A sustainability story from the NZ Wine Centre
What happens when a scientist quietly starts composting your paper towels? Most of us toss a paper towel without a second thought. But when you are scientist come composter Dion Mundy, you see something different — a carbon-rich building block for healthy compost.
Thriving pumpkins in Dion’s vegetable garden.
For some time now, Dion has been collecting the used paper towels from the Budge Street campus, as well as food scraps from the staffroom and student café. These everyday waste items are layered with animal manure, green waste, cardboard, and even the wash water from rinsing milk bottles — all composted in no-turn raised beds in Dion’s vegetable garden.
The result? A flourishing cycle that turns waste into fertile soil, helping grow vegetables for his family, friends, and even the farm animals.
“In my opinion, we all need to do our part to leave the planet in a better place for our children,” says Dion. “Turning a waste stream into a resource stream is something my wife Rosalind and I can do, so we do it. This is our way of making a smarter, greener future, together.”
It all began with hens and ducks, really. The scraps from the student café were first diverted as chicken feed, but then the wider potential became clear — especially after seeing other examples of composted paper towels at Spring Creek Playcentre and Victoria University. Add with 22 raised garden beds to fill, and the solution practically composted itself.
Cattle, sheep, goats and pigs benefit too. Goats and cattle get most of the grape waste. The raised vegetable beds are filled over time with alternating layers of “browns” (like hand towels and cardboard) and “greens” (like food scraps and grape marc from campus). No turning is needed — just a good balance of materials, milk washings, a bottom layer plasterboard for calcium, and time. After a season or two under a cover to keep it warm and active, the beds are topped with pumpkins or tomatoes, thriving in the nutrient-rich mix.
Over the period of a year, Dion and his wife Rosalind divert:
104 x 20L buckets of food scraps from the staffroom
52 x 10L bucket from the café
52–104 wheelie bins of paper towels
Seasonal grape marc from BRI, NMIT and Plant & Food (at least 4 trailer loads per week over vintage)
Surplus produce that can’t be used on campus
And it’s not just them. The coffee grinds now go home with another staff member. Staff regularly drop by to ask if compostable waste can be redirected.
“I now very rarely receive non compostables in the bins (only a few teaspoons still surface from time to time),” says Dion. “Packaging at the student café has improved so that it can be composted.” Sorting has gotten smarter. Visitors still cause the occasional hiccup, but awareness is growing.
The pictures above tell the story from paper towels to compost to thriving thriving vegetables.
Dion’s efforts reflect a wider movement taking root across the NZ Wine Centre campus. The Sustainability Team, made up of members from all campus organisations — including NMIT, MRC, BRI, Wine Marlborough, SWNZ, Lallemand, and Plant & Food — has been actively supporting and encouraging grassroots initiatives like this one. Their mission is to promote sustainable practices collaboratively, whether it’s by reducing landfill, regenerating natural systems, or fostering circular waste streams like Dion’s. The team helped divert the hand towels from landfill and continues to advocate for smarter systems across campus.
Claire Grose, who leads the campus’ Sustainability Team, says “thanks Dion, for your time that goes into collecting the waste and you’ll grow great veggies as well. It’s a win-win situation.”
“It’s the kind of grassroots sustainability that makes a difference: A practical model for circular thinking in action — right down to your last hand towel.”
While Dion and Rosalind receive most of the green waste, they are happy to help others make use of these resource streams. “We are more than happy to talk to people about what they could do and help with a waste stream they might have and cannot find a home for,” says Dion.