Zero waste Manawatū

Refillers and unpackaged foods

• Bin Inn Palmerston North and  Bin Inn Feilding offers a wide array of dried food in bulk (including, but not limited to, nuts, seeds, cereals, grains, flours, and legumes), a range of spices, liquid foods (including vinegars, oils and syrups), and sweets and treats. They also have a peanut butter machine (just BYO jar to fill-up!). All Bin Inn around New Zealand stores are currently offering 5% discount when you bring your own containers!
• Organic Buzz 337 Broadway Ave, Palmerston North – although this store pre-packages bulk items in cellophane, which is compostable in a home compost, they’re happy for customers to BYO containers to have unpackaged bulk product put into! They offer olive oil and apple cider vinegar in bulk containers for refill (BYO bottles!)
• Petal and Bee Grocers 68 Main Street, Foxton – stocks a wide range of unpackaged grains, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, legumes, flours, herbs and spices, and liquid foods such as apple cider vinegar and olive oil, all in bulk bins and dispensers. BYO bags/containers/bottles!
• Rata Olives 351 Te Houhou Road, Rata (near Hunterville) – if you want high quality, locally produced olive oil, then head to Rata Olives and have an old wine bottle filled with their beautiful green/gold liquid! It might be a bit of a mission, but they can only refill on their property – so stock up while you’re there!
• Supermarkets – all major supermarkets in Manawatū have well stocked bulk bin/pick and mix sections with wholefoods (BYO bags for these) – New World Levin, 21 Bath Street, Levin, for example, has quite an extensive range that even includes pet food! PAK’nSAVE Palmerston North, 327 Ferguson Street also has an extensive bulk aisle. However supermarket bulk aisles are pretty expensive, often more so than equivalent ingredients in packets (bah!), and more so than the bulk bins at places like Bin Inn.

BYO Container-friendly butchers, fishmongers and delis

• Deli-ca-Sea, 298 Broadway Ave, Palmerston North – this store is happy to put unpackaged fish and seafood into BYO containers here.

• Hokowhitu Farmers Market, 356 Albert Street, Palmerston North, 2 Sundays a month 9am-1pm - Anzil cheese cut fresh off the wheel (and put into your own container!)
• New World Levin, 21 Bath Street, Levin – this store sells whole fish in a self-serve cabinet, so get some in your own 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 Melody’s New World, Corner Broadway Ave and Albert Street, Palmerston North; New World Pioneer, 179-197 Main Street, Palmerston North; New World Foxton, Cnr Whyte Street and Main Street, Foxton; New World Levin, 21 Bath Street, Levin (also does clams); and New World Dannevirke, Denmark Street, Dannevirke.
• 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!

Bakeries/unpackaged bread

• Wildflour 317 Main Street, Palmerston North
• BABCO – Brick Artisan Bread Company 95 Albert Street, Palmerston North
• Two options for fresh artisan breads are available at the Hokowhitu Farmers Market, Sundays 9am-1pm, 356 Albert Street, Palmerston North.
• The Sponge Kitchen Bakery & Cafe, 184 Oxford Street, Levin – sells some unpackaged bread rolls, but not loaves.
• 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!

Markets, co-ops and more

• 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. At markets 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.
• Check out this list of local markets Hokowhitu Farmers Market Feilding Farmers Market Ashhurst Community Market

Coffee

• Ebony Coffee 208 Featherston St, Palmerston North (a coffee roaster who will happily put coffee straight from the roaster in your own bag/container! To avoid the pain of rejection, make sure your bag/container is clean.)
• Sublime Coffee 203 Cuba Street, Palmerston North (another local coffee roaster).
• Bin Inn Palmerston North 688-690 Main Street, Palmerston North (stocks coffee in bulk bins with an in-store grinder).
• Bin Inn Feilding 85 Kimbolton Road (stocks coffee in bulk bins with an in-store grinder).

Tea

• Organic Buzz, 337 Broadway Ave, Palmerston North – prepackages their tea leaves in cellophane, but are willing to fill BYO containers/jars with unpackaged leaves.
• Petal and Bee Grocers, 68 Main Street, Foxton

Milks

• Get refills of Udderly organic milk at Bin Inn Palmerston North, live2give Organics, Petal & Bee Grocers, Sublime Coffee, Four Square Hokowhitu, Gorge Quarter Store, The Rosebowl, Four Square Bulls, Waireka Honey Centre, Tokomaru Store, Wild Stag Honey Ltd, Udderly Organic Ltd 218 Paiaka Road, Koputaroa, RD 5, Levin, Lewis Farms
• Milk powder in bulk bins – available at Bin Inn Feilding – BYO bags/containers.
• Milk delivery in reusable glass bottles Eketahuna Country Meats do home delivery of milk in reusable glass bottles (just like the old days!) and their delivery route includes Palmerston North/Manawatū – to check out which day they deliver to your area, you’ll need to begin the registration process on their website. You’ll have milk delivered to your door in reusable glass bottles (just like the old days!) – leave your empty bottles out on the next delivery day so they can be returned to Eketahuna Country Meats for sanitisation and refill. YAY!

Refill Beer

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:

• Brew Union Fillery39-41 Broadway Ave and 78 King St, Palmerston North (you get a discount here if you BYO bottle for beer on tap!).
• Liquorland Pioneer Highway752 Pioneer Highway, Palmerston North
• Liquorland College St92 College St, Palmerston North
• Liquorland Albert St105 Albert Street, Palmerston North
• Liquorland Feilding19 Bowen St (behind Feilding Hotel), Feilding
• Big Barrel 147 High Street, Dannevirke.

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).

