Specialist Recycling: Dental Products

Did you know that you can recycle your old DENTAL/ORAL CARE PRODUCTS at WP?

So until you switch to bamboo toothbrushes and refillable tooth powders or pastes you can still make a little switch to reduce your waste!

✅ Program accepted waste: Toothpaste tubes and caps, manual toothbrushes, electric toothbrush heads, toothpaste tube plastic packaging, and floss containers.

❌ Not accepted: Please recycle your cardboard packaging in your kerbside recycling bin. Electronic toothbrush handles and bases are not recyclable through this program.

Once collected what happens? The tubes and brushes are separated by composition, shredded, and melted into plastic pellets that can be remolded to make new recycled products via Terracycle.

Want to know what else you can recycle through WP?

Check out our Specialist Recycling page!

DIY Lip-balm

Ingredients from WP (makes 100g)

• 40g Virgin coconut oil

• 30g Beeswax

• 10g Shea butter

• 15g Cacao butter

• 4g Jojoba oil

• 10 Balm sized jars or tins

Put all ingredients into a small saucepan & stir gently over low heat until melted. Carefully pour into small jars, allowing to cool & set. Beetroot & cacao powder can be added to tint the lip-balm or a drop of essential oil to make it smell delicious!

Specialist Recycling: Household Batteries

Are you collecting your HOUSEHOLD BATTERIES for recycling via WP? 🔋

Household batteries are dry cell batteries used in many gadgets around the home, such as radios, cameras, and children’s toys. They include AA, AAA, C, D, button batteries, 9V and 6V batteries.

It is estimated that WA throws away over 18 million household batteries to landfill every year! When batteries are sent to landfill, their casings disintegrate and metals and chemicals used within the battery can leach into the surrounding environment.

Once collected what happens?

The recycling process is able to separate the steel, copper, and aluminum as well as create a mixed metal compound. Rechargeable batteries (also known as secondary batteries) can also go into the household battery recycling bins. These will be separated from the alkaline (also known as single-use) batteries and sent either to France or Singapore for recycling. Australia does not currently have a facility for recycling rechargeable batteries. The different components are then able to be reclaimed for use in new products. ♻️

Want to know what else we can help you recycle?

Check out our Specialist Recycling page.

Want a better option?

Consider investing in rechargeable batteries, solar-powered and wind-up gadgets instead!

Specialist Recycling: Disposable Razors

Have you recycled your DISPOSABLE RAZORS through us yet?

The program accepted waste: Any brand of used razor blades and their packaging, including:

🪒 All brands of blades and razors (refillable and disposable products, and replaceable-blade cartridge units)

🪒 Rigid plastic packaging

🪒 Flexible plastic packaging

Please note: cardboard and paper packaging is recyclable through regular yellow top kerbside recycling. Please do not include these in your collections for this program.

Once collected what happens to it?

The razor blades and their packaging are broken down and separated by the material through Terracycle. Plastics are cleaned and pelletised to be recycled into new products, and metal materials are sent for smelting and conversion to new alloys.

Want a better option?

Instead of disposable why don’t you check out our Reusable Razors in-store or online.

Another option is to buy an electric razor or epilator for your hair removal needs as these can be reused for many years before being recycled as e-waste.

Want to know what else you can recycle through WP?

Check out our Specialist Recycling page!

Meet the Team: Katie from Mundaring & Bassendean

Meet our newest member of the Mundaring team, Katie🌻

Hi! My name is Katie, I started shopping at the Wasteless Pantry in March 2020 and joined the lovely WP family in December 2021.

I love going for walks and camping in nature. I play the violin and am looking forward to training as a Veterinary Nurse in the future. I was born and raised in London, UK. Living in a big, busy city, I was concerned with the amount of waste I was contributing to but didn’t find much support around waste-free living. When I came to Perth, I heard about the Wasteless Pantry, where the team showed me how easy and possible it is to go waste-free!

My favourite WP product is the bokashi one bucket and bran. It helped make my journey of composting so much easier! I was amazed to find out the majority of my waste at home was compostable! Advice: if you’re wanting to reduce your waste, a little bit goes a long way. E.g. recycling, composting, choosing the plastic-free veg in supermarkets. Even just doing one thing that reduces your waste makes a difference and remember to congratulate yourself every time you make a change!

Our team at Wasteless Pantry are always happy to have a chat and answer any questions or concerns you have 🙂

Healthy Snickers Alternative Snack Bar

Want a healthier version of a snickers bar?

I love the combination of chocolate, gooeyness, and peanut crunch which can be recreated with a few healthy ingredients bought package free from Wasteless Pantry. Plus it is gluten-free and dairy-free!

Pick up the following from WP:

* Medjool dates

* Peanut butter

* Dry roasted peanuts

* Dark choc bits

* Desert salt flakes

Slice the Medjool date on top & remove the pip. Add some peanut butter to the inside of the Medjool date and sprinkle some peanuts on top for a bit of crunch. Add the melted chocolate bits, then sprinkle a tiny amount of desert salt flakes over the top & you’re done!

Package free Easter

Well, it’s almost that time of year again for a Package Free Easter… Time for Chocolate Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns, package-free of course!

Any day now we will have your favourite milk and dark (vegan-friendly) chocolate Easter eggs available. Locally made, palm-oil free, and absolutely delicious!!

But why bother forgoing the packaging and shopping at Wasteless Pantry? Isn’t cardboard and foil recyclable?

