Paenga-whāwhā Pānui / April Newsletter 2021

Highlights

Care for your bike | IncaFé Sustainable Business Champion | Flying High Project Hawera | Our Green Ōpunake Journey | What does your cup say about you? | Tri Taranaki Zero Waste Heroes | Let’s Compost workshop | Marfell Community Garden Roof Shout | Seedsavers Late Autumn Gathering | Co-Housing Event

Free event: care for your bike!

Saturday 8th May at The Junction - Zero Waste Hub, 10 am - 1 pm

Do you have rust on your bike or is something not quite right with it and you are unsure why? Come along to our pop-up event at The Junction to learn how you can clean and look after your bike to make it last longer! We'll have a sausage sizzle available at 11:30 am.

Sustainable Business Champion - IncaFé Organic Coffee Roasters

The black and gold branding sitting outside cafes around our region may come across as large-scale and ubiquitous. However, we uncovered a surprisingly humble and incredibly conscientious couple who live right here in Taranaki when we did our research. Read on to find out how they’ve set the standard and are continuously striving to find ways to be more environmentally friendly and socially responsible.

Not to mention their coffee is consistently outstanding (and organic) as they pride themselves on taking it slow from the fertile fields of Peru to the coffee cup. What else could we possibly ask for?

Carmen, Joop, and Dawn at Empire Tea & Coffee on Devon Street

Happy Earth Day! The Flying High Project comes to Taranaki

Flying High Project - Hawera Thursday 29th April at Hawera High School, 5 -7:30 pm

Among the three other events held throughout Aotearoa, Taranaki was arguably the most unique in its way of celebrating this year’s Earth Day. Yes, we brought a hot air balloon to the raceway for kids and their families to ask questions, learn, and ooh and ahh.  Read our event recap and view photos of the students and the balloon at the Raceway. Be sure to attend the Flying High event at Hawera High School - its last showing in our region.

Photo kindly supplied by Janica Amoore

Our Green Ōpunake Journey

Through the education of our children and reinforced goal-setting, positive change can happen anywhere. Our Green Ōpunake Journey proved to be not only productive and fun, but also a great contribution to our toolkit to promote more sustainable behavioural change throughout our region. 1,2,5…we are not counting. We are recycling!

What does your reusable cup say about you?

Drinking COFFEE IS AN INCREDIBLY habitual experience, and there’s no denying New Zealand’s vibrant coffee culture. It suits our lifestyle, our climate, and it’s a needed reward in many of our routines. While we are all on board with that, how about a call to action?

Let’s take it a step further and make it environmentally responsible. We interviewed the local cafes, researched the coffee roasters in Taranaki, and we’ve tested the cups. Here are some tips when preparing for your indulgence.

Tri Taranaki Festival - Zero Waste Heroes

We believe it's achievable to have every event in Taranaki be on the path to zero waste! It was Tri Taranaki’s first time implementing a zero-waste system, and it was a great collaborative effort to educate the public and divert waste from landfills. This collaboration will only grow from here and we hope that more events – and ultimately individuals - will work towards becoming the same zero waste vision!

Marfell Community Garden - Roof Shout

Sunday 2nd May, 12pm - 3pm 53 Endeavor Street Marfell. All welcome.

The newly cladded shed proudly stands ready to house tools, conversations, and a guest book to welcome all visitors to the community garden. We are excited to celebrate over a hearty bbq put on by Mitre 10 Mega. All are welcome to join and provide a helping hand in to garden. Bring a plate to share.

Free Let’s Compost Workshop

Saturday 8th May 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm at Marfell Community School

Learn how to compost and the different systems you can use in your backyard.  After completing a workshop, your household will receive $40 off your choice of one of three easy-to-use compost systems. Spaces limited. Registrations essential.

Seedsavers Late Autumn Gathering

Saturday 29th May 11 am at Oakura Pa/Ngati Tairi

There will be a compulsory Powhiri prior to entering Okorotua Marae/Whakatau. Read on for full details. Please bring any collected seed to swap and a gold coin donation.

Co-housing in Ngamotu/New Plymouth

Sunday 2nd May at 5 pm

Co-housing is a neighbourhood that is designed from the ground up to provide a more community-focused and sustainable way of living. Co-housing in Ngamotu has been championing and planning this vision for six years, and they now have a solid platform that is ready to go. Get in touch to receive the location of the open meeting.

Our tīma is expanding

Check out the roles we are currently seeking at Work With Us — Sustainable Taranaki.