Zero Waste on the Coromandel Peninsula (including Thames-Coromandel and Hauraki Districts)

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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!

• Bite Cafe, 601 Mackay Street, Thames – this store stocks a range of delicatessen meat, cheese and treats products which they will happily put in your BYO bags/containers.
• The Coromandel Smoking Co., 70 Tiki Road, Coromandel Town – will put their delicious smoked mussels and other smoked fish directly into your BYO container – packaging free!
• Coromandel & Whitianga Takeaways, 124 Wharf Road, Coromandel Town and corner of Albert Street and Hannan Road, Whitianga – unpackaged fresh fish
• Coromandel Meatkeeper, 55 Kapanga Road, Coromandel Township – this butcher will put cuts of meat directly into your BYO container, otherwise they wrap cuts of meat in paper (rather than plastic).
• Whitianga Butchery, corner Coghill and Albert Streets – encourages people to BYO containers, very happy to do so
• 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 New World Whitianga, 1 Joan Gaskell Drive, Whitianga
• The German Bakery, 54 Seddon Street, Waihi – get sauerkraut and other deli foods in glass jars that you can return for a refund, and these jars get sterilised and reused!
• 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).

• Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames – stocks loaves of Better Bread
• The Fillery, 24 Albert Street, Whitianga – you can pre-order Volare sourdough bread, just ask for it to come unpackaged and BYO bread bag!
• Coromandel Bakehouse, 92 Wharf Road, Coromandel Town
• Colville General Store, 2314 Colville Road, Colville – stocks organic bread made in Papa Aroha. This bread is packaged, but in supposedly home-compostable packaging.
• Love It Bakery, 74 Albert Street, Whitianga
• Bay Bakery, 32 Monk Street, Whitianga
• The German Bakery, 54 Seddon Street, Waihi
• 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. A real standout is the Thames Market, which is endeavouring to be plastic-free (and doing a pretty darn good job of it!), and there are lots of things on offer that you should be able to get rubbish-free if you BYO bags and containers, including locally produced plants, fruit and vegs, bric-a-brac, second hand goods, arts and crafts, fine food, cheeses, speciality oils, health and body care products, flowers, bread, and knit wares.
• Colville General Store, 2314 Colville Road, Colville – sells dog food and chicken feed in bulk
• Hereford ‘n a Pickle, 2318 Colville Road, Colville – makes and sells pickles and jams in glass jars that you can return when empty for sterilisation and refill.

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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:

• Bin Inn Thames, 707 Pollen St, Thames
• Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames – stocks unpackaged Coffee Lala beans in bulk bins, and have instore grinder – BYO jar.
• Colville General Store, 2314 Colville Road, Colville.
• Aspire Refill, 417 Port Road, Whangamatā

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:

• Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames.

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 TWO locations: Farmgate Milk, 3263 Tairua Whitianga Road, Whitianga (organic milk); and Buttercup Dairies, 124 Hauraki Road, Turua. Simply BYO bottle to fill up, or purchase a reusable glass bottle there that you can then refill on future occasions.

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:

• Super Liquor, 600 Port Road, Whangamatā
• Liquor King, 35 Wharf Road, Coromandel – doesn’t do beer refills, but does do refills of port and sherry (!)

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).

• Kombucha – you can get kombucha on tap at The Sustainable Pantry, 19 Seddon Street, Waihi; and Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames.

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 bottles/containers!

• Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames – stocks Little Foot liquid cleaning products – when the store’s bulk dispensers are empty, they are returned to Little Foot for refill, so there’s even less waste overall!
• Bin Inn Thames, 707 Pollen St, Thames
• Thames Organic Shop,  736 Pollen St, Thames (Ecostore)
• The Fillery, 24 Albert Street, Whitianga (Little Foot and Figgy & Co)
• Aspire Refill, 417 Port Road, Whangamatā (Ecostore)
• The Sustainable Pantry, 19 Seddon Street, Waihi (Ecostore)

Low-waste dishwashing

You can find dishbrushes with wooden handles and removable + replaceable, home compostable heads at Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames; The Fillery, 24 Albert Street, Whitianga; Aspire Refill, 417 Port Road, Whangamatā; and The Sustainable Pantry, 19 Seddon Street, Waihi. You can get Go Bamboo veggie brushes which work well as dish scrubbers from Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames; Four Square Coromandel Town, 50 Wharf Road; Colville General Store, 2314 Colville Road, Colville; The Fillery, 24 Albert Street, Whitianga; and All Things Organic, 237 Main Road, Tairua.

