Queenstown Hill Hike
When you are not in your usual routine, falling asleep in one place and waking up in another, convenience can be particularly appealing. However, there are plenty of easy ways you can reduce your plastic use without over-complicating things on holiday. Here are our top five suggestions.
There are a range of reusable coffee cups available for purchase at retail stores around Queenstown. A selection of local cafes also have these available for sale and some even offer discounts for those who bring their reusable takeaway cups with them. Once you start using a reusable coffee cup, you may find it difficult to go anywhere without it, especially with that extra feel good factor of saving a single use takeaway cup from going into landfill every time you buy a coffee.
UYO (Use Your Own) is a not-for-profit responsible cafe finder that represents cafes New Zealand wide who actively encourage cafe goers to bring their own cups/containers/jars to put their takeaway in. Check out their website and find local cafes here.
Handmade Boomerang Bags
Handmade Boomerang Bags
It has been illegal in New Zealand for retailers to provide customers with single use plastic bags since July 2019. Paper bags will be provided to customers at retail stores and long life multi-use bags made from synthetic fabric are available for purchase at most supermarkets. However, what is it’s even better is bringing your own reusable bag with you. Reusable bags can usually be folded down and don't take up much space.
If you forget your reusable bag, a local Queenstown initiative, Boomerang Bags are available in stations at popular retail locations, markets and supermarkets. Boomerang Bars are made by volunteers in Queenstown from donated fabrics and provided in boxes for those who have forgotten their reusable bags. If you use one it is expected that you return it afterwards so it can be used over and over by those who need it. Find out more about Boomerang Bags here.
RefillNZ
RefillNZ
New Zealand is lucky enough to have a high quality of drinking water available at all local hotels, cafes, restaurants and stores. Some of these locations will even encourage people to come in and fill up their reusable drink bottle with fresh water for free.
RefillNZ is a New Zealand initiative that connects the public with locations that they are able to fill up their drink bottle at. Look for the RefillNZ sticker on participating locations which indicates that these locations allow you to fill up your water bottle there. Check out their website and find your nearest RefillNZ station here.
Be mindful of the gifts you are buying at local stores to bring back with you. There are a range of gift stores and local clothing boutiques selling New Zealand made and quality gifts made from sustainable materials which will last. Resist the urge to buy cheap and disposable gifts in exchange for well-made beautiful Pounamu (local Jade), wood, wool, possum to gift to yourself or bring back for your loved ones.
Putting together a plastic free travel kit with bathroom amenities can be a fun exercise to do before travelling. If you're not quite so organised before you travel, it can be an easy thing to put together once you arrive in New Zealand. Staples for your kit could include products such as bamboo toothbrushes and cotton buds, and shampoo, conditioner and moisturiser bars, which can be found in most supermarkets and pharmacies in Queenstown.
Looking after Queenstown’s landscapes while visiting can be as simple as choosing some low-impact activities. Getting out into the wilderness and treading lightly along the way go hand in hand! Check out these suggestions…
In 2014, Gibbston Valley Winery made their first step towards a more environmentally friendly future in having the original Home Block vineyard certified organic by BioGro New Zealand. Since then, the winery has continued to grow their efforts in environmentalism,...
The key word behind Sam Chapman, Stephen Marr and Adam Smith’s development of The Sherwood Community Hotel was ‘experiment’. Having never operated hotels before, the team drew on one shared insight from their own travels, the idea that nobody wants...
What does independently owned, local Queenstown hotel The Rees have in common with the likes of Waldorf Astoria in New York, Mandarin Oriental in Paris, and the Royal Lancaster Hotel in Hyde Park? They’re all keepers of honeybees.
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