Red Seaweed Workshop
After the hugely successful last workshop, Lousie of Pacific Harvest is back to talk about red seaweeds (Karengo, dulse and Agar) as valuable ingredients in the kitchen, with a focus on Karengo....
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News & Events
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23 May 2013
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20 May 2013
Juicing Made Easy
Do you juice? Or do you want to start? There are a lot of keen juice makers at Commonsense Organics, both staff and customers. We know and love this delicious way to get a super hit of...
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08 May 2013
Mana Recovery & Trash Palace
Sustainability Work & Mental Health Support in Porirua One of the most inspiring places you can go in the Wellington region is a dump. Well, a landfill really. It is here - just at...
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17 April 2013
Autumn Gardening Guide
What to do in the Garden in Autumn Autumn in the garden is a time for replenishing the soil: adding compost, mulch and fertilizer after the Summer crops have used up nutrients. It is also the...
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04 April 2013
Local Food Week: Sarah Adams
If you're involved in community projects, permaculture, gardening or food sustainability, then chances are you know Sarah Adams. She has set up, run or been an active part of some of the most notable...
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08 March 2013
Gift Box Giveaway!
Veggie.co.nz is a new site for vegetarians and vegans who love food, and we've donated a scrumptious vegan gift box worth $75 to help celebrate their launch. Check out their great site with...
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13 February 2013
Interview: Rochelle Harrison of The Cocoa Press
Wellington's Own Artisan Chocolatier New Zealand's first bean-to-bar chocolatier using 100% organic and fair trade ingredients works right here in Wellington, and we were lucky enough to visit...
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08 February 2013
Interview with Carolyn Hagger of Wheat's Up
Carolyn Hagger is the Director of Wheat’s Up, a company in Hawke’s Bay which supplies organic wheatgrass to stores across the North Island. Carolyn was recently in Commonsense...
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07 February 2013
New Office & Hospital Deliveries
We have introduced two new Office Boxes and a Hospital Box to the Online Store. These are great options for a quick and easy purchase, and all are completely customizable so you can tailor to...
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07 January 2013
New Year's Resolutions
2013 is underway, there's been a holiday break to rest and centre ourselves, and now the new year beckons. What are your goals? Fitness? Diet? Lifestyle? Here are some...
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13 December 2012
Christmas Day Food
Christmas Staples We have organic and gourmet Christmas cakes, fruit mince tarts, chocolates, cranberry sauce, potatoes, peas, carrots, butter, berries, cherries... and more! See a...
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30 November 2012
Commonsense Gift Guide
How is your present gathering going? Here at Commonsense we're making it easy and fun to find gifts that make both you and the receiver feel fabulous. fair Trade Gifts Fairly traded goods...
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16 November 2012
Christmas Classics
Season's Greetings! It's that time of year: the weather is warming up, organic strawberries are calling to us and plans for Christmas celebrations are in full swing. This first Commonsense...
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05 November 2012
Specials at Commonsense
This month we're launching a new way for you to discover great deals on products at Commonsense: our Monthly Picks box on the homepage now shows highlights of the current specials. Each...
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01 November 2012
Happy World Vegan Day!
This annual event is held on the 1st of November to mark the start of World Vegan Month. The date celebrates the coining of the term "vegan" and the founding of The Vegan Society in November...
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03 October 2012
Vegetarian Awareness Month
Monday marked the 35th annual World Vegetarian Day and the kick-off of Vegetarian Awareness Month, an event established by the North American Vegetarian Society and quickly taken up around the...
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24 September 2012
What's in store for you
Our Managing Director, Marion Wood has put together a list of her favourite things in store at the moment! New Zealand Ginger Have you tasted our stunning New Zealand ginger. Fresh and...
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19 September 2012
Commonsense Gardening with Catherine
Kai ora gardeners, Spring is on the way and planting fun begins, it’s an exciting time for keen gardeners. We are all looking for ways to save money these days and growing your own plants...
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17 September 2012
Community News
Trash Palace We recently became one of Trash Palace’s first business customers. Trash Palace is a recycling centre run by Mana recovery, a non-profit organisation which has been providing...
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06 August 2012
The Great Samoan Container Project
Last week, we stumbled across this shout out for help on Facebook: "SANITARY PADS, SANITARY TOWELS, SANITARY NAPKINS, SURFBOARDS! Whatever you want to call them – us women need them once a...
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20 July 2012
No BPA in Commonsense receipts
Commonsense Organics has chosen to go BPA free with our receipts! Marion Wood (our managing director) is concerned, not only for all retail workers in New Zealand, but also for kids playing shops...
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16 July 2012
New River Green 50 list
Commonsense Organics is delighted to be included as part of the New River Green 50 list! We are the only food company included in the list and it is great to carry the flag for the food industry....
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08 June 2012
Matariki
Happy New Year! The Aotearoa New Zealand New Year is traditionally celebrated in June and July- and begins 'officially' on the 21st of June this year. Matariki reminds us to celebrate with our...
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01 June 2012
June Picks
Here comes Winter! This is our chance to hibernate with some fantastic drinks, treats and fair trade friendly basics. We have some new products, a new bulk section in our online store and a reminder...
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18 May 2012
A Fairtrade Breakfast in The City
What a lovely morning! The Fairtrade Breakfast in The City was great event. We had an awesome breakfast, with fantastic Celcius coffee, excellent KTea Tea, and All Good banana smoothies! We met all...
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11 May 2012
First fair trade Parliament in the southern hemisphere
Our Managing director, Marion Wood spoke at the Oxfam Fairtrade coffee break at Parliament on behalf of Fairtrade Wellington. After chatting to All Good Banana’s fair trade gorilla, Marion...
