO bread bag.
• Baker’s Delight, Gate Pa Shopping Centre, 1000 Cameron Road, Tauranga; and 2 Owens Place Bayfair, Unit 5.
• Blomquists Bakery, 1289 Cameron Road, Tauranga
• Loafers Bakery & Lunch Bar, 1297 Cameron Road, Tauranga
• Hot Bread Shop Bakery, 83 Bellevue Road, Tauranga
• The Artisan Bread Bakers, 3/83 Pyes Pa Road, Tauranga
• One Tree Bakery, 204 Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui
• Grants Mount Maunganui Bakery, 314 Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui
• Uppercrust Bakery, 504 Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui
• Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Road, Fashion Island, Papamoa – fresh unpackaged loaves by Hamilton based artisan sourdough bakery, Volare, available on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
• Big Bake Bakery, 18 Gravatt Road, Papamoa Beach.
• 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 developing relationships and systems that enable you to get your favourite fruit, vege and preserves without the packaging. 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. There are three farmers’ markets to check out in Tauranga – Tauranga Farmers Market, Tauranga Primary School, 31 Fifth Ave; Mount Mainstreet Farmers’ Market, Phoenix car park, 141 Maunganui Road; and Oropi Sunday Market, Oropi Memorial Hall, 1295 Oropi Road.
• Co-ops – co-ops can be a great way of getting affordable organics without the packaging. However it’s not always the case that you can bring your own bags and containers for loose goods. Tauranga Co-op is a great option for getting unpackaged organic produce (i.e. fruit and veg and EVEN unpackaged frozen blueberries!!), they’ll also refill tamari sauce, olive oil, butter and cheese into your own containers – yay! At this stage you cannot pack any other wholefoods into your own bags and containers as this is all pre-packed. However, you may be able to ask to drop off your bags/containers beforehand, and when they pack they can pack your order into your bags/containers. Always worth asking!
• Trade Aid – Trade Aid’s 1.5kg sugar bags are great for upcycling as bulk bin bags and are compostable when they do start to fall apart. Trade Aid’s coconut oil is one of the few on the market that does not have a plastic seal around the lid. You can get these goods at Trade Aid, 3/192 Maunganui Road, Mt. Maunganui. Otherwise, the sugar is sold at Huckleberry, 35 MacDonald Street, Mount Maunganui.
• Unpackaged chocolate/truffles/fudge/sweets – a few shops have sweet treats unpackaged that you can have put into your own containers:
  • Silky Oak Chocolates, Piccadilly Arcade, 43 Devonport Road, Tauranga – a range of truffles and fudge.
  • Cabbages and Kings, 46 Grey Street, Tauranga – chocolate truffles.
  • Point of Difference, 1344 Cameron Road, Tauranga – truffles and English sweets.
  • Health Haven, 85 Bellevue Road, Tauranga – chocolate coated sweets.
  • Gouda Cheese Shop, corner Cameron Road and Sixth Avenue, Tauranga – licorice
  • The Source Bulk Foods, Bayfair Shopping Centre, Shop 1019, 19 Girven Road, Mount Maunganui –  stocks a wide range of unpackaged sweets and snacks in bulk.

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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:

• Excelso Coffee Roasters, 112 Third Avenue West, Tauranga
• Fixation Coffee, 10 Dive Crescent, Tauranga
• Fusion Coffee Roasters, 141 Totara St, Mt Maunganui
• The Source Bulk Foods, Bayfair Shopping Centre, Shop 1019, 19 Girven Road, Mount Maunganui
• Bin Inn Bethlehem, Shop H7, Bethlehem Shopping Centre, Bethlehem, Tauranga
• Another roaster that we haven’t had a chance to approach and ask if they will accept BYO containers for unpackaged beans (though they probably do) is Little Drum Coffee, 21 Macdonald Street, Mount Maunganui
• Alternatively, get beans (Trade Aid and Fusion Coffee) whole or ground at Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Rd, Fashion Island, Papamoa.
• You can get cold brew coffee on tap (!) at Huckleberry, 35 MacDonald Street, Mount Maunganui

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:

• Be Organics, 6 Tawa Street, Mount Maunganui
• The Source Bulk Foods, Bayfair Shopping Centre, Shop 1019, 19 Girven Road, Mount Maunganui
• Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Road, Fashion Island, Papamoa.
• Health Shop & Clinic Greerton, 1301 Cameron Road, Tauranga (they usually sell in 100g amounts so make sure you have an appropriate container for this).
• Look out for Herbal Potential tea, which is available in stockists around Tauranga and Mount Maunganui (see the list of stockists on their website). The tea is packaged in brown paper bags that are home compostable.

