A huge welcome to our first newsletter from Wasteless Pantry Bassendean! It’s been a hectic couple of months as we’ve been setting up the store, ordering in all our goodies and getting everything running smoothly!
If you haven’t visited the store yet, or still have some questions, then come down on Saturday October 20th for the Bassendean Spring Mini Market – we will have an information and tastings table set up and a talk/tour through the store at 11am and 1pm.

What’s been happening at Wasteless Pantry Bassendean this month:

• We opened our doors for the first time on September 12^th and have had lots of customers coming in to check out our products and how it works when you bring in your own containers.
• Still not sure how the bring-your-own containers works? Check out this video.
• Did you know that it is Buy Nothing New month? If you are keen to challenge yourself, check out www.buynothingnew.com.au
• If you have already been to our Mundaring store then you will be familiar with most of the products in our Bassendean store, although we will have a wider range at Bassendean. A product list can be found here: online store. Recent additions to our product range include linseed meal, Australian dried peaches, atta flour, gluten flour, potato starch, and dried shiitake mushrooms.
• Thinking about Christmas cakes already? We’ve got you covered with glace apricots, glace pineapple, glace cherries, mixed peel, mixed fruit, along with all the regular dried fruit.
• Did you know that we can do your shopping for you? Just drop off your containers or shopping list and we can fill them up while you do the rest of your shopping or relax at a café!

What’s next:

• We will continue to expand our range over the next couple of months, if you have any requests please come in store and write them up on our wishlist!

Know someone who’d like to be kept up to date with what’s happening in-store? Like our Facebook page to be kept up-to-date with the latest news.

Full steam ahead!!

We’ve been working behind the scenes getting everything ready for the new locations as well as spreading the waste reduction message via so many talks.

What’s been happening in Mundaring store?

• We’ve had soup mix and blue boiling peas for winter but will faze these out as we get closer to summer
• Cinnamon almonds disappeared as our supplier no longer has stocks of these, and instead, we have smoked almonds which are quite delicious!
• We found out that Himalayan Pink Salt is not sustainable and so we started stocking Australian Pink Lake Salt which has the same nutritional profile, however, IS ethically and sustainably sourced
• Our honey guy is out of Eucalyptus but has given us a beautiful Red Gum & Eucalyptus blend to try.  We’re just about finished up his Jarrah Honey stocks too!
• Have you read Erin Rhodes (aka Rogue Ginger) new book “Waste Not”?  It’s a great read and we are now stocking it
• We are discounting a few spices that haven’t been so popular and bringing in pizza seasoning, chicken salt, vegetable salt, chipotle powder, garlic granules and harissa for you to add to your dishes
• If you are into bee pollen, we have some – locally and zero waste sourced 🙂

Coming soon:

• We are working on getting WA grown quinoa!
• Organic muesli has been tracked down and shall be ordered soon with any luck
• If you aren’t a fan of coffee pods or our aluminium espresso makers, we have stainless steel espresso makers coming soon

Photo credit:

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

Isn’t this winter weather glorious!  Perfect for soups, stews, casseroles, porridge and tea!!

• We got a chance to show our support for the Plastic Bag Ban when Environment Minister Stephen Dawson visited the store earlier this month and as part of a series of talks for City of Canning and Switch Your Thinking throughout the Perth metro area
• Plus we also got a chance to support the community to reduce food waste by spreading the message via more Creating a Wasteless Pantry talks and speaking live on Channel 9 News
• We were very lucky to be invited to the launch of the Plastic Free July Foundation!  This initiative started by the Western Metropolitan Regional Council is now it’s own entity, enabling it to have even more reach into the future.  If you haven’t registered already, please do via www.plasticfreejuly.org 
• It was wonderful working with the Pre-primary to Year 6 students at Mundaring Primary School recently discussing the plastic pollution problem and solutions – beautiful posters from the Year 1’s are now on display at our store 🙂
• We got to host a new round of Earth Carers who wanted to see how waste-free shopping can be done simply and easily
• Boomerang Bags Mundaring gave us a great new display for collecting materials and offering make at home kits
• We said Farewell to our team member, Emily, who has gone off to advance her Occupational Therapy career.  She is missed x

New items at the store:

• U-konserve medium containers – stainless steel bottom and leakproof silicone lid handy for snacks
• Mini curvy menstrual pads for lighter days
• Bamboo straw sets for those that aren’t keen on stainless steel but want a reusable straw
• Diced paw paw for easier make your own porridge and muesli mixes
• Freekeh for salads, warm breakfasts, and as a variation on any whole grain recipe (like anything with quinoa)
• Rice bran and apple flakes as another gluten-free breakfast option

Coming soon:

We’re bursting with excitement to let you know some really BIG news but we aren’t allowed to announce it just yet!  As soon as we can, we will 🙂

Photo credit: Photo by Alex Wise on Unsplash

Can you believe it’s been 6 weeks since our last newsletter – on the one hand, it feels like forever and on the other hand, where does the time go?!

