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10 ways on how to have a sustainable Christmas

1 Scarf wrapping

Pick up or buy second hand scarfs to wrap your gifts for Christmas.  Lay the scarf on the table. Place the gift in the middle of the scarf. Then pick up a corner from each side and tie. Then do the same with the other corner.

2 Buy local

Simple as that. Buy local.

3 Choose gifts that last

Think long term. Don't buy cheap plastic gifts. Offer a Munch gift voucher to a loved one for them to buy sustainable products that will last.

4 Donate a gift

For the person who has everything, how about donating to charity and giving them a card to let them know this.

5 Homemade cards

Use old pieces of cardboard to make your own cards. A bit like scrap booking.

6 Natural Christmas tree

Try making a driftwood Christmas tree or a living plant in a pot. Don't buy another plastic one.

7 Make your own crackers

Try making your own crackers. A great thing to do with the kids.

8 Be connected

Enjoy your family. Ignore differences and sing loudly, hug often and enjoy your day.

9 Homemade baking

Make your own Christmas cake. Our favourite recipe is Nigella Lawson's Christmas cake recipe. Easy and in her recipe she makes reference to New Zealand! Make your own Christmas pies. Try one of our recipes here.

10 Left overs

After Christmas day, turn all your left overs into a delicious omelette or just fry on the BBQ. Put your fresh fruit in the freezer to use later in an ice pop.

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We're bringing NZ a nationwide treasure hunt!

For two months we're bringing you a fun competition with some amazing prizes up for grabs!

Buy Munch Beeswax Food Wraps or a Munch Beeswax Snack Bag at participating retail stores to join the treasure hunt. Look for Munch in your favourite supermarket nationwide. We are on shelf in New World, Countdown, Fresh Choice, Farro Fresh, Commonsense, Raeward Fresh - plus some independent retailers too.

There is one very special lucky Golden Ticket! Plus 10 Silver Tickets and 50 Bronze.

The lucky Golden Ticket holder will win the keys to an eco chalet for a 5 night holiday in the central North Island, for themselves and a special friend, valued at $2000. On arrival, the winner gets a bundle of delicious and decadent foodie treats from other great NZ brands to be found on supermarket shelves. Celebrate New Zealand brands who are making locally.

And we have plenty of other prizes too - over 60 prizes up for grabs. Look out for Silver and Bronze tickets for runner up prizes galore.

The special Munch tickets are secretly hidden inside specially marked Munch Organic Beeswax Wraps or Beeswax Snackbags in supermarkets and stores nationwide.

When you find one, follow the instructions on the ticket to claim your prize - and share the fun with friends on your social media!

 Competition celebrates local NZ made

This is a celebration of local products and our local workforce - sharing this celebration with you all with a fun treasure hunt - and prizes.

We’re running this competition to highlight our Organic Beeswax products which are made by the amazing women in our unique homework force - our local makers.

And we're celebrating other amazing locally made products.

Some of our friends at fellow NZ brands have joined us to provide some delicious runner up prizes. No Ugly, Something to Crow About, Coffee Supreme, Raglan Food Co, Proper Crisps, Forty Thieves, Tasti, All Good Oat Milk, Bennetto and anihana.

 The treasure hunt has begun!

Look for Gold, Silver and Bronze... Are you ready?

And.. GO!

Follow the fun and our Munch story on Instagram or Facebook.

Notes for the lucky finders of a Golden, Silver or Bronze ticket:

• Prize details are specified on the tickets
• Prizes must be claimed by emailing marketing@munchcupboard.com by midnight 31 October, 2021
• The Golden Ticket prize is a 5 night stay at an eco chalet in Ohakune, valued at $2000 with the exact dates and availability to be confirmed by Munch.
• To redeem a Silver Ticket prize pack the winner must email Munch with a photo of themselves with their Munch product purchase, showing the winning Silver Ticket and receipt (email to marketing@munchcupboard.com ) Photo maybe used for promotional purposes.

