Central Hawke’s Bay Community Op Shop to showcase local sustainability

The Central Hawke’s Bay Community Op Shop, in Ruataniwha St, Waipukurau, is under new ownership.

The Central Hawke’s Bay Community Op Shop in Waipukurau is under new ownership, and behind the scenes there’s a lot more going on than simply recycling your outgrown frocks and jumpers.

Hope Goldscak-Pal took over the shop last year. It was a natural progression of her passion for sustainability, she says, and will serve as a “shopfront” for more sustainability initiatives, including the CoKoha app she recently launched, under the banner of the registered charity the Community Koha Trust.

“I was talking with the shop’s previous owner who I know well, and selling the shop came up in conversation,” says Hope.

“I just thought ...yeah!”

Hope — who grew up in Flaxmere — returned to Hawke’s Bay nearly five years ago with her husband and children, after living in Brisbane.

“We found that we were getting swept away in the rat race, in ‘having things’, and we realised having a quiet life was more important to us.”

To Hope and her family, a quiet life also means living sustainably, reducing waste, and fostering community connection.

“I have a university degree in sustainability and my interest is in developing sustainability in communities. I learned a lot of valuable things at university, but something that really stuck out for me was holistic community development.

The Central Hawke’s Bay Community Op Shop is ready to showcase local sustainability and waste minimisation.

“We have a lot of skills, assets, goods and knowledge in our community, and connecting these together, putting people in touch with what is needed and what is offered, is hugely important.

That connection is the drive behind the CoKoha app, which will connect people with produce or skills to share — with people who need that produce or those skills.

“Using the app you can quickly share koha from your own home, advertise your charity or give away free items, offer skills or knowledge. People can see at a glance if there is something they need being offered, and take up that offer.

“In our community different people know about different things — where to get free food, where to donate items, who to go to for help, where to get that bed you urgently need, or plants for the garden ...The CoKoha app gives people one site where everything ‘lives’.”

In developing the app, Hope worked closely with Massey University, which funded part of the development, and also with University of Otago’s Food Innovation Hub, and with the Ministry of Social Development.

“We will eventually roll out the CoKoha app nationally, but CHB is the ideal test community for it. We need to see how many people use it, how easy they find it, and make sure it’s working as it should.

“The app should make it easier for people to connect. We’re all so busy and it’s a way to do something from our own home. Something as simple as ‘hey I have a tree full of fruit — does anyone want to come and pick it?’ can be very important, as when it comes to food needs, immediacy and accessibility is huge.”

While it’s been a busy time reorganising the community op shop and launching the app, Hope isn’t ready to sit still yet. There’s more to come.

“I’ll let people get used to the changes in the shop first ... then introduce new initiatives. Already we are set up to let the community choose where the profit from the shop will be spent each month. People can choose a charity or organisation when they make a purchase, and the charity with the most ‘likes’ at the end of the month will get our contribution.

Recycling, reusing and restoring are all a focus of the Central Hawke’s Bay Community Op Shop in Waipukurau.

“We will be spreading more awareness about what people are doing in the sustainability space — what people are already doing is amazing — and I am very keen on helping to teach people about sustainable living and waste minimisation.

“We’ll be running classes, Wine and Restoration evenings, repurposing things and getting creative. We’ll show people what they can do to reuse and restore things, and that they can have fun doing it. There are awesome people in our community doing these things and they are huge assets to our community. I want them to have a space to come and teach others. I want to show them off, these amazing people, and encourage more of them.”

Hope says she enjoys being around people, celebrating their worth and helping them share their skills.

“I’m open-minded, though — I’m listening to the community and learning, and together we can connect and create a more sustainable life for us all.”