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 – raw milk is available on tap from a vending machine at The Good Farm, 512 Welcome Bay Road, Tauranga. Simply BYO bottle to fill up, or purchase a reusable glass bottle there that you can then refill on future occasions. Alternatively, you can get Jersey Girl Organics’ milk poured into your own glass bottles (or refillable glass bottles) through the Tauranga Co-op. YAY!
• Return & Refill glass bottle scheme – Dreamview Creamery sells milk in reusable glass bottles – you can get your hands on them at Bin Inn Bethlehem, Shop H7, Bethlehem Shopping Centre, Bethlehem, Tauranga; The Fresh Market/My Green Grocer, Gate Pā Shopping Centre, 1000 Comeron Road, Tauranga; and Col’s Gourmet Selection, 237 Maunganui Road, Mt. Maunganui. How does the system 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 Dreamview Creamery for sterilisation and reuse – so the bottles just go around and around – true zero waste!
• Milk Powder – get milk powder unpackaged in bulk at Spice, Groceries and Dairy, 143 Greerton Road, Tauranga; Bin Inn Bethlehem, Shop H7, Bethlehem Shopping Centre, Bethlehem, Tauranga; and Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Road, Fashion Island, Papamoa.

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:

• Slab Brewing, 1/20 Brook Street, Parkvale – open Fridays and Saturdays, and they’ll fill ANY vessel with their beer!
• The Rising Tide, 107 Newton Street, Mt. Maunganui, which is the home for Mount Brewing Co;
• The Island Brewery, 20 Domain Road, Papamoa Beach
• You can also get Good George beer (Hamilton brewery) on tap at Good Local, 83 Pyes Pa Road, Tauranga – though note you can only use the Good George bottles as they are a particular size.
• Liquorland Tauranga, 395 Cameron Road, Tauranga
• Liquorland Otumoetai, 50 Bureta Road, Tauranga
• Liquorland Mount Maunganui, 1 Owens Place
• Liquor King Mount Maunganui, 290 Maunganui Road.
• Super Liquor Greerton, 1235 Cameron Road, Tauranga (non-craft beer options here)

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).

• Drinking chocolate – get drinking chocolate and cocoa powder in bulk at Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Road, Fashion Island, Papamoa.
• Kombucha – locally-made Lucy’s Booch kombucha operates with a bottle return system (bring your empty bottle back and you’ll get a $1 refund, and the bottle will get returned to Lucy’s Booch for sterilisation and refill) – you can get Lucy’s Booch at The Gluten & Allergy Free Shop, 435 Cameron Road, Tauranga. You can also get Organic Mechanic kombucha refills on tap (though you have to use OM bottles) at Huckleberry, 35 MacDonald Street, Mount Maunganui; and other varieties at Bin Inn Bethlehem, Shop H7, Bethlehem Shopping Centre, Bethlehem, Tauranga; Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Road, Fashion Island, Papamoa; and The Source Bulk Foods, Bayfair Shopping Centre, Shop 1019, 19 Girven Road, Mount Maunganui (also do water kefir on tap).

Reusable drinking vessels (cups and water bottles)

Refills of cleaning products

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

• Replenish, Unit 12, 60 Parton Rd, Papamoa Beach – stocks Littlefoot cleaning products who take their bulk containers back to be reused
• Bin Inn Bethlehem, Shop H7, Bethlehem Shopping Centre, Bethlehem, Tauranga.
• Huckleberry, 35 MacDonald Street, Mount Maunganui (Ecostore)
• The Source Bulk Foods, Bayfair Shopping Centre, Shop 1019, 19 Girven Road, Mount Maunganui – stocks Conscious cleaning products who take their bulk containers back to be reused
• Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Rd, Fashion Island, Papamoa – stocks Conscious cleaning products who take their bulk containers back to be reused

Home compostable veggie brushes (which you can use as a handle-less dishbrush) are sold at Delicacy Cafe/Juz Catering, Shop 7, 11th Avenue Shopping Plaza, 11th Avenue, Tauranga; Bin Inn Bethlehem, Shop H7, Bethlehem Shopping Centre, Bethlehem, Tauranga; Simply Organic, 771 Cameron Road, Tauranga; Gourmet Trader, Gate Pa Shopping Centre, 1000 Cameron Road, Tauranga; Be Organics, 6 Tawa Street, Mount Maunganui; Paper Plane, 100 Maunganui Road, Mt. Maunganui; Huckleberry, 35 MacDonald Street, Mount Maunganui; Replenish, Unit 12, 60 Parton Rd, Papamoa Beach; Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Road, Fashion Island, Papamoa; and Plum Organics, 22 Gravatt Road, Papamoa.

