Zero Waste Marae Collective

Zero Waste Marae Collective Marae Waste Minimisation Project - Te Whanganui ā Orotu

24/09/2026

🪱🌱 THE RANGATAHI ARE AT IT AGAIN!

Today our Zero Waste Marae Collective crew got amongst it, learning how to facilitate a worm composting wānanga AND build a worm farm from scratch for Mōteo Marae! ♻️🔥

The goal isn’t just for our rangatahi to know how these systems work — we want them confident enough to stand up, run the wānanga themselves, teach our whānau and pass that mātauranga on. 💚

And apparently our newest waste minimisation workers are… tiger worms. 😂🪱

A few things we learnt:

🪱 Tiger worms LOVE decomposing organic matter — which makes them perfect for worm farms.

🍎 Instead of kai scraps heading to landfill, a worm farm turns them into nutrient-rich castings for our whenua and māra.

🌱 Worm castings are basically black gold for the garden! packed with nutrients and beneficial microorganisms.

💧 Worms like things damp, dark and breathable. Too wet, too dry or too much kai at once and our little workers aren't happy!

Massive mihi to Annette, our Mōteo Marae Rep, for always backing the kaupapa and being there with our rangatahi today. 💚

And a big mihi to Jordy from Hastings City Council for hanging with the crew, sharing your knowledge and getting your hands dirty with us! 😂🙌🏽

Another skill in the kete.
Another system being established.
Another step towards our marae sending less para to landfill. ♻️🌏

Rangatahi learning it ➡️ Rangatahi doing it ➡️ Rangatahi teaching it.

THAT'S the kaupapa. 🌱🪱💚

MEET THE CREW | ZERO WASTE MARAE COLLECTIVE Introducing Samzara Tamaka-Stone, Claude Newcomb & Hazel Reti.My rangatahi c...
23/09/2026

MEET THE CREW | ZERO WASTE MARAE COLLECTIVE

Introducing Samzara Tamaka-Stone, Claude Newcomb & Hazel Reti.

My rangatahi crew are the backbone behind the Zero Waste Marae kaupapa. 💚

Behind every waste audit, every composting system, every recycling station and every event we support, you’ll find these three getting stuck into the mahi and making sure everything runs smoothly.

But their mahi is about more than sorting waste. They’re learning, leading, educating and helping us rethink the way we manage our para on our marae. They bring the energy, the whakaaro and, most importantly, the willingness to get their hands dirty and make things happen. 🌱♻️

A huge part of this kaupapa has always been about rangatahi capability and leadership! Creating opportunities for our own rangatahi to gain practical skills and mātauranga that can eventually be carried back into their own whānau, marae and communities.

These three have been there from the beginning: helping conduct our audits, establish systems, kōrero with whānau and turn our Zero Waste goals into actual mahi on the ground.

Our crew. Our rangatahi. Our future kaitiaki. 🌿

He iti te mokoroa, nāna i kati te kahikatea.
Although the grub is small, it can bring down the kahikatea.

Small actions, collectively, can create massive change.

♻️ Zero Waste Marae Collective

For our marae. For our whenua. For the generations coming after us.

19/09/2026

One month of the Zero Waste Marae Collective 🌱♻️

Our kaupapa at Mōteo Marae is already turning kōrero into meaningful action. Over the past month, we have:

🌿 Strengthened the compost, worm farm and māra kai space

♻️ Continued maintaining the compost system established after our first waste audit

📊 Presented our findings at the Mōteo Pā AGM

⚖️ Collected and weighed the marae recyclables

💡 Continued learning about our local waste cycle and identifying practical solutions
Our first audit showed that 95% of the waste could have been diverted from landfill, leaving only 5.44kg as landfill waste. This is what happens when mātauranga, rangatahi and collective action come together.

He iti te mokoroa, nāna i kati te kahikatea,
Small actions can create powerful change!

