Sign up
Menu
Log in Sign up

Did you know that 8.1 million tonnes of plastic ends up in our oceans each year?

In a world where we’re becoming more and more aware of our environmental footprint, we’re proud to be supporting Sustainable Coastlines as our latest Power for Good charity.

Sustainable Coastlines is a multi-award winning New Zealand charity. Their mission is to enable people to look after the coastlines and waterways they love. They coordinate and support large-scale coastal clean-up events, educational programmes, public awareness campaigns and riparian planting projects.

We're also chipping in by donating staff time to this great cause, and our Wellington crew recently rolled their sleeves up and spent a couple of hours cleaning up Lyall Bay beach.

Our in-house sustainability teams in both our Wellington and Masterton offices have also been coming up with lots of ideas and activities to help Powershop as a whole be a bit more green.

Knowledge is power, so they’ve shared their top tips on how you can be more sustainable at home:

  • Bring your own reusable cup if you’re getting a coffee or takeaway drink, or decline the plastic lid and straw if you forget.
  • Keep a metal straw and reusable cutlery in your bag/car/desk to use when you’re out and about.
  • There are tons of cool reusable drink bottles options out there, so there’s no excuse for buying a plastic one!
  • If you want to save the planet and your bank account, use lunch bags and/or lunch boxes with compartments instead of plastic wrap
  • For items that do need to be wrapped, use silicone lids or beeswax wrap.
  • Buy veggies at your market - they’re cheaper and have less packaging! Jump on Google to find the closest fruit and veggie market to you.
  • You can also bring your own fruit bags to use either at the veggie market, or the supermarket.
  • If you can, use the bulk bins instead of buying pre-packaged goods, and bring your own container to put them in.
  • One of the easiest ways to help keep plastics out of the waterways is to bring your own box or bags to the supermarket. Or, if you’re walking, BYO wheelbarrow!
  • If the thought of swapping out everything plastic is daunting, try switching out one plastic item for one reusable and sustainable item at a time, rather than swapping everything at once. Every little bit helps :)
  • If you work in an office, get your workmates involved! Here at Powershop, we reduce plastic bags by making office tote bags and Keep Cups available, and encouraging crew to reuse plastic containers when buying their lunch.
  • We also have office recycling stations, and collect our soft plastics so these can be recycled too.

Don't forget, you can also help save our coastlines and waterways by chipping in with a donation to charity when topping up your power. You can purchase the Sustainable Coastlines Powerpack here.

Note: The Sustainable Coastlines/Power for Good pack was only available until 14 December 2018 and is no longer in the Shop.

Next article