A much ballyhooed report has found that New Zealand is ideally placed to create beef patties that are sustainable across the entire supply chain. Sounds good, but it’s the product of some extremely selective calculations, argues Mathias Corwin. Earlier this month came the news that the Ministry for Primary Industries had teamed up with the … Read more
Varieties of merino wool footwear are emerging faster than Netflix series about British aristocracy. Michael Andrew takes a look at the rise of the shoe that almost everyone – including his 95-year-old grandma – is wearing. Some might say it all started with Allbirds. After all, to the average consumer, it was the New Zealand-American … Read more
Summer reissue: Buying secondhand clothing is one of the best ways to refresh a wardrobe without spending wads of money or contributing to the wasteful fast fashion industry. But there’s a fine art to finding pieces that are worth your time. First published August 2, 2020 I’ve never been hunting but I imagine, in a … Read more
Earlier this year, Ingrid Starnes was forced to close all its retail stores after Covid-19 severely disrupted its business. Now the fashion label is embarking on its next chapter with a brand new business model – one which promotes an honest and sustainable future for fashion, writes Ingrid Starnes managing director Simon Pound for Ensemble. … Read more
With New Zealand tourism in a lull – and backpackers in the firing line – Queenstown-based start-up Kiwi Welcome is creating a new model of sustainable travel where visitors add value to the land. For the past few years – up until Covid-19 began hoarding the headlines – one of New Zealand’s most pressing public … Read more
Extracting raw materials for new technology like electric vehicles can take a terrible toll on the environment. So New Zealand company Geo40 has developed a process for sourcing strategic minerals from our abundant geothermal resources. Over four decades ago, Mike O’Sullivan, founder and COO of Geo40, did a high school project examining whether precious minerals … Read more
Kiwibank has officially moved into its new Auckland home – a building with a Six Green Star Certification near Wynyard Quarter. Michael Andrew went to see how sustainable a building has to be to earn so many stars. In late 2019, when fans at Eden Park were sipping away at Sprite, Coke and L&P while … Read more
The massive dairy cooperative has released its fourth annual sustainability report, highlighting what it reckons is going right and wrong in controversial environmental and social areas. What’s all this then? The Tātou Tātou 2020 Sustainability Report is Fonterra’s attempt to bring together the strands that make up its wider strategy, to get a competitive advantage … Read more
After years of specialising in low-carbon footwear, Allbirds has introduced a new line of sustainable apparel made from an unconventional yet innovative source. In April, when Allbirds announced it would be the first fashion label to introduce a sticker that measured the carbon footprint of each one of its products, it was seen as a … Read more
Several parties are promoting policies that aim to develop New Zealand’s regenerative agriculture and organics sectors. Michael Andrew asks the experts what it could mean for the environment, the economy and New Zealand’s participation in a burgeoning global market. Under the tangled canopy of green schools, fiscal holes, party leaks and other pre-election controversies, it … Read more
It’s not a binary choice of one or the other, writes Brian Cox, who says the two technologies can work together for the good of the environment. In an opinion piece titled “Why industrial anaerobic digestion is not the answer to food waste”, Kate Walmsley argued that composting provides better environmental and societal outcomes than … Read more
Tesla has delighted investors and stunned rivals with its meteoric rise to the top of the car industry. With the right Kiwisaver fund, New Zealanders have the chance to back a winning and renewable horse, writes Pathfinder CEO John Berry. Tesla’s share price is three times higher than at the start of this year. With … Read more
New Zealand’s first commercial bioenergy facility has been lauded as a sustainable way to deal with the nation’s food waste. It’s anything but, says community composter Kate Walmsley. A couple of weeks ago, it was announced that construction was starting on Aotearoa’s first commercial bioenergy facility, owned by Ecogas. Many people might see this as … Read more
Everyday huge volumes of unsold supermarket food go to waste. That’s why a baker, a brewer, a chef and an innovator are collaborating to rescue as much as possible and turn it into something new and tasty. Beer is a simple product – there isn’t a whole lot you can do to improve its core … Read more