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05 May 2012
Fairtrade Fortnight 2012
Fair Trade Fortnight 5th - 20th May! During Fair Trade Fortnight our fair trade products are show-cased with educational information about fair trade. You can also win a fair trade hamper! Find...
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02 May 2012
Every Choice Matters: Choose Fair Trade
Every Choice Matters In 2011 fair trade fortnight was all about choosing to buy fair trade. This year we are encouraged to add another staple to the list! For those of us that already buy some fair...
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01 May 2012
Fair Trade Fortnight 2012 Wellington Events
Fair Trade City Wellington has announced a fabulous line-up of events for Fair Trade Fortnight 2012. Show your support for fair trade by getting out and about- every choice matters! Choose...
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26 April 2012
Autumn Seasonal Produce
Some great things about seasonal goodness right now- the Reed avocado and the mighty feijoa! Autumn also brings some strange and wonderful fruit and produce. We have just had some incredible quinces...
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22 March 2012
Winning entries for our draw the harvest competition
Congratulations all you talented kids! We had amazing entries, and the winning pictures have been posted on facebook in our birthday albums. Pop over to our Facebook page and see the Hutt store...
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14 March 2012
Are oats gluten free?
We are often asked by our customers if oats can be gluten free. So we did some research and have come up with the following information. Coeliac society, New Zealand, July 2010 There is...
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13 March 2012
Taruna scholarships available for a Certificate in Applied Organics
Taruna are offering two scholarships for their Certificate in Applied Organics and Biodynamics Course. Taruna has two scholarships of $1000 towards fees available for 2012 intakes for their...
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07 March 2012
A letter from our Summer Gardener
Kia ora gardeners, I am sitting here in my garden to get some inspiration on what to write for this letter, I looked around me and thought “this is it, we are here” the time of year that...
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01 March 2012
New Products
It has been a busy few months and we have a lot of news! Vegan, fair trade, organic ice blocks! We now stock Nice Blocks for the kids – young and old! They’re made in Auckland, and they...
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16 February 2012
Preserving, sprouting and a party!
February is a big month. We all get to enjoy the harvest, come up with 101 ways to eat (or preserve) zucchinis...and have a birthday party! Preserving Products Quattro Stagioni Preserving...
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05 February 2012
Organic white corn flour
Organic white corn flour is available at Commonsense! This flour is very special, it is used to make a stiff porridge that accompanies the most stunning African dishes. White corn flour is used to...
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01 February 2012
Community donations review
Every year Commonsense Organics gives away over $20,000 in donations to groups who share our values. Who do we donate to? We donate to schools and preschools that have organic...
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24 January 2012
We love Ethiopian food
We are so lucky at Commonsense Organics to have access to some of the best Ethiopian food around! So lucky in fact- that we have decided to share the recipes, that have been shared with us, by our...
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24 January 2012
What to do with surplus fruit and vegetables
Do you have an awesome fruit tree or an abundant garden summer surplus going on? If your friends are in the same postition and you are all wondering how much more lettuce you can eat.... have a look...
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16 January 2012
Nanoparticles in sunscreens
New Zealand and Australia have the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. We need to use sunblock- but recently there have been concerns over the issue of nanoparticles in sunscreens. We have...
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14 January 2012
Potato Starch Vs Potato flour
An important question: Is potato starch and potato starch flour the same thing? No, potato starch (flour) and potato flour are different products used for different reasons. Potato Starch...
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06 December 2011
Roll On Wellington Awards
In 2011, Wellington streets have come alive with people of all descriptions taking to their bicycles, rediscovering the joy and convenience of travelling by bike. The bike buzz has been undeniable...
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07 October 2011
School holidays the Commonsense way
Some parents are really organized and have a two week schedule of fun holiday frolics …For all of those people organized and off on holiday or holiday programmes- High five to you!! For all...
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23 September 2011
Rugby World Cup 2011
So it is official! we are enjoying the rugby world cup 2011. Considering how many of us are rugby skeptics (to put it nicely) it is quite astonishing that most of us are finding the whole thing a...
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13 September 2011
Seeds to plant in September
Get started on your spring planting! Hopefully your lovely garden has been loaded with compost, mulched to perfection and is ready for spring planting! If you have not quite managed to get this...
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29 August 2011
Eating seasonal food
"Food prices hit new high" scream the headlines... But we wish these articles would point out that tomatoes, lettuce and capsicum are expensive because they are out of season! Surely...
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26 August 2011
Italian-style tomato, bean & vegetable soup recipe
Some recipes are too good to be kept a secret! The Dominion Post newspaper featured one of our winter soups in the "From The Menu" section on Wednesday. A lovely customer asked them to get the...
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24 August 2011
Fonterra drops organic milk suppliers
Commonsense Organics finds it sad and short sighted that Fonterra is dropping half of its organic dairy farmers. We believe it is important to be loyal to farmers and growers and to take a wider...
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10 August 2011
Citrus season
Vitamin C just when you need it! Sweet, sour and juicy all at the same time- oranges have the distinct ability to lift the spirits and carry some joy into your mouth. We have navel oranges,...
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08 August 2011
New website launched
Our new website is here! This is our brand spanking new shop. We still have our four other stores but this is the new baby in the Commonsense family. Like any new shop (or baby) we need love and...
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03 August 2011
Best shop for unusual vegetables!
We are the best shop in Wellington for unusual vegetables! Well thank you Mr Burton and Dominion Post! Commonsense Organics was just named “Best shop for unusual...
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05 July 2011
Ti Kouka Farm Organic meats on Country Calender
The wonderful Ti Kouka farm organic meats suppliers Andy and Sophie were on Country Calendar! The hour long feature showed Andy and Sophie at home on the farm and highlighted their farming practice...
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