Read More

Happy 2018!

With the kids back at school it really feels like the new year has begun 🙂

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and whilst we’re not big on giving stuff, we do love to share the love so…

ACTION REQUESTED:

We would really love you to nominate your favourite Wasteless Pantry staff member!  Send us a bit of love by email about someone at the store who has done something to impress you, help you or inspire you.  Make sure it gets to us by close of business Tuesday 13th February and we will pick the best nomination to reward that staff member with a $30 gift voucher of their choosing.

[Just so you know, we’ve asked our staff to nominate their favourite customers too!]

In case you are not sure of names…

In this photo L to R top row: Emily, Tessa & James

L to R middle row: Lizzy, Belinda & Jade

L to R bottom row: Jeannie & Amanda

What’s been happening at the store?

• We’ve added a bunch of recipes to the wall – like flatbread, tortillas, pizza bases and doughnuts!
• We had the arrival of stainless steel drinking cups, insulated water bottles, sisal exfoliating gloves, coconut fibre scrub pads and scourers, organic muslin produce bags, dish wash brushes and replacement heads as well as pouches of bamboo cutlery.
• We also expanded our range of stainless steel lunch/take away containers to include bento snack boxes, Cheeki lunch boxes and stackable bento boxes
• We updated the website so if you want a more recent idea of what we stock check out our Product List

Coming soon:

• We’re about to do a big review of what we stock so we’ll keep you updated on the changes
• We are hoping to add an Artisan Bread Mix for making cob loaves and baguettes as well as bringing back Wholemeal Bread Mix which has a new recipe that we are happier with

Photo credit:

Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash

Happy New Year!

May this year be the one where you see that you are part of a whole community that cares about reducing waste, living well and making a difference.  May you know in your bones that every action you take has an impact.

• We have had a major win at the store!! After a year of encouraging, supporting, directing and educating we have finally achieved access to recycling facilities for all businesses in the Mundaring Shopping Village!  Up until this point businesses either looked after their own recycling or (more often than not) sent all of their recyclables to landfill.  We are so pleased that Centre Management has come on board and we’ll be pushing for education sessions for local businesses to make the most of the new facilities.  This is a big scale change and hopefully will make a big difference to the amount of landfill created by our area!
• We’re still getting through the Christmas wrapped toilet paper so expect to see green and red for a little while longer.
• We’ve almost exhausted our local supplies of Olive Oil from Wundowie and Wooroloo but we have another local one in the background ready to take its place
• There have been a number of requests for a larger glass pump/spray bottle but unfortunately, that particular model is as big as it gets.  We are looking into alternatives for you all though so keep an eye out.  
• With the trendiness of zero waste right now we are seeing more and more suppliers now offering us a range of goodies that we couldn’t access before.  Look out for Sisal Knitted Exfoliating Gloves, Insulated Stainless Steel Water Bottles (with a plastic-free lid no less!), coconut fibre Scourers, wooden Dish Wash Brushes and replacement heads, Stainless Steel Drinking Cups, Organic Muslin produce bags, Bamboo Cutlery Sets and coconut fibre scrub pads arriving shortly.
• Back to School preparations are underway and the range of naked lunch box alternatives are expanding.  So if you need some inspiration, look no further.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

from the Wasteless Pantry Mundaring Team

It has been an amazing year and we are so happy to be seeing the start of a shift to a low waste culture in WA!  We are thankful, as always, for our great community who have supported us the whole way.  It is wonderful to be making connections, feeling that belonging alongside other zero waste and plastic free enthusiasts (no matter your progress), and sharing all the tools we need to make this work.

As well as this, I am particularly mindful of how important it is to have the right people around you when you are trying to do big things (even by small steps).  We are very lucky to be working with Lizzy, Jade, James, Emily, Belinda and Tessa.  They have been the most reliable and supportive team I think I have ever had the privilege to work with.  It almost seems that they go about their days looking for ways to make things easier for others and to think a few steps ahead of what the store needs!

Working with Jeannie on this store has been quite the journey! Developing this community has far exceeded any expectations or visions we originally had of what this could be.  We are truly very lucky!

