Squawk Squad is at the forefront of the predator control and pest trapping movement, and co-founder Fraser McConnell has just won a Sustainable Business Award for its work. He spoke to Alex Braae about why he sees that work as so important for the future. Fittingly for someone who has just been crowned as a … Read more
What the B Corp certification actually means and why it matters. Five decades ago, economist Milton Friedman was concerned about business accepting a social responsibility. In an oft-cited 1970 essay for The New York Times Magazine, Friedman argued that while CEOs could feel an individual responsibility to society around them, “a corporate executive is an … Read more
In the depths of Unitec’s School of Architecture, teams of second-year students are preparing to put their first tangible projects in front of the public. Alex Braae went to meet one of the teams who will be transforming Devonport’s Windsor Reserve for GLOW@Artweek. Stepping into the room where all the creativity is being done, Unitec … Read more
Sustainability is no longer just a ‘nice to have’ for businesses – it’s as pivotal as profit to their long term survival. For as long as any of us can remember, sustainability and profit have been at odds with one another. Profit means efficiencies and efficiencies mean doing whatever it takes to do things faster, … Read more
Most KiwiSaver funds are managed by one of the big Australian banks, which create returns through investments in fossil fuels, human rights violations, tobacco and weaponry. With attitudes shifting towards sustainability, what can ordinary investors do? This month 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg completed a journey across the Atlantic in a zero-emissions yacht to attend … 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 Tim Brown, co-founder of Allbirds. This week’s podcast has an extra special guest that’s recently been on the … Read more
The Lightbulb asks innovators and entrepreneurs how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Jamie Cashmore, co-founder of Auckland-based edible packaging company Twiice. First of all, give us your elevator pitch for Twiice. Twiice is a company making edible coffee cups with plans to progress into other areas of edible packaging. … Read more
Every fish on the iconic New Zealand Commercial Fish Species poster, ranked. There are a few staples of the quintessential fish and chip shop: sticky plastic curtains, soggy paper tickets with a little red number, tin pottles of Wattie’s tomato sauce, even some unlabelled aioli if you’re feeling bougie. And then there’s the New Zealand … Read more
An online shopping platform that lets you see with one click how healthy and sustainable a product is and whether it’s locally made is on the way, reports Maria Slade. Peanut butter choice is a deeply personal thing and the wrong brand at breakfast is a bad start to anyone’s day. Left to my own … Read more
In our Q&A series, The Lightbulb, we ask innovators and entrepreneurs to tell us about how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Honeywrap co-founder Tara McQuinn, makers of organic fabric beeswax wraps. First of all, give us your elevator pitch for Honeywrap. Honeywrap is a beeswax wrap made with organic cotton. … Read more
An innovative new roading system is being trialled in New Plymouth that could reduce the amount of plastic sent to landfill. It’s a New Zealand-first, so Tara Ward got up close and personal with the road to see what all the fuss is about. The fair city of New Plymouth made the news this … Read more
A new generation of commercial fishermen is pushing for change, and chefs are helping to tell their story. “I used to be a little bit naive and think there was no end to anything – a good day’s fishing would always be the same,” says Nathan Smith of Gravity Fishing. “But it’s not the case. … Read more
In our Q&A series, The Lightbulb, we ask innovators and entrepreneurs to tell us about how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Little Yellow Bird founder Samantha Jones whose social enterprise makes sustainably and ethically-made uniforms and basics. First of all, give us your elevator pitch for Little Yellow Bird. We’re … Read more
Wellington-based startup Again Again has big plans for the way you do takeaways. Have you got a keep cup? Oh you do? Neat. Where is it? Oh you don’t know? Probably at home? Maybe at work? Maybe in the car? So not with you when you went to get your takeaway flat white this morning, … Read more
