Waimangu Tackle Food Waste
Waimangu Volcanic Valley are working towards zero food waste from the café at our visitor centre.
The café at Waimangu offers a range of delicious hot and cold food and drink, the perfect stop to fuel up before or after a walk through the volcanic valley.
But food waste has a huge impact on the environment, so it’s one of the areas we looked at improving while updating our commitment to sustainable tourism.
We have a worm-farm on site which turns food waste into super plant feed. The worms can work their way through fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and even organic waste like paper napkins. The worm farm produces a great fertiliser for the garden too.
Some food, like citrus, onion and meat, isn’t suitable for the worm farm, and this goes to a very grateful recipient! The food that can’t be fed to the worms gets taken to a neighbouring farmer every day to feed the pigs. The empty bucket gets left out on the road for the Waimangu staff to pick up and fill up again the next day!
We are also looking at the environmental impact of where our food is coming from. We use local suppliers where possible and grow many of the herbs we use ourselves right here in a herb garden in the café garden area.
This focus on food waste is part of a much wider commitment to sustainability. Every aspect of the business is being reviewed and steps taken to minimise our impact on the environment