Laundry

• Eco Planet and Earthwise laundry powders come in a cardboard box with a cardboard scoop (or no scoop at all for Earthwise!) – no plastic lining! You can get one or both from PAK’nSAVE Cameron Road, 476 Cameron Road, Tauranga; New World Gate Pa, Gate Pa Shopping Centre, 1000 Cameron Road, Tauranga; New World Brookfield, 89 Bellevue Road, Tauranga; New World Mount Maunganui, corner of Maunganui Road and Tweed Street; FreshChoice Papamoa, 20 Coast Boulevard, Papamoa Beach; and PAK’nSAVE Papamoa, 42 Domain Road, Papamoa Beach.
• Soapnuts – a natural nut that releases saponin that you can use instead of laundry powder and you can compost when ‘spent’. Available in bulk dispensers at Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Rd, Fashion Island, Papamoa. Or else, look out for Soapnuts NZ soapnuts that come in a cardboard box with no plastic lining. You can get them at Unichem John’s Photo Pharmacy, corner of Second Avenue and Cameron Road, Tauranga
• Get laundry soap bars at Be Organics, 6 Tawa Street, Mount Maunganui
• Alternatives to plastic clothes pegs – get bamboo, wooden and/or stainless steel clothes pegs at  Bin Inn Bethlehem, Shop H7, Bethlehem Shopping Centre, Bethlehem, Tauranga; New World Gate Pa, Gate Pa Shopping Centre, 1000 Cameron Road, Tauranga; Gourmet Trader, Gate Pa Shopping Centre, 1000 Cameron Road, Tauranga; Be Organics, 6 Tawa Street, Mount Maunganui; Huckleberry, 35 MacDonald Street, Mount Maunganui; Flux Boutique, 277 Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui; The Gilded Edge, 162 Maunganui Road, Mt. Maunganui; Paper Plane, 100 Maunganui Road, Mt. Maunganui or Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Rd, Fashion Island, Papamoa.

Ingredients for DIY cleaning products

• Baking soda – available unpackaged in bulk bins at Spice World, 757 Cameron Road, Tauranga; Choice Food and Spices, 504 Cameron Road, Tauranga; Quality Food and Spices, 367 Cameron Road, Tauranga; Indo Spice World, 145 Chadwick Road, Greerton; The Source Bulk Foods, Bayfair Shopping Centre, Shop 1019, 19 Girven Road, Mount Maunganui; and Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Rd, Fashion Island, Papamoa.
• White vinegar – available on tap (BYO bottles) at The Source Bulk Foods, Bayfair Shopping Centre, Shop 1019, 19 Girven Road, Mount Maunganui
• Bars of castile soap, which you can use as a base for homemade dishwashing and laundry liquid (see how it works here) – get the Eco-castile brand at Unichem John’s Photo Pharmacy, corner of Second Avenue and Cameron Road, Tauranga. Dr Bronner’s castile bars are available at Bin Inn Bethlehem, Shop H7, Bethlehem Shopping Centre, Bethlehem, Tauranga; Huckleberry, 35 MacDonald Street, Mount Maunganui; Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Rd, Fashion Island, Papamoa; and Plum Organics, 22 Gravatt Road, Papamoa.

