Reuse

Learn ways to reuse and repurpose items rather than sending them to landfill and find contact details for local groups who can help repair your items.

Pass it on

• Donate, sell or swap unwanted items – one person’s trash is another’s treasure!
• Host a clothes swap at your home with a group of friends.
• Consider passing on unwanted items as gifts to friends and whānau.
• Consider shopping second hand as your first option.

Bring your own

• containers for refill and bulk-buying stores
• coffee cups and water bottles
• reusable cutlery and straws
• food containers for takeaways
• reusable cloth napkins and handkerchiefs instead of disposable
• reusable shopping bags.

Ideas for repurposing items

• Use shoe boxes for organisation or storage.
• Use the fabric bags that bed sheets come in as organisers for laundry or packing.
• Reuse empty food containers as Tupperware or for storage.
• Reuse empty beauty containers for storing small items in your home.
• Use paper bags for gift wrapping.
• Use tin cans as pencil holders.
• Use glass jars as cutlery holders.
• Use plastic bottles as watering devices for your garden.

Repair and care

Get familiar with your local repair shops for electronics and gadgets, or have a go by searching on YouTube to see if it’s a simple fix you can do yourself.

Contact local community repair groups who might be able to help:

• Men's Shed Whangārei (menzshed.org.nz) – Railway Road.
• THRIFT (theheadsrepairitfreeteam.wordpress.com) – McLeod Bay for broken items.
• Repair Cafe Whangārei (facebook.com) – holds free monthly events where they help to repair small applications (no microwaves), textiles, bikes, wooden items, sharpen tools, toys and more.
• Whare Bike (facebook.com) – free bike-repair drop-in sessions.

Get stuck in with DIY and have a go at fixing old furniture or household items yourself or hire a tradie.

Where possible, invest in better-quality items when purchasing, so that they last longer.