Who you are and site of action.

Kai Waka Café is on High Street Motueka, South Island. Matthew Galvin and Ruth Sicely are the proprietors. This is a new business, developed over the last year.

Goals of your climate action plan

Matthew and Ruth aimed to cut greenhouse gas emissions, reduce waste, while serving ‘fresh food with real ingredients’.

How you went about it

• Food sourced from within 100 ‘nautical miles’ when possible.
• Packaging minimized in every way possible eg reusable milk bottles and egg cartons, vegetables unwrapped in reusable crates, make their own almond milk, biodegradable takeaway coffee cups for which customer pays a little more, moving toward reusable takeaway cups.
• Vegetarian options
• Electricity 100% renewable (according to provider’s claims)

What you’ve accomplished so far. How long did this take?

In their first year, the café has halved the amount of waste they produce, both recyclable and unrecyclable.

Lessons learned, obstacles overcome

Matthew and Ruth have found it easy to train staff to operate by their environmental principles.

Contact details

Matthew Galvin: matthew@kaiwakacafe.co.nz