In our new Q&A series, The Lightbulb, we ask innovators and entrepreneurs to tell us about how they turned their ideas into reality. This week, we talk to Hello Cup’s Robyn McLean on what sparked the move into menstrual cups. Since launching in December 2017, Hawkes Bay-based start-up Hello Cup has helped introduce menstrual cups … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Offcut founder Adrien Taylor whose company takes fabric scraps destined for landfill and turns them into hats instead. ONE: How did Offcut start and what was the inspiration behind it? I started the … Read more
Composting plays a huge role in the fight against climate change, but how do we inspire people to actually do it? Dr Niki Harre doesn’t talk about behaviour change when it comes to sustainability. Instead, she talks about cultural transformation, the likes of which we’re seeing play out before our eyes. This transformation is what … Read more
Bex de Prospo went from running music venues to spruiking ants and locusts to the country’s best restaurants. Now, after three years of trying to make a difference, she explains why Christchurch startup Anteater is shutting its doors. As we stood, evicted, on the side of a remote road in Cambodia, watching our tuk tuk … Read more
Every night big black rubbish sacks full of plastic are thrown in the bin out the back by bar staff. Alex Braae spoke to those looking to reduce, and reuse the waste from your nights out. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean there’s a dirty great collection of plastic that just sits there, floating. … Read more
Wendyl Nissen, in an extract from her new book of household tips, advises natural ways to kill the worst thing about summer – flies. Flies drive me absolutely nuts and, unfortunately, with hens come flies. Up north the flies are especially bad in the heat of March and I must confess that after putting out … Read more
Restaurant dining can present even more complex issues than daily decisions at the supermarket or at home. But what responsibility do chefs have to inform and shape their diners’ eating habits? Nowadays, ethical eating is often presented as a truism: we are told we should all be making ethical food choices, not only at home … Read more
He founded an ethical dairying company that would allow calves to stay with their mothers. But Happy Cow founder Glen Herud admits that his enterprise had failed. This post was originally published 21 April 2018 I’m a third generation dairy farmer. The milk business is the only business I know. Four years ago I decided … Read more
Sensors that turn the city into a ‘body’ which can detect its own workings. ‘Digital twins’ that are new improved versions of the original town. The sprint for the urban environment of the future is on, writes Mark Thomas. In his recent book The Fourth Age, technology entrepreneur Byron Reese says we will see more … Read more
If you want to do gift-giving without hurting the world this Christmas, Sarah Paterson-Hamlin has the guide for you. This might be controversial, but I just don’t like getting or giving goats for Christmas. Not actual goats suffocating in Whitcoulls 3-for-1 wrapping paper in suburban Dunedin, but those cards that say ‘I bought a goat … Read more
Big businesses such as New Zealand’s largest ever transport infrastructure project are tackling “real” sustainability issues instead of the greenwashing of the past, organisers of the NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards say. “We’re all desperately looking for ‘how do you do this stuff’ now. I don’t think businesses would be deliberately doing things that would … Read more
At tonight’s NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards, Z energy – a fossil fuel company – is a nominee. Z CEO Mike Bennetts explains how this could possibly happen. At Z, we believe there are three legs to the sustainability stool – social, environmental and economic. We need to do all three of these well if … Read more
A long time before being green was cool, and sustainability was a buzzword, ecostore was committed to looking after the planet. Henry Oliver talks to the founder, and the new CEO, about how to run a successful business at the same time as protecting the planet. A lot has changed in the 25 years since Malcolm … Read more
A year on since launching Nisa – an ethical underwear company that employs former refugees – founder Elisha Watson reflects on all the things she’s learnt about running a business with a social cause. Quitting your job to pursue your dream is one of life’s great cliches. You’re probably working a desk job – stable, lucrative, maybe … Read more
New World announced this week they’re giving away plastic containers, and man oh man, the internet went wild. But was the hysteria justified? Oh plastic, plastic, plastic. Who knew this one flimsy material could cause so much of an online furore in 2018? On Monday, New World announced the launch of its new collectables initiative: … Read more