Our News
Latest News - July 09
On Wednesday 22 July members of the Bayfair Centre Management team rolled up their sleeves to help children from Arataki Kindergarten and Arataki Primary School plant trees through the Paper4Trees initiative. By recycling their paper and cardboard, both schools were able to ‘earn’ native trees.
In total, Tauranga city schools have ordered 1246 plants from the programme which equates to approximately 311.5 tonnes of paper and cardboard being diverted from landfills in 2008.
Bayfair is a proud sponsor of the Paper4Trees programme in Tauranga city and Western Bay of Plenty Schools.
When Stylez Collide
Saturday 30 May, 2009 saw an exciting dance competition take place outside Farmers.
The event included a series of one on one dance battles featuring all styles including Bboy vs Krump vs Urban vs Shufflin vs Tektonic Crews.
Everyone was welcome to have a go with registrations taking place on the day.
March 09
A sustainable future for us all!
During 26-28 March 2009, Bayfair Shopping Centre will be hosting a Sustainable Information Expo.
Throughout this incredible exhibition you will be able to discover a wide variety of practical ways in which you can help the environment and save money in doing so!
A raft of services dedicated to making everyday activities more sustainable, such as tackling home renovation projects right through to travelling to work, will be represented. Outstanding illustrations of how our beautiful region can remain just that are also tipped to be hot favourites for the event. You will even have the opportunity to see how recycled rubbish is processed.
For everyone taking part, one goal is clear. If we all learn how to do one additional thing to be more sustainable, no matter how small that may seem, the collective might of our actions will be truly inspirational.
Bayfair's Sustainable Information Expo is therefore proudly supported by local organizations and businesses including Tauranga City Council, Tauranga Environment Centre, NZ Police, Beca, Sustainable Business Network, Zero Waste Education, Paper4Trees, Waste Watchers, Sport Bay of Plenty and Waste Management Services.
Proposed activities such as interactive displays, top tips for reducing household bills and a sustainable information quiz aim to please. Prizes include a computer package to the value of $2,500 RRP to be presented to a school of the winner's choice, donated by Beca, plus $500 worth of Bayfair vouchers and a year-long recycling contract supplied by Waste Management Services.
The Expo concludes on 28March, just in time to celebrate the globally recognised Earth Hour.
February 09
Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind
If you’ve visited Bayfair recently you may well have seen trainee guide dog puppies pounding the aisles and pavements. These outstanding animals are brought into the centre by their handlers to hone the skills they need to assist local blind, deafblind and vision-impaired people get around safely with greater speed, confidence and independence.
Negotiating traffic in the carparks, locating common destinations such as the supermarket, travelling on public transport and dealing with travelators are all part of becoming a world-class guide dog. That not only takes time, about eighteen months to be precise, but also requires funding. Did you know that breeding and training each guide dog costs Guide Dog Services $22,500?
As part of Bayfair’s recent ‘Feel Good February’ promotional campaign, $500 was raised for this wonderful organisation. Every time customers shopped at Bayfair between 16 February and 1 March and entered the prize draw to win back the value of their purchase, their entry form was also counted and converted into cash for the puppies!
Next time you’re in Bayfair watch out for our local guide dog puppies as they progress on the path to graduation. Two stars who currently make regular appearances are Guide dog puppy Pearson, a Labrador retriever puppy walked by Ted Joyce and Guide Dog puppy Farley, a standard poodle, in training with Wendy Isaacs.
If you are keen to learn more about the RNZFB Guide Dog Services check out www.rnzfb.org.nz or if you would like to volunteer to collect for the Red Puppy Appeal (3 - 5 April 2009) visit www.redpuppy.org.nz or call 0800 RED PUPPY.
January 09
Paper4Trees Enjoys Environmental Success with Support from Bayfair Shopping Centre
After more than a year of supporting the landmark paper4trees programme, Bayfair Shopping Centre can point to some key indicators of the success of the environmental initiative, which is now in 30% of all New Zealand schools.
Nationally the programme has grown exponentially, with 992 schools signed up as at the end of 2008. More than 1,100 native trees were planted by Tauranga and Western Bay Schools last year, and more than 7,300 planted nationwide. As paper4tree gains momentum, EERST is introducing it in preschools, with 25 currently participating.
The programme supplies a 30L recycling bin to every room of participating schools, including classrooms, staffrooms and libraries, along with posters, pamphlets, newsletters and other information about paper4trees. Schools are rewarded with native trees for the paper and cardboard they recycle, with every tonne of recycled paper saving approximately 17 trees.
Bruce Trask, EERST’s chairman and founder, says the programme relies heavily on monetary support and goodwill from the community. “People are becoming more educated about sustainability all the time, but we remain reliant on funding to ensure that schools have the resources to put their environmental goals into action. The funding we receive from Bayfair is invaluable, and very important for the success and growth of paper4trees.”
Bayfair Centre Manager Andrew Wadsworth says his team is happy to be in a position to support a crucial project. “It is of enormous benefit to the Bayfair community, and it fits in nicely with our own sustainability strategy. We take recycling and energy conservation seriously and have worked hard to improve the centre’s footprint, and we appreciate the opportunity to help make some of these measures more widely available.”
EERST works with each school to manage the recycling programme and organize the delivery of plants. The school works directly with the local recycling operator or centre to arrange the removal of the paper. A number of rural schools are transporting their own paper for recycling, and the programme is working ever more closely with local nurseries to reduce transportation and the total carbon footprint of paper4trees.
Placing paper and cardboard in a landfill creates methane gas which is 21 times worse than vehicle emissions. The paper4trees programme aims to keep those products out of landfills and incinerators by giving schools support, assistance and incentives to recycle.
