The team at Cafe Green Door have been doing it right for a long time, and we’d like to give them a big pat on the back for their community building efforts, local, organic, and fair-trade best practices, and their ingenuity around sustainable initiatives.

Waitoriki & Inglewood Crop Swap continues to put a smile on everyone’s faces, as a strong wave of community aroha is felt by regulars and visitors alike who attend to swap their backyard produce, seedlings and excess household products. One of the first Crops Swaps to be established in Zealand, it is still as popular as when it began.

Some of our Sustainable Taranaki team members had the chance to participate in the Introduction to Resource Recovery course, a two-day training course by the Zero Waste Network held at The Junction on 15th and 16th of September.

Properly care for the clothes you already have. This sounds quite obvious but it’s good to keep in mind. What have you got already? Do you really need more? If you care properly for what you’ve already got, they will last longer and you won’t need to be buying more things. And if your clothes need some fixing, have a look at our list of shops that can help you out.

There are 178 other coffee retailers in New Zealand that have also implemented “Borrow A Cup” which are stainless steel, reusable cups that come in two sizes (eventually pint size for the keen festival goer…hint hint WOMAD), and cost $3.

Plastic waste is one of the main causes of pollution around the world. What’s the best solution to this problem? Reducing, reusing and refusing! We too often end up purchasing plastic that we cannot reuse, and the next best thing we can do is to recycle them. What plastic can be recycled will depend on where you are.

La Nuova Dry Cleaning Services caught our attention as they seek to continuously improve their dry cleaning and delivery processes to not only minimise their carbon footprint, but also bolster their bottom line.

Time is running out to curtail our cumulative CO2 emissions with less than 12 years to stabilise global warming at 1.5 degree C above pre-industrial temperatures (IPCC)1. With 20% of NZ’s carbon emissions from transport, we can all make an immediate impact through urgently changing how we travel.

A group of parents and children attended our workshop during the school holidays, and got creative in making artwork from colourful plastics that would have otherwise gone to landfill.

Taranaki has just hosted 3 Regenerative Farming workshops titled "Building Resilience Into Farm Systems" bringing groups of 24 to 35 together near Ōpunakē, Oākura and Inglewood/Koanga Moa. These inspiring and practical Workshops were run by Jules Matthews, a Regenerative Agriculture Coach & Educator with Integrity Soils.

Greenbridge is one of our main sponsors again this year, and owners, Bena and Dan, are opening their inspiring garden to the community. They have a wealth of experience to share, as well as their exciting new business ventures, including Healthy Home Plans.

This month our Sustainable Business Champion is TGM Creative, a family owned, local graphic design and marketing agency that recently celebrated 30 years in business.

Caring for the environment is not about ticking a box or following a trend. Making real, sustainable lifestyle changes to reduce your impact on the natural world has to start in the home.

Ngā Whare Ora Taiao o Ngāmotu provides support to households to undertake a wide range of sustainability improvements to both their house and their property, repaying the costs through a voluntary targeted rate over a five or nine year period. In the process, local suppliers receive work, the local economy, health and our resilience in the face of climate change is boosted.

Whānau across Taranaki are currently acknowledging the new year. The rising of the star Puanga (Rigel) in the east early in the morning marks the Māori new year for Taranaki tribes.

During this period of uncertainty, people are starting to wonder where their food comes from, along with how to support their whānau. A very high percentage of the fresh fruit and vegetables available in the supermarkets come from overseas and can be at risk of undersupply. So how can we as a community remain resilient in these challenging and unpredictable times?

One of the latest terms in the sustainable fashion industry is slow fashion, which is highly accredited to Kate Fletcher. But what is slow fashion? How different is it from ethical and eco fashion? And what is the difference between slow and fast fashion?

Together with Ōpunake Communities Kindergarten, Sustainable Taranaki is embarking on its new Project “Our Green Ōpunake Journey”. This is one of the four initiatives from the Curious Minds fund supported by Venture Taranaki. Curious Minds works with school and community groups who have questions or ideas that can be explored or tested with science.

We interviewed Sha, Yvette, and Kerry from The Dressing Room on Devon Street in New Plymouth, and they gave us the inside scoop on slow fashion.

Food event specialist, market gardener and garden-to-table cook, Maria Lempriere has used her past experiences as well as her passion for food and sustainability to develop an inspiring business model.