When cuticle picking becomes a compulsion (and how to give it the flick)

We all have bad habits, picking her cuticles till they bleed is Ruby Clavey’s. She went on a mission to get to the roots of her compulsion – and how she can finally be free of it. Nail-biting, hair pulling, nose-picking, scab picking — most of us have bad habits. Some of us have more … Read more

I’m messy and I’m done apologising for it

Some people are just untidy. Madeleine Chapman is one of them, and this year she’s decided to embrace the mess. “I was going to clean that up,” I said, feeling a distinct shame I’d never felt before. The cleaner just shrugged. “It’s not that messy, we get this all the time.” I was panicking. I … Read more

It takes more than a month to save the planet

Plastic Free July is over, but Josie Adams is still fighting for the environment. After a month of minimising plastics, emissions and even recyclables, she reflects on what she’s learned. You can read the first three diary entries here, here, and here. July has ended and so has my time as New Zealand’s most formidable … Read more

What walking the South Island taught me about low-carbon life

There is a lifetime of adventures to be had in New Zealand without ever once setting foot on a plane, writes Melanie Vautier. A little while ago I stepped out of my front door in Queenstown with the intention of walking back home. To Wellington. I arrived in Queenstown in October to work there over summer, … Read more

When ‘good’ is the enemy of ‘great’

Lifestyle blogger Hana Tapiata uses matauranga Māori to help decode some of modern life’s curliest questions. This week – recognising the need to change and grow. “We cannot change what we are not aware of, and once we are aware, we cannot help but change.” – Sheryl Sandberg I don’t know about you but I … Read more