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 The Gluten & Allergy Free Shop, 435 Cameron Road, Tauranga; New World Gate Pa, Gate Pa Shopping Centre, 1000 Cameron Road, Tauranga; Unichem John’s Photo Pharmacy, corner of Second Avenue and Cameron Road, Tauranga; New World Brookfield, 89 Bellevue Road, Tauranga; Bin Inn Bethlehem, Shop H7, Bethlehem Shopping Centre, Bethlehem, Tauranga; Four Square Cherrywood, 52 Cherrywood Drive, Tauranga; PAK’nSAVE Tauriko, 2 Taurikura Drive, Tauranga; Bethlehem Health & Tea Shop, 299c Tauranga West Road, Tauranga; Flux Boutique, 277 Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui; Be Organics, 6 Tawa Street, Mount Maunganui; Mount Pharmacy, 132 Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui; Downtown Pharmacy Mount Maunganui, 152 Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui; New World Mount Maunganui, corner of Maunganui Road and Tweed Street; Huckleberry, 35 MacDonald Street, Mount Maunganui; The Source Bulk Foods, Bayfair Shopping Centre, Shop 1019, 19 Girven Road, Mount Maunganui; FreshChoice Papamoa, 20 Coast Boulevard, Papamoa Beach; Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Rd, Fashion Island, Papamoa; Plum Organics, 22 Gravatt Road, Papamoa; My Pharmacy, Papamoa Plaza, Papamoa; Replenish, Unit 12, 60 Parton Rd, Papamoa Beach; or horrendously expensive ones at Paper Plane, 99 Maunganui Road, Mt. Maunganui.
• Dental Floss – Be Organics, 6 Tawa Street, Mount Maunganui; and Huckleberry, 35 MacDonald Street, Mount Maunganui both stock The Eco Floss in a glass dispenser. The floss is PLA, which is compostable. Sometimes PLA can’t be hard to break down in a home compost but in floss form it is probably OK. This is a good alternative for vegans who may not want to use silk floss.

Unpackaged Bars of Soap

It’s easy to get soap without packaging in Tauranga. The following stores sell totally naked bars of soap:

• Complete Health, Gate Pā Shopping Centre, 1000 Cameron Road, Tauranga
• Unichem John’s Photo Pharmacy, corner of Second Avenue and Cameron Road, Tauranga
• Paddington Store, Bayfair Shopping Centre, 19 Girven Road, Mount Maunganui
• Whisp, Piccadilly Arcade, 43 Devonport Road, Tauranga
• Tres Chic, 80 Grey Street, Tauranga
• Simply Gifts, 108 Devonport Road, Tauranga
• Bin Inn Bethlehem, Shop H7, Bethlehem Shopping Centre, Bethlehem, Tauranga
• Bethlehem Health & Tea Shop, 299c Tauranga West Road, Tauranga
• Whimzee Boutique, 128 Chadwick Road, Greerton
• Neptunes, 188 Maunganui Road, Mt. Maunganui
• Be Organics, 6 Tawa Street, Mount Maunganui
• Huckleberry, 35 MacDonald Street, Mount Maunganui
• The Source Bulk Foods, Bayfair Shopping Centre, Shop 1019, 19 Girven Road, Mount Maunganui
• Replenish, Unit 12, 60 Parton Rd, Papamoa Beach
• Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Rd, Fashion Island, Papamoa
• Delectable Collectables, 34 Gravatt Road, Papamoa
• My Pharmacy, Papamoa Plaza, Papamoa

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!

• A couple of 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): Unichem John’s Photo Pharmacy, corner of Second Avenue and Cameron Road, Tauranga; Unichem Metro Pharmacy, Bethlehem Shopping Centre, 19 Bethlehem Road, Tauranga; Huckleberry, 35 MacDonald Street, Mount Maunganui; Farmers/Stevens, Bayfair Shopping Centre, 19 Girven Road, Mount Maunganui; Unichem Papamoa Pharmacy, 26 Gravatt Road, Papamoa; Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Road, Fashion Island, Papamoa; and Plum Organics, 22 Gravatt Road, Papamoa.
• Get a range of toiletries bars from Replenish, Unit 12, 60 Parton Rd, Papamoa Beach
• The Source Bulk Foods, Bayfair Shopping Centre, Shop 1019, 19 Girven Road, Mount Maunganui – do their own brand of shampoo and shaving bars.
• Get Fair + Square toiletries bars at Paddington Store, Bayfair Shopping Centre, 19 Girven Road, Mount Maunganui; and Neon Gypsy, 176 Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui.
• Get the Blue Earth range of soap bars at Simply Organic, 771 Cameron Road, Tauranga (other brands here too, like Frankie and Caliwoods); The Gilded Edge, 162 Maunganui Road, Mt. Maunganui; and Cosmic, Bayfair Shopping Centre, 19 Girven Road, Mount Maunganui
• Neche, 187 Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui – stocks Wouldn’t Know ’em from a Bar of Soap Co shaving and activated charcoal facial cleansing bars.
• Good Cube toiletries bars are stocked at Huckleberry, 35 MacDonald Street, Mount Maunganui
• Get Simple Naked Soap shampoo bars in cotton bags from Bin Inn Bethlehem, Shop H7, Bethlehem Shopping Centre, Bethlehem, Tauranga.
• Find Forage shampoo, conditioner and shaving bars at The Gluten & Allergy Free Shop, 435 Cameron Road, Tauranga.
• Get Ahhh shampoo and conditioner bars at most New World supermarkets
• Find various brands of deodorant, moisturiser, lip balm, dry shampoo and more that come in home compostable cardboard tubes at Colony, 153 Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui; New World Mount Maunganui, corner of Maunganui Road and Tweed Street; and Huckleberry, 35 MacDonald Street, Mount Maunganui.