Whilst cardboard is recyclable (so long as you don’t rip it into little pieces), it needs to be transported far and wide to be recycled. With the cost of fuel going up, the value of this recycling may go down. As for the foil, you need to get enough together to make a fist-sized ball otherwise it may get lost in the sorting machine at the Materials Recovery Facility. Then there is palm oil, which many cheaply made chocolates contain, that has negative impacts such as rainforest deforestation. And I think we all understand how important buying local is nowadays.

Make a better choice and grab your Easter eggs at your local Wasteless Pantry.

Pop your package-free, plastic-free Easter eggs into a jar that you’ve decorated with ribbons and Easter-themed decals. Then organize your own Easter hunt!

Plastic Free Muesli Bars

Muesli bars come individually wrapped in plastic, an easy way to avoid this is to make your own

125g butter

¼ cup golden syrup

1 cup Rolled Oats

½ cup sultanas

½ cup sweetened dried cranberries

¼ cup diced dried apricot

¼ dried apple

½ cup self-raising flour

½ cup brown sugar

3 tbsp pepitas, optional

1 tbs sesame or chia seeds, optional

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and Line a 20cm x 30cm slice tray with a reusable baking mat

2. Combine the butter and syrup in a small saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring, until the butter has melted

3. Place dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine

4. Add the butter and syrup mixture to the dry mixture and combine. Press into the base of your prepared slice tin

5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Allow the slice to cool in the tin completely before cutting it into slices (these are also able to be frozen, to consume later)

Zero Waste Summer Living

Don’t you just love the possibilities of the New Year!

“This is the year that I will…”

No matter what comes next, the excitement of new journeys to be taken or new skills to be learned are what makes life fun! If you are thinking of going waste less or up-ing your waste-free game then maybe consider these ideas for Summer:

Switching out disposable water bottles for reusable. It is a small change that will save you money in the long run, plus if you get an insulated option like those we have at WP then you will always have a cool drink handy on those hot days of Summer.
Take package-free snacks and goodies to your picnic so there is no litter left over.
Make your own icy poles, iced coffee, and iced tea – you can control the sugar content and reduce waste.
If you are getting into smoothies, get your additions like cacao, mesquite powder, maca powder, bee pollen, spinach or spirulina powder, and protein powders in the quantity you choose rather than packets. That way you won’t have bits taking up space come winter.
Make your own salad dressings! A few herbs, vinegar, and quality oil mixed together is the base of most and you can suit to taste will minimal experimenting.

Summer is a great time to relax, get outdoors in nature, and appreciate this wonderful place we call home. Your action to help keep it beautiful makes it that much more enjoyable too.

Meet the Maker: Dante’s Coffee Roasters

💚 Introducing Dante’s Coffee Roasters 💚

We thought you might like to get to know some of our amazing local suppliers, so we had a chat with John who locally roasts some of our coffee beans…

Dante’s Coffee Roasters is a small family-owned business but packs a considerable punch with the quality of our Award-winning coffee blends, single origins, organic and decaffeinated coffees.

We are located in Wangara and known all over Perth for our traditionally roasted coffees. The executive team at Dante’s Coffee Roasters is made up of three consummate coffee and business professionals.

Dom is our coffee guru and Angela and John manage the business side of things. The Executive team is supported by the most amazing group of people you could ever meet! From the talented Baristas in the Roastery Cafe to our team of Roasters, Sales, and Customer Support staff.

Sustainability is the life-blood of the coffee roasting industry. Coffee Roasting is both an art and science, and it is important to ensure our coffee supply and roasting processes are sustainable.

There are several ways we minimize our carbon footprint in what otherwise might be a smoky, wasteful, and high emission industry. We reduce our energy usage wherever possible, utilizing natural gas rather than electricity and roasting with state-of-the-art environmentally-friendly equipment which delivers 30% less gas usage compared to other roasting equipment. Our Roasting plant is designed to recycle and recirculate hot air through the roasting drum and then pass the used air after several cycles through a built-in afterburner to minimize emissions and produce a smokeless roasting process. Our efficient roasting process produces very little waste and produces coffee for our customers and their customers to enjoy. However, two types of solid waste that no coffee roaster can avoid is chaff (from roasting) and the hessian coffee sacks that arrive from across the world containing their raw coffee beans. Fortunately, we have a network of people and businesses who gladly receive these products and recycle them and turn them into all sorts of things.

Chaff makes a fine addition to garden compost, adding texture as well as nitrogen. The hessian coffee sacks are also ideal for various applications in farming, fishing, and home use. We are always amazed at the creativity of our collectors. From school sack races to hauling garden waste and used for pets, zoos, and even professional fishing competitions!

The folk at Wasteless Pantry are great to work with and share our passion for the environment and sustainable activity. When Wasteless Pantry approached us to provide them with freshly roasted coffee, but without the wastage of coffee packaging, we had just the right solution! Reuseable food-grade drums are used to transport the coffee from our Roastery directly to the Wasteless Pantry store, and empty drums are brought back to the Roastery for sanitation and reuse.

One waste-free tip?

Did you know that used coffee grounds from your local cafe can be used in your garden compost and as a soil conditioner? The pucks of used coffee grounds provide acidity to your soil making citrus trees, especially, very happy. You should consider making friends with your local barista for an endless supply of coffee grounds 😊