Stuff - where can it all go?

"Away"
Once we have decided to release an item it’s the ‘away’ that can bother us. In fact, it can be the block to letting go of it. I bought this, it was the answer and now it’s no longer the answer; its broken; given to me by family; too small; too big; didn’t work; gathering dust. The list goes on.
What can we do about the “away” part?

Charity & opportunity shopping
Sending an item on to be reused or re-discovered as someone else’s treasure is the best way to release stuff we no longer need. Being mindful that the item is in a good condition to donate. It should be clean and functioning and, if it’s a small shop, ideally for the correct season.

Here in Omokoroa we have a fantastic opportunity shop called The Omokoroa Centre Trust. All the profits made, go to support local projects by way of a grant that can be applied for in April of each year. It’s a fantastic model that sees the energies of the volunteers, go back into supporting their local community.

Waipuna Hospice is also a well-loved charity in the Tauranga region with charity shops dotted around the area, with an easy to donate location in Fraser cove.

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Other places that can benefit from your items:
- Local Kindergarten for craft supplies.
- Local Men’s Shed for no longer needed wood.

Selling – sometime letting go can be easier when you consider selling the item to people who would value it like you. Recouping some cash can be an added bonus. Trade me, Facebook marketplace, Designer wardrobe & Recycle Boutique Mount Maunganui are all good ways to gain a little moneyback. Although unless this is a large or valuable item its often more hassle than just setting the item free via donation.

Recycling - has the item come to its end of life in that form?  If broken down to their composite materials items can be placed into the recycling via household kerbside bins in the Bay of Plenty:

• Plastics clean, remove any small lids and place into landfill (# 1, 2 & 5)
• Paper & Cardboard - flattened corrugated cardboard, paper including light card, magazines, newspapers and egg cartons. (not contaminated card with food waste e.g. – pizza boxes)
• Aluminium Cans
• Glass cleaned and lids removed to landfill
• Metal recycled via local companies in Mount Maunganui
• Soft plastic – lots of grocery stores enable you to recycle the abundance of soft plastics we have in packaging of our food. Again, just make sure it’s clean, dry and empty. Closest to Omokoroa is Woolworths in Bethlehem
• Polystyrene - Can be returned to Mitre 10 Tauranga, as you enter the trade area outside on the first corner there is a collection area

If its broken, can it be fixed? Repair cafes are popping up all over New Zealand and are a great place for community spirit and knowledge on how to look after what we have and repair what we love. Here in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand we have lots of repair cafes. At the time of this article (May 2025) here are just a few:
Repair Café Katikati– 2nd Saturday of the Month
Repair Café Tauranga- usually last Saturday of the month

​No longer needed and its quite big? Advertise it for free on your local email group Cyberlink Omokoroa it is a not-for-profit service. You send in your email and it gets grouped together and sent out to the wider community of 1000+ subscriber’s regularly. Good for local news events and requests – AND giving away free stuff. Join and subscribe to the mailing list here.

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• E waste -  resourcecollective.co.nz/   Katikati.  Will take your white goods and Tvs for a fee. 

Other interesting recycling efforts

• Foil chip packets  - Chip Packet Project New Zealand make packets into blankets for those living on the streets in New Zealand.​

• Aluminium - Coffee pods, Aluminium cans and tabs, wine bottle tops and any aluminium drop off at Omokoroa Green Waste (Wednesdays and Saturday Afternoons) for the Lions to collect.
• Prescription glass - donate to the Lions via collection points of TOLO, Omokoroa Country Estate, Tauranga Eyecare at 170 Omokoroa Road, Omokoroa greenwaste.

• ​Envirohub  at 31b Glasgow Street, Tauranga can take all of these items:

1. Colgate Oral Care products
2. All types of printer and toner ink cartridges
3. Batteries – AA, AAA, C, D, 6V, 9V Button Cell Batteries & handheld size batteries (please cello tape the positive (+) end of the battery)
4. Fairy & Ambi Pur containers and packaging
5. Glad Food Storage -Snack, sandwich bags, and glad wrap.
6. Recycle a Device – laptops, and devices under 10 years old with chargers.  These will be refurbished and donated to the community.
7. VapeCycle – Vape devices and pods from the following brands: Vapo, Solo, Alt., Vex, and Haiz.
8. Ripple – Clean children’s clothing up to age 12. The great quality items are packaged up in Gear Boxes which clothe kids for a year. Ripple send these to a range of community partners including Womens Refuge Rotorua, Auckland, Oranga Tamariki, Middelemore Hospital and others. The not-so-great items are repaired, repurposed or recycled into products like their RePack device sleeves.
9. ImpacTex NZ – Towels, sheets, t-shirts and denim. Any condition is fine as they will be stripped down to their raw materials.
10. Electric cables & charging cords – These will be stripped down to their components for recycling through A&J Demolition.
11. Mobile phones – partnering with Re:Mobile and funds raised from the program supports Sustainable Coastline

FREE kerbside collection. One of the best ways we move items on is to have a permanent outdoor sign made from a tile off cut.  Written on it is the word FREE.  On non-rainy days we can place no longer wanted items by the kerbside along with the sign and they will disappear quickly.  It really does bring some joy to know our thing has gone on to enjoy a new life with someone else. 

Last resort is the landfill bin. Placing resources into a big pit where they will be inert and survive for millions of years is crazy stuff. Locally our landfill goes to Hampton Downs which is the largest landfill in the southern hemisphere. To give you an idea of the scale its about 80+ rugby pitches in size.
 
And that brings me onto another blog idea…. What if we started to ask, BEFORE we purchase or accept an item. Do I really need this? Maybe I can borrow this item from a friend, create connection and acknowledge a shared interest or hobby. Can I just hire it for a short while? Access rather than ownership. A topic for another blog moment.