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, get SPRUCE cotton/cellulose sponge cloths, that are home compostable at end of life, at The Fillery, 24 Albert Street, Whitianga; and Aspire Refill, 417 Port Road, Whangamatā; or check out Bargains N More, 67 Seddon Street, Waihi, which stocks cloths/sponges made of bamboo and ramie, and should be home compostable at the end of their life.
• 100% cotton dishcloths are available at Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames; Fagans, 33 Albert Street, Whitianga (organic cotton); Aspire Refill, 417 Port Road, Whangamatā; Bella Design, 648 Port Road, Whangamatā; The Sustainable Pantry, 19 Seddon Street, Waihi; and Art Market, 65 Seddon Street, Waihi (both locally made)
• Fancy Bianca Lorenne cotton dishcloths are available at Agnes + Annabel, 26 Campbell Street, Whitianga
• Get 100% coconut fibre scourers at Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames; and Aspire Refill, 417 Port Road, Whangamatā.

And get locally made dish soap bars in just a cardboard sleeve (plus old-school steel soap shakers) from The Fillery, 24 Albert Street, Whitianga

Laundry

• Eco Planet laundry powder comes in a cardboard box with no inner plastic lining, and the scoop is also made of cardboard. Find it at Four Square Coromandel Town, 50 Wharf Road; and New World Whitianga, 1 Joan Gaskell Drive, Whitianga; or Living Green washing powder at Countdown Whitianga, 24 Joan Gaskell Drive, Whitianga.
• Soapnuts – natural nut shells that release saponin (like soap) in water and can be used for laundry. Once spent, the shells can be home composted. You can find the Soapnuts brand, which comes in a cardboard box, no plastic lining, at Thames Organic Shop,  736 Pollen St, Thames and All Things Organic, 237 Main Road, Tairua.
• Non-plastic clothes pegs – Bamboo pegs are available at All Things Organic, 237 Main Road, Tairua. Local schools in Thames are also selling non-plastic clothes pegs for fundraisers – so keep your eyes peeled! You can also get stainless steel pegs from Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames; Aspire Refill, 417 Port Road, Whangamatā; and The Sustainable Pantry, 19 Seddon Street, Waihi.

Ingredients for DIY cleaning products

• Baking soda & washing soda – find this in bulk bins at Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames; and baking soda at Aspire Refill, 417 Port Road, Whangamatā; and The Sustainable Pantry, 19 Seddon Street, Waihi.
• White vinegar – available on tap at Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames; and The Sustainable Pantry, 19 Seddon Street, Waihi.
• Epsom salts – find this in bulk bins at Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames; and The Sustainable Pantry, 19 Seddon Street, Waihi.
• Bars of castile soap/dishwashing bars (which you can use as a base for homemade dishwashing and laundry liquid) – Health 2000 Whitianga, 4 Coghill Street stocks bars of Dr Bronner’s castille soap.

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 Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames; Thames Organic Shop,  736 Pollen St, Thames; Colville General Store, 2314 Colville Road, Colville; Four Square Coromandel Town, 50 Wharf Road; The Fillery, 24 Albert Street, Whitianga; Agnes + Annabel, 26 Campbell Street, Whitianga; All Things Organic, 237 Main Road, Tairua; and Aspire Refill, 417 Port Road, Whangamatā. There are some at New World Whitianga, 1 Joan Gaskell Drive, Whitianga, but the packaging contains plastic…. Duh!
• Floss – both Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames and Countdown Whitianga, 24 Joan Gaskell Drive, Whitianga 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, bamboo and activated charcoal 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 cardboard box from Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames as well – just pop the refill into your original metal/glass dispenser. You can get Ecofloss PLA vegan floss at Aspire Refill, 417 Port Road, Whangamatā – PLA does not usually decompose in a home compost, but it’s such a small thing it might be worth a try…
• Toothpaste/Mouthwash – at Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames; and Aspire Refill, 417 Port Road, Whangamatā, you can get SOLID Oral Care‘s toothpaste, toothy tabs and mouthwash ALL in glass bottles/jars which you can return for a discount, and the bottles/jars get taken back by SOLID for sterilisation and reuse!

Unpackaged Bars of Soap

The following stores sell totally naked bars of soap, or in compostable paper: 

• Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames
• Star Gallery, 24 Kapanga Road, Coromandel Town
• Colville General Store, 2314 Colville Road, Colville
• The Fillery, 24 Albert Street, Whitianga
• Mint, 14 Coghill Street, Whitianga
• Aspire Refill, 417 Port Road, Whangamatā
• The Sustainable Pantry, 19 Seddon Street, Waihi (local soapmakers Humming Earth)
• Divine Delights, 88 Seddon Street, Waihi.

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!