Buying secondhand clothing is one of the best ways to refresh a wardrobe without spending wads of money or contributing to the wasteful fast fashion industry. But there’s a fine art to finding pieces that are worth your time. I’ve never been hunting but I imagine, in a lot of ways, it’s similar to shopping … Read more
With Covid-19 devastating demand for global fashion brands, millions of jobs in Asia’s apparel factories hang by a thread. That’s why one New Zealand business has taken a different tack to keep its Cambodian staff working and well-cared-for. To the average consumer, there’s little discernible connection between Te Awamutu and the small Cambodian community of … Read more
A success story of the New Zealand Made Products Facebook page, this Christchurch start-up has grown from a backyard workshop to a centre for sustainable architecture and building all in the space of a few months. Two Christchurch guys needed a table for their flat. So they built one out of scraps of timber in … Read more
Could a taiao values approach to our economy be the key to bridging the gap between protecting our environment and prospering as people? Dr Amanda Black from the Bio-Protection Research Centre explains how. Aotearoa has been economically dependent on our primary sector for generations. But in this new Covid-19-framed world, that dependence will be magnified. … Read more
Not only could carbon-neutral dairy farming be a sustainable way to mitigate climate change, but it could also be a profitable enterprise for New Zealand’s farmers, writes Prem Maan from Southern Pastures. The Covid-19 crisis has shown us what can be achieved in New Zealand if we work towards a common goal rather than wholly … Read more
Business after Covid: A return to normal might seem appealing, but as Tim Brown of Allbirds writes as part of a new business series, now is the time to strive for something better. The Covid-19 crisis has yanked our freedoms out from underneath us. Our sense of safety, community, and day-to-day life is no longer … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Florence and Chloe Van Dyke from Chia Sisters. What happens if you combine neuroscience, herbal medicine, and a … Read more
His idea to reprocess used medical devices is already helping reduce waste in the New Zealand healthcare sector. Now Oliver Hunt of Medsalv discusses plans for the future and what’s needed for a small business to hum. In healthcare, the need for sanitation and sterility has dictated a throwaway culture, where millions of single-use devices … Read more
Early model electric vehicles are already running low on juice, with some batteries down to around half their original capacity. With the international auto industry slow to find solutions, one New Zealand company is using Kiwi ingenuity to repurpose old batteries and keep the cars – and their owners – going further for longer. As … Read more
New Zealanders throw away 295 million single-use cups per year. Alice Neville ponders our obsession with takeaway culture, and looks at what’s needed for consumers to change their behaviour. How many commuters did you see clutching single-use takeaway coffee cups on your way to work this morning? Or how many empty ones are strewn about … Read more
A year after they went carbon neutral, The Warehouse Group’s chief sustainability officer reflects on the journey so far and the work that is still to be done. It was a year ago that the red shed made its biggest commitment to going green in its 38 year history. The Warehouse Group – comprising local retailers … Read more
After the collapse of the Soviet bloc, Cuba embarked on a rapid reorientation of its agricultural system to a self-sustaining, biointensive and essentially organic model. Nearly 30 years on, a Canterbury vegetable grower ponders whether Aotearoa could follow its lead. It’s November 2016, less than a week after the election of Donald Trump, and I’m … Read more
Pool toys are cool for the summer, but don’t do so well in landfill. Alex Casey meets a woman trying to prolong the life of New Zealand’s novelty inflatables. If Instagram is any indication of real life, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the human race is currently being ruled by giant inflatable swans, blow-up … Read more
Fruit are ovaries, and when Wā Collective founder and executive menstruator Olie Body asked Michelle O to feel her cherries the former first lady dived right in. Who would have thought I’d meet Michelle Obama in my old yoga pants, the ones I’ve sewn up at the crotch multiple times, the ones with some pink … Read more
With fast fashion impacting both feminism and the climate crisis, Alex Casey goes on the hunt for a solution in our climate emergency episode of On the Rag. Watch episode one of On the Rag: ‘Periods’ here Watch episode two of On the Rag: ‘Body hair’ here Watch episode three of On the Rag: ‘Being online’ here Watch … Read more