Follow our journey as we work alongside our marae to reduce waste, restore sustainable practices and protect Papatūānuku for the generations to come. 💚

10/08/2026

♻️ FIRST WASTE AUDIT — MŌTEO MARAE

Today we completed our very first waste audit at Mōteo Marae & getting amongst the bins, sorting the para and taking a proper look at what is actually being thrown away.

A waste audit isn’t just about rubbish. It gives us a baseline to understand what could be reduced, reused, recycled or returned back to the whenua instead of heading straight to landfill.

💡 Fun fact: Food and organic waste buried in landfill breaks down without enough oxygen and produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Composting it instead turns that same “waste” into something useful. 🌱

And that’s exactly where today’s mahi has already led us…

🍊🍋 Our organic waste now has a new home! We’ve established a compost system at Mōteo that will turn kai scraps and other compostable material into nutrients to feed the marae orange and lemon trees.

Para → compost → kai → whānau.
That’s the kind of cycle we want to see. ♻️🌱

He mihi nui ki a Annette and Mōteo Marae for welcoming us in, trusting the kaupapa and allowing us to get stuck into the mahi today. 💚

This is only the first audit, but it gives us something important it's a starting point. From here we can measure our progress, strengthen the systems and see just how much para we can keep out of landfill.

Mā te iti, ka nui. 🌿

Ko Cassia Waiariki tōku ingoaHe Uri ahau nō Ngāti Ruapani ki Waikaremoana me Tūhoe me Matangirau hoki.I am the Marae Was...
05/08/2026

Ko Cassia Waiariki tōku ingoa
He Uri ahau nō Ngāti Ruapani ki Waikaremoana me Tūhoe me Matangirau hoki.

I am the Marae Waste Minimisation Co-ordinator under Mōteo Marae.

I thought I would do a little intro post & what my hopes and dreams are for The Zero Waste Marae Collective of Te Whanganui Ā Orotu.

I have done a wide range of mahi throughout Kahungunu over the past 7 or so years from being a public servant to reintegration of our Tāne Māori in the hīnaki back into the community and their Whānau to Co-ordinating, facilitating and pathway planning for our Rangatahi in Te Whanganui ā Orotu specifically in pathways concerning our Taiao.
I am also a Board member for Kōwhai specialist Kura & a Trustee for Te Kūhā Tārewa & I own a Pakihi Māori which you may have seen around called Huiarau Range where I carve Pounamu and create jewelry.

Big Mihi to Albe Baker who brought this opportunity to me & has pretty much taken a mentor role for me to always be doing better in the Taiao!

I have a massive passion not only for our people but I also carry this passion into our Taiao space - because we should be caring for the very thing that created us!

I hope to bring you along as I create relationships with our Marae in hopes of creating a sustainable waste Minimisation system in turn educating our Whānau on how to create systems such as creating māra kai, composting & waste & recycling systems so that the landfill we do create, can be turned into power rather than creating continuous issues for our Taiao, for our Native rākau, for everything that we need to be sustainable people & it's going to be led by our people! By our Hapū & our Marae.
I will also use these spaces for Wānanga, volunteer opportunities & community workshops.

So nau mai, haere mai!

Here's a little whakaahua of our Ngā Kakano Rangatahi doing some wai monitoring out at Mangaone 🍃

05/08/2026

Ata Mārie!

Zero Waste Marae Collective will be at Mōteo Marae on Saturday & Sunday conducting our first waste audit!

Our team are ready to document & share the very foundations of kaupapa that we know will carry forth through our future generations & who better to be the face of this series then our own Ngāti Kahungunu rangatahi!

Watch this space! We can't wait to not only share our findings and teachings with our Marae here in Te Whanganui ā Orotu but with you all too!

We will also be sharing wānanga dates here for our Te Whanganui ā Orotu whānau to attend in person & volunteer call outs!

Rehekō!!!!!!

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Mōteo Marae Road, Puketapu
Hawke's Bay
4183

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