Sentimentality aside, there are a few things you might want to know …

• Opening hours: Aside from the public holidays we are open as per usual! That means we will be open Sun Dec 24th 11 am to 5 pm, closed 25th & 26th, open Wed 27th/Thurs 28th/Fri 29th 9 am to 5:30 pm, open Sat 30th 9 am to 5 pm, open Sun 31st 11 am to 5 pm, closed Jan 1st then open again Tues 2nd 9 am to 5:30 pm
• We are stocking zero waste hampers for those loved ones that want a gift.  There are big ones and little ones, ones for women, ones for men, ones for coffee lovers, and zero waste starter kits!
• Aluminium and glass pump bottles are in stock and we now have a trigger spray attachment that fits these bottles too
• Masa flour for tortilla making is now available
• There are a bunch of different zero waste DIY dairy-free milk recipes on the recipe wall and we stock nut milk bags made from 100% hemp
• We have gift jars ready to go for last minute, “Oh no, I forgot [insert relative’s name] was coming too!” moments
• Gluten-free banana bread mix has been popular and we are getting great feedback about its versatility for a variety of cakes and slices.

Coming soon:

• Who know’s what will happen in 2018 but we do have Pizza & Focaccia Bread Mix coming 🙂

Photo credits

Photo by Precision Focus

It’s so good to be chatting with you again!

It has been a little while between updates as we have been working hard to finally be able to say, “Yes, we are franchising” and, “Yes, there may well be a new Wasteless Pantry store coming to your neighbourhood in 2018!”  

The difficulty with running a store like ours is that we are so picky about why we do things, how we do things and who we do them with.  So, this has not been us dragging our feet, but rather making sure that moving forward you can trust that our standards have not changed and we will always be about community and waste first.  We really appreciate all your support and never want to take it for granted!

What’s been happening?

• We started stocking some new useful reusables such as Onya bread bags, Vegan Wraps, Double Round Bento Tiffins (1400ml), large stainless steel To-Go Containers (1.4L capacity), Bento Compartment boxes with utensils (we’ve ordered more stock), and mini stainless steel containers (perfect for little snacks) 
• We’ve added Yoshiki mix, raw Australian peanuts, green glace cherries (for your Christmas cake making), protein powder made from peas, vanilla beans and locally made dark choc and toasted coconut vegan protein granola (great as a snack too!)
• Jeannie attended the Beyond Plastic Pollution Conference in Sydney and learnt all sorts of interesting info about waste and how different groups are trying to address it (see the events page if you want to come hear her summary)
• Jeannie also ran our first Zero Waste Shopping Tour (hosted by EMRC) to give hands-on experience for those wanting to try it out for the first time (let us know if you missed it and would like us to do it again in the new year)
• Since pretty much everyone uses toilet paper, we thought that stocking the Christmas wrapped version of Who Gives A Cr@p would be an idea so that you aren’t also having to buy single-use wrapping paper
• We’re trying out Dark Roasted coffee beans from Skybury since so many of you love a strong flavoured coffee and we love locally grown beans! (House fans – House is a blend of dark and medium so we can mix some up if you are in need, don’t fret!)
• We really are trying to be helpful with your festive preparations, we now stock food grade lavender and rose petals for making your gifts, beauty products and speciality tea blends
• For those that are looking for a plastic-free sunscreen option and trying their hand at DIY – we have zinc oxide powder available loose plus a recipe on the board for you to try out (let us know if you tweak it and how it turns out)
• Since we have so many new things coming in, we have had to discontinue other less popular items.  If you see a discounted tag, that’s why (hint: this is the only time we would suggest that you stock up if you use these products regularly)

Coming soon:

• Gluten Free Banana Bread Mix should be in stock shortly to help with making your Christmas Fruit Cakes
• Christmas gift jars and hampers (zero waste starter kit, wasteless women’s, wasteless men’s, wasteless coffee and wasteless travel) will be available shortly
• Masa Flour (for tortilla making) and Doughnut Mix!
• Plus glace apricots and choc jaffas will make their seasonal return
• Pop in during December for tastings – this week is old-fashioned Christmas cake and next week is something with chocolate!

Feature image credit:

Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash

We need you to let us know what we do well and what we don’t so that we can continue to improve and serve you best. Please let us know what you think on our (approximately 8-minute) survey and you could be lucky enough to be randomly drawn as the winner of a $100 gift voucher to be spent in the store. Survey closes 1st September 2017.  Good luck and thank you!!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FM5GG7R