Reusable Menstrual Products

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

• Menstrual cups are readily available around Tauranga, including at Life Pharmacy, 53 Devonport Road, Tauranga; New World Gate Pa, Gate Pa Shopping Centre, 1000 Cameron Road, Tauranga; Unichem John’s Photo Pharmacy, corner of Second Avenue and Cameron Road, Tauranga; Health Haven, 85 Bellevue Road, Tauranga; New World Brookfield, 89 Bellevue Road, Tauranga; PAK’nSAVE Tauriko, 2 Taurikura Drive, Tauranga; The Crossing Pharmacy, 2 Taurikura Drive, Tauranga; Bethlehem Health & Tea Shop, 299c Tauranga West Road, Tauranga; Be Organics, 6 Tawa Street, Mount Maunganui; Health 2000, 194 Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui; New World Mount Maunganui, corner of Maunganui Road and Tweed Street; Huckleberry, 35 MacDonald Street, Mount Maunganui; FreshChoice Papamoa, 20 Coast Boulevard, Papamoa Beach; Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Road, Fashion Island, Papamoa; Plum Organics, 22 Gravatt Road, Papamoa; and My Pharmacy, Papamoa Plaza, Papamoa.
• Reusable pads – available at Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Road, Fashion Island, Papamoa.

Shaving

Avoid plastic shavers that are designed to be disposable and go for 100% metal razors that will last you decades and only require the 100% metal and recyclable blades to be replaced (or sharpened with a leather strop!), and remember to use a bar of shaving soap instead of shaving foam that comes in an aerosol can (see above) – note, you’ll need a shaving brush to make this work. You can buy razors and replacement blades from Barbershop Co, 79 Devonport Road, Tauranga; Bay Barbers, Piccadilly Arcade, 43 Devonport Road, Tauranga; Simply Organic, 771 Cameron Road, Tauranga; Greerton Barber/Jim Keown Barber, 1320 Cameron Road, Tauranga (as well as shaving brushes here); Bin Inn Bethlehem, Shop H7, Bethlehem Shopping Centre, Bethlehem, Tauranga; Paper Plane, 100 Maunganui Road, Mt. Maunganui (blades are plastic wrapped); The Gilded Edge, 162 Maunganui Road, Mt. Maunganui; and Be Organics, 6 Tawa Street, Mount Maunganui. You can get unpackaged shaving brushes from Cabbages and Kings, 46 Grey Street, Tauranga; and Paper Plane, 99 Maunganui Road, Mt. Maunganui (with shaving soap bars).

Liquid toiletries on tap

The following stores stock liquid toiletries in bulk dispensers for refills – BYO bottles!

• Bin Inn Bethlehem, Shop H7, Bethlehem Shopping Centre, Bethlehem, Tauranga
• Huckleberry, 35 MacDonald Street, Mount Maunganui stocks Ecostore liquid bathroom products on tap (just BYO bottles!)
• Replenish, Unit 12, 60 Parton Rd, Papamoa Beach – stocks Littlefoot toiletires who take their bulk containers back to be reused

Ingredients for DIY cosmetics/toiletries

• Baking Soda is an essential ingredient in lots of homemade toiletries such as toothpaste and deodorant. You can get it unpackaged in bulk bins from Spice World, Cameron Road, Tauranga; Choice Food and Spices, 504 Cameron Road, Tauranga; Quality Food and Spices, 367 Cameron Road, Tauranga; Indo Spice World, 145 Chadwick Road, Greerton; Bin Inn Bethlehem, Shop H7, Bethlehem Shopping Centre, Bethlehem, Tauranga; and The Source Bulk Foods, Bayfair Shopping Centre, Shop 1019, 19 Girven Road, Mount Maunganui
• Epsom salts – get these into your own bags/containers through the Tauranga Co-op.