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We have just released our second ever Sustainability & Social Impact Report. We are proud to show the public what we do. We always premise our actions on being transparent and this report takes this further. We are committed to continually improving as we grow and learn.

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Anna recently joined a project group to raise awareness of product stewardship. Something we have been already doing and thinking about at Munch for the last 5 years, without really using the term. And something that Anna is very passionate to keep developing and experimenting with.

Product stewardship is about businesses taking responsibility for the products they make, sell and buy so their products don’t just end up in landfill. That means designing and making products to last, then putting systems in place to enable them to be reused and recycled when they are worn out.

‘SBN is leading Aotearoa Product Stewardship Campaign with a number of key businesses. It aims to raise awareness and increase the number of businesses involved in product stewardship’.

A group formed to focus on silicone products in particular, made up of a number of other businesses like Again Again, Wa Collective, Caliwood, ReusaBowl - and Munch - with more to come.

Munch is the first New Zealand collection point for a new pilot programme to repurpose silicone: Silicone Send Back.

As many of you know we chose to use silicone rather than plastic as a good alternative. The products that we use silicone for are:

• Munch ice pops
• Munch baby spoons (spoon only)
• Munch Baby silicone butterfly soother
• Munch glass drink bottle (sleeve only)
• Munch lunchbox (seal only)
• Munch silicone food covers
• Munch freezer bags
• Munch large feeding/storage tray (7 comp)
• Munch baby bowls
• Munch small feeding/storage tray (4 comp)
• Munch baby bib

Many of the Munch baby lines and the Munch Baby Shower products are made from Silicone.

The reason we choose silicone is because of its functional properties, these include thermal stability, durability, non toxic and elasticity. It is a great alternative to plastic. But the end of life of silicone products in New Zealand needs further consideration.

Currently in New Zealand there are no silicone recycling options. Even in the US, the recycling options are limited and are still in early stages. 

And the exciting news is that a pilot silicone processing facility is being investigated, as part of The Aotearoa Product Stewardship Campaign led by the Sustainable Business Network.

To avoid silicone products going into landfills right now, we can start to collect it and sort it.

Drop off any of unusable silicone products to our Refillery/Showroom at 471 Adelaide Road Berhampore Wellington.  If you are a Munch or nil products customer located outside of Wellington, let us know and you can be part of Silicone Send Back. We’ll send you a free shipping label to send it in to us and get it sorted for you.

Till next time.

Anna

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We are currently working with Island Bay Primary School on a 5 week sustainability education activity program which we started last week.

The children walk down to our Showroom from their school collecting rubbish along the way with their teacher. We start by looking at what they have collected and how we can dispose of the rubbish. We highlight that this is a little step that they can do to help protect the environment.

Our first session was on the concept ‘eco loops’ which is a good example of Product Stewardship.  Our key product that this concept showcases is our Munch Organic Beeswax Food wraps.  

• Material is Organic
• Made in New Zealand
• New Zealand material
• All 'off cuts' are turned into our Organic Fire Starters that we invented
• We collect old beeswax wraps and turn those also into our Organic Fire Starters
• The Organic Fire Starters are burnt
• The ash can be placed back into the earth to nourish the soil

We broke the groups into 3. One group chose their favourite Munch fabric to make a beeswax wrap and cut it into any shape they wanted. We had all sorts of shapes! Then that group were able to make their own beeswax wrap with Anna.

Then the second group made their own avatar - eco hero. They then drew their eco hero onto a badge to wear in the Showroom. While in the Showroom (and beyond) they become true little eco warriors. The badges were the 'off cuts' from our NZ made wooden display stands.

The third group made the fire starters and many took home a half a dozen to give to their parents.

At the end of the session we burnt outside a fire starter on the footpath. For those who are concerned about the safety of this, we made sure the kids were well away from the fire starter and we had water to put it out on hand. The kids loved watching the fire starter burn!

We had so much fun with the kids and we are looking forward to our next session with them.

Education is the key success to making a change. 

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