• 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) is stocked at Thames Organic Shop, 736 Pollen St, Thames.
• Get the full Dirty Hippie range of toiletries bars and tubes at Aspire Refill, 417 Port Road, Whangamatā.
• Get Naturally Coromandel shampoo bars at at Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames; and Aspire Refill.
• Get shampoo bars by Soap Plus in compostable cardboard/paper Star Gallery, 24 Kapanga Road, Coromandel Town; and Mint, 14 Coghill Street, Whitianga.
• The Sustainable Pantry, 19 Seddon Street, Waihi – stocks shampoo bars made by local soapmakers Humming Earth.
• You can now purchase deodorant and moisturiser that comes in cardboard, home compostable tubes – yay! The Aroha 4 U brand is sold at All Things Organic, 237 Main Road, Tairua; the Raw Nature brand is sold at Re-Store, in Thames; and Aspire Refill in Whangamatā.

Reusable Menstrual Products

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

• You can get menstrual cups at Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames; Thames Organic Shop, 736 Pollen St, Thames; Unichem Coromandel Pharmacy, 89 Kapanga Road, Coromandel Town; Countdown Whitianga, 24 Joan Gaskell Drive, Whitianga; New World Whitianga, 1 Joan Gaskell Drive, Whitianga; All Things Organic, 237 Main Road, Tairua; and The Sustainable Pantry, 19 Seddon Street, Waihi (here you can get MyCup menstrual cups for just a donation! The Sustainable Pantry have set up a non-profit scheme to ensure menstrual cups are accessible to all).
• Get cups and reusable pads at The Fillery, 24 Albert Street, Whitianga; and Aspire Refill, 417 Port Road, Whangamatā.

Shaving

Liquid Toiletries on Tap or Refillable Toiletries

• KAIAS Naturals – this wonderful local business creates natural hair, skin and oral care products and offers customers a 10% discount if they return containers for refills (yes, seriously!). You can either purchase online, or get their products from All Things Organic, 237 Main Road, Tairua.
• Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames – stocks Littlefoot toiletries on tap in bulk dispensers, which get sent back to Littlefoot for washing and reuse.
• The Fillery, 24 Albert Street, Whitianga – Littlefoot and Figgy & Co
• Aspire Refill, 417 Port Road, Whangamatā – Ecostore

Other

• Sunscreen – see if you can find sunscreen packaged sustainably, either in cardboard (which us compostable) or in a jar/tin that you can reuse. At Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames, get Sol zinc-based sunscreen, and get Dirty Hippie sun cream in glass jars or compostable cardboard tubes at Aspire Refill, 417 Port Road, Whangamatā. You can also get very small cardboard packaged sunscreen at Unichem Stephensons Pharmacy, corner of Albert Street and Blacksmith Lane, Whitianga. Or get locally made Beekeeper’s Daughter sunscreen in a little glass jar at Mint, 14 Coghill Street, Whitianga. Get Essone also in a glass jar at Eden Clinic, 57 Albert Street, Whitianga.
• Cotton Buds – Go Bamboo makes home compostable buds so you can avoid the single-use, unrecyclable plastic ones. Get them from Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames; Four Square Coromandel Town, 50 Wharf Road; Colville General Store, 2314 Colville Road, Colville; All Things Organic, 237 Main Road, Tairua; and Aspire Refill, 417 Port Road, Whangamatā.
• Toilet Paper – we would recommend Greencane toilet paper or Smartass toilet paper, as they’re both wrapped in home compostable packaging. You can one or both of these brands at Re-Store, 580 Pollen Street, Thames; Thames Organic Shop, 736 Pollen St, Thames; Colville General Store, 2314 Colville Road, Colville; Earth Store Whitianga, 67 Albert Street, Whitianga; and Aspire Refill, 417 Port Road, Whangamatā.

• Seagull Centre, Burke St, Thames – an excellent community-run recycling and recovery centre. Avoid the landfill and instead bring along materials to be recovered, reused, recycled and/or offered as affordable second hand goods to people living in the community. Visit the centre to see what is on offer – metal, timber, building supplies, electronics, clothing, homewares etc. etc. – the list goes on! The centre is also a drop-off point for e-waste, so you can ensure that your broken appliances and electronics are either repaired and onsold, or recycled safely (at a small cost). The centre also runs a fortnightly auction of some really special goods – keep your eye out for that!
• The Goldmine Coromandel Reuse Centre 525 Hauraki Road, Coromandel Town – a newly opened community reuse and recovery centre run by Coromandel Independent Living Trust (CILT). Drop-off unwanted materials here and if they’re fit to be done up and/or reused, they’ll be offered back to the community at affordable rates through the reuse shop (instead of going to landfill)! Take advantage of the store by having a look at what’s on offer. The centre also has a workshop on site for repairs, so check that out too – maybe you can rescue a much-loved item rather than giving it away. If you have e-waste, you can drop that off at the centre for safe recycling and disposal.
• N’Used, 16 Campbell Street, Whitianga – much like a reuse shop, everything from furniture, kitchen and bathroom fit-outs, carpets, textiles and more!
• Waihi E-Waste Recycle Depot, 2 Rata Street, Waihi – If you’ve got e-waste to recycle in Hauraki District, anything electronic can be dropped off here (at a small charge).