Other

• Cotton Buds – get bamboo home compostable buds so you can avoid the single-use, unrecyclable plastic ones. Get them from The Gluten & Allergy Free Shop, 435 Cameron Road, Tauranga; Bin Inn Bethlehem, Shop H7, Bethlehem Shopping Centre, Bethlehem, Tauranga; Mount Pharmacy, 132 Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui; Be Organics, 6 Tawa Street, Mount Maunganui; Huckleberry, 35 MacDonald Street, Mount Maunganui; Replenish, Unit 12, 60 Parton Rd, Papamoa Beach; Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Rd, Fashion Island, Papamoa; and Plum Organics, 22 Gravatt Road, Papamoa.
• Toilet Paper – get Greencane and/or With Small toilet paper (both of which are wrapped in home compostable packaging) at Huckleberry, 35 MacDonald Street, Mount Maunganui (also Bambaloo TP); Bin Inn Papamoa, 30 F Gravatt Rd, Fashion Island, Papamoa; and Replenish, Unit 12, 60 Parton Rd, Papamoa Beach. Also, EarthSmart toilet paper wrapped in a paper packet is sold at most supermarkets
• Medicinal ingredients – Health Shop & Clinic Greerton, 1301 Cameron Road, Tauranga stocks a few things like vitamin C powder and bee pollen which could possibly be put into your own jar/container, you just have to arrange with them when they are packing those items.

Reuse and Recycle

• Regional Waste and Recycling Directory – the Bay of Plenty Regional Council has an excellent, user friendly waste and recycling directory on their website. So if you’ve got a hard to recycle item or material, see if you can find a place to recycle it here.
• 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, Tauranga City Council runs worm farm workshops (and attendees get a free worm bin to take home!). You could also consider linking up with your local community garden (see below); a great way to pick up some composting skills.
  • Why Waste – Why Waste leases worm farms to businesses and households at a monthly rate. With this service, the customer not only gets a worm farm on their property for their organic waste, but a vermicompost expert from Why Waste will come and look after it for you regularly – hassle free! What a great idea and it means that, rather than someone taking the organic waste ‘away’ for you, the business or household deals with this waste themselves, on their property – magic!
  • Dropping off your food scraps somewhere – If you’d like to break the food down yourself but haven’t got a garden to put into, check if you can drop food scraps off at the compost bin in your local community garden. Alternatively, if you’re struggling to set up a system in your own home, OR if you have space in your compost for others, check out Sharewaste, New Zealand’s nationwide website linking up people with composts with those who don’t!
  • Edible business food waste – food that is still edible that goes to waste is a crying shame. Good Neighbour runs an excellent food rescue programme across Tauranga, rescuing food from businesses that is not good enough to sell, but is still good enough to eat, and redistributing it to social justice organisations who can pass it on to people who need it most.
• Garden waste/green waste – accepted at the Te Maunga transfer station in Mount Maunganui for a charge. Find more information here.
• 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. 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). If your electronics really have given up the ghost, rather than chucking them out, take them to be recycled responsibly. You can drop off whiteware for recycling at Te Maunga transfer station in Mount Maunganui, check out the list here. Most are free to recycle but some, such as fridges and freezers, attract a charge. Your best option for e-recycling of computers and other e-waste is Computer Recyclers, 49 Turrett Road, Tauranga, or Information Technology Solutions. Tauranga City Council also partners with RE:MOBILE, a mobile phone recycling project, and has drop-off points across the city, including at the Council’s Willow Street service centre, either of the resource recovery parks at Te Maunga or Maleme Street, and cardboard collection boxes at public libraries in the city centre, Greerton, Papamoa or Mount Maunganui.
• Scrap metal – there are many scrap metal dealers around Tauranga and Mount Maunganui who accept any quantity of scrap metal (big and small) from residents and industry (will buy the scrap metal off you), including Metal Man Recyclers, 6 Koromiko Street, Tauranga; Scrapman, 37 Maleme Street, Tauranga; Mount Metal Recyclers, 35 Maru Street, Mt. Maunganui; and Metalco Recyclers, 26 Aerodrome Road, Mt Maunganui.
• Secondhand materials – apart from one of the many opshops in Tauranga, check out the Doing Good Foundation Charity Shop, 321 Fraser Street, Tauranga for a good selection of building/construction materials for renovations.

