He Para Kai, He Oranga Nuku is a composting programme that supports turning food scraps into soil to grow kai for our mokopuna. This programme reminds us that all kai, even food scraps, are precious because all our kai has whakapapa to Papatūānuku and Hineahuone.

Our kai comes from the whenua. When we return our kai scraps to Papatūānuku rather than a landfill, we care for her and for Hineahuone, the first woman, who was formed from clay at Kurawaka by Tāne. 

This programme involves:

• separating precious food scraps into a separate bin to keep them out of the rubbish 
• designing systems for food waste (e.g. fish waste, offal, peelings, plate scrapings, and kai that has gone off) to be composted 
• installing or using an existing composting system 
• regularly measuring how much food waste is in your rubbish bag 

Registered participants can receive:

• A free composting system, valued at approximately $15,000
• Simple tracking tools to see and share your impact 
• Ongoing support for your composting journey 
• Positive vibes from making healthy soil and reducing harmful greenhouse gases