Reusable drinking vessels (cups and water bottles)

Say “no more” to disposable takeaway coffee cups and plastic water bottles by getting yourself reusables instead!

Get reusable water bottles in Palmy at:

Urban Charm De Molen Windmill Holly & IvyNot So Shabby Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom Farmers New World Gifts and Souvenirs

There are heaps of places to buy reusable takeaway coffee cups:

• Ebony Coffee Blended Cafe & Smoothie Bar The Forge Restaurant Flax Gift Gallery The Catching Pen Cafe

Reusable lunch boxes/containers

Reusable lunch boxes or containers are great to have on you when you’re out and about in case you want to get takeaways, to carry leftovers home with you, or if you find food to forage. You can get Meals in Steel stainless steel lunchboxes and food containers at Organic Buzz, 337 Broadway Ave, Palmerston North; Bin Inn Palmerston North and Feilding; or Bento Ninja lunchboxes at Petal and Bee Grocers, 68 Main Street, Foxton. Petal and Bee stocks handmade cutlery wraps/holders, and Be Free is also planning to stock them!

Reusable bags (shopping bags, produce bags and bulk bin bags)

Plastic shopping bags are a menace, but so too are those plastic produce bags for fruit and vege or the plastic bags often offered alongside bulk bins at bulk stores. You can avoid them by bringing your own bags or buying a set of reusable produce bags. You can get locally made produce bags and tote bags made from upcycled fabric at Be Free Grocer, Square Edge, 47 The Square, Palmerston North; and at Petal and Bee Grocers, 68 Main Street, Foxton; 100% organic cotton produce bags are available at Wholegrain Organics, 134 The Square, Palmerston North, New World Levin, 21 Bath Street, Levin and PAK’nSAVE Levin, 508 Queen Street East, Levin. If you’d like to make your own reusable bags, bulk bin bags and produce bags, check out the Levana Fibre Factory Shop, 36/38 Cambridge Street South, Levin and Fox’s Cottage Quilting and Knitting, 1 Purcell Street, Foxton, as both sell cheap off-cuts of 100% cotton fabrics (be careful at Levana though as many of their fabrics have poly, i.e. plastic, in them).

Reusable straws

Say “no straw thanks” next time you order a drink out and either use your mouth to drink, or get yourself a reusable metal straw instead. If you’re keen on a reusable metal straw, you can get them (and straw cleaners) from Organic Buzz, 337 Broadway Ave, Palmerston North; Petal and Bee Grocers, 68 Main Street, Foxton; Not So Shabby, 78 Main Street, Foxton; and Farmers Levin, The Mall, 191 Oxford Street, Levin (though these are packaged in plastic unfortunately!).

Alternatives to plastic cling wrap, plastic sandwich bags and tin foil

• Beeswax wrap
  • Purchase at – Urban Charm George Street Collective Kreative Mix NZ Petal and Bee Grocers
  • DIY – waaaay cheaper! You just need to get natural fibre fabric (cotton) and unpackaged beeswax. Keep an eye out at secondhand stores and fabric stores for off-cuts of cotton, or see if you can get some upcycled natural fibre fabric from Cherry Pie Quilt Patch, 204 Oxford Street, Levin; Levana Fibre Factory Shop, 36/38 Cambridge Street South, Levin; Fox’s Cottage Quilting and Knitting, 1 Purcell Street, Foxton; Antique Fabric & Lace, 70 Vogel Street, Woodville; Krista Studio, 14 High Street, Dannevirke. Get unpackaged beeswax at Organic Buzz, 337 Broadway Ave, Palmerston North; Steve’s Wholefoods, 101 Albert St, Palmerston North; and Petal and Bee Grocers, 68 Main Street, Foxton.
• Silicone pot/bowlcovers – a good option for storing leftovers in a bowl (other than just putting a plate on top!) or as an alternative to tin foil for roasting (as the covers can withstand temperatures of up to 220 degrees and will also keep hot food warm when transporting). You can buy these at @cquisitions, The Plaza, Palmerston North, Intrigue Boutique, 84 High Street, Bulls and Gifts and Souvenirs, 150 High Street, Dannevirke.
• Silicone freezer bags – reusable bags for freezing meat and other food are available at Petal and Bee Grocers, 68 Main Street, Foxton – they’re pricey, but will last your lifetime and can replace soft plastics for freezing.

Refills of cleaning products

The following stores stock a range of liquid and/or powdered cleaning products in bulk dispensers that you can fill your own bottles/containers with:

• Bin Inn Palmerston North, 688-690 Main Street, Palmerston North.
• Bin Inn Feilding, 85 Kimbolton Road, Feilding
• Petal and Bee Grocers, 68 Main Street, Foxton – stocks bulk plant-based cleaning products on tap by Palmy company, Little Foot, who take back the bulk containers to refill once empty (yay!). BYO bottles/containers to fill up.

Unpackaged Bars of Soap

• Bin Inn Palmerston North, 688-690 Main Street, Palmerston North.
• Bin Inn Feilding, 85 Kimbolton Road, Feilding
• Petal and Bee Grocers, 68 Main Street, Foxton

​​​​​​​Reusable Menstrual Products

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

• Menstrual cups – stocked at most supermarkets
• Reusable, washable pads – check out Whatakrakka Fancy Pads, made by Palmerston North local, Laura – beautiful 100% designer cotton reusable pads with a bamboo fleece core. Other locally made reusable pads are available at Be Free Grocer, Square Edge, 47 The Square, Palmerston North.

Information from: Zero Waste in Palmerston North City, and Manawatū, Horowhenua and Rangitikei Districts - The Rubbish Trip