Zero Waste Information and Support Networks

• Tauranga Zero Wasters – a closed Facebook group for Tauranga locals to share, seek and advocate for waste reduction ideas in the city. A great place to find out about Tauranga specific options and initiatives that can help the community to produce less waste. Much like the nationwide Facebook group Zero Waste in NZ!, only localised – its great to see more and more of these local networks emerging!
• Para Kore – Para Kore is an amazing organisation working with marae, kura and Māori institutions and businesses to transition towards zero waste. Their resources/services are free and their regional kaiārahi are totally fabulous. Para Kore’s Kaiārahi for Tauranga will be announced soon, so watch this space… 🙂
• Environmental Education for Resource Sustainability Trust (EERST) – though operating across the country, EERST’s base is in Tauranga (for which Tauranga should be very proud!). EERST leads the way in providing education to schools, communities and businesses on topics that relate to earth savvy resource usage and waste minimisation. They run a whole host of zero waste programmes and are the creators of the amazing and very popular Paper4Trees project. If your business, school or community group would like to upskill in the areas of zero waste and waste minimisation, getting in touch with EERST would be an excellent place to start!
• Waste Watchers Ltd – Does your school, business, or workplace need expert, logistical help minimising waste? If yes, get in touch with Waste Watchers Ltd, who offer a whole range of services to “Slim your Bin!” Run by the legendary Marty Hoffart.

Share and Exchange

• Toy Libraries – reduce the wasteful over-consumption of toys and save money by joining a toy library! Check out this guide to find the nearest Toy Library to you.
• Crop Swap – At a crop swap, individuals who have veges or seedlings they’ve grown, preserves or baking they’ve made (or similar), or even home-made knitting/crochet (etc.) crafts (anything made or grown by your hands), come together once a fortnight or once a month, to trade their offerings without any money changing hands – all free! Just bring something to share and let the swapping begin! Trading homegrown or home created goodies with friends and locals means you can avoid all that packaging that often comes with a store setting. You can also have friendly chats about how to share goods without the waste. There are crop swaps around Tauranga (keep an eye out for new ones popping up), including this one on the fourth Saturday of each month, from 2pm-3pm. Yay!
• 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 great wee shelf in Matua, on Percival Avenue.

Skills and Resourcefulness in Communities

• Community gardens/urban planting – community gardens 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 some great community gardens around Tauranga and Mount Maunganui – many run by Good Neighbour through their Let’s Get Growing! programme where you can rent a raised garden bed for your use for $20 a month. 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.
• ReMaker Space,  Our Place, 91 Willow Street, Tauranga City – a wonderful community asset. The ReMaker Space is all about fostering the skills and the know-how for resourceful sustainable living. Check out their workshops and events, as well as their drop-in workshop spaces featuring sewing machines and wood workshops (you can drop-in at designated times). All run from shipping containers with all the tools and the talented people you need to get your resourcefulness going!
• DIY Shed/Menzshed – there are Menzsheds throughout the Bay of Plenty, the closest being in Mount Maunganui. We’ve heard through the grapevine that Tauranga may also soon be getting a gender inclusive DIY shed too – woohoo! Community sheds enable people of all ages to get together to share tools and a workspace (reducing the wasteful overduplication of these resources) to learn and pass on skills of woodworking and other trades. Community sheds 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!
• Boomerang Bags Tauranga – joining a group that is sewing reusable bags to give out to the community is a great way to learn to sew while helping to reduce plastic bag consumption and these groups are always looking for volunteers (regardless of whether or not you have prior sewing knowledge). Boomerang Bags does this and has taken New Zealand by storm, and there’s a really vibrant Boomerang Bags group in Tauranga that runs sewing bees regularly across the city!
• Envirohub Bay of Plenty  – Envirohub runs and helps to support a range of workshops and projects, many of which are relevant to waste reduction and low-waste living, all across the Bay of Plenty (though their head office is in Tauranga). So keep your eyes on their website for updates about events and goings-on around you 😀 They also run the Zero Single-use Plastic campaign, a programme that businesses can sign-up to if they wish to pledge to reduce single-use plastics, and Envirohub will offer them support, advice and information on changes they can make.