Style: November 01, 2019

28 STYLE | report
Wool growers and marketers are actively looking for innovative ways
for their renewable fibre to replace synthetics, like strong-wool coffins.
It seems companies that champion environmental or
social issues are going from strength to strength in the eye
of the consumer as Kiwis are highly committed to living
sustainable lives through their purchasing decisions. From
shampoo and shaving bars to plant-based eateries, we are
turning into sustainable thinkers.
Christchurch is embracing the newly opened Welder,
a complex with upcycling at the centre of the design and
development. Inside the repurposed character buildings,
find businesses such as Good For, a packaging-free grocery
store. There, you are encouraged to bring your own
reusable packaging or use paper bags provided, for free.
Meanwhile, schools are going plastic wrap-free and
entrepreneurs like 16-year-old Taupo student, Brooke
Moore, are developing products to overtake household
staples. Brooke has developed an edible and biodegradable
agar-based alternative to plastic food wrap – called Wrapt,
and it comes in three flavours. Currently preparing to
present to Glad Wrap and having won a 2019 Girlboss
Award for innovation, she’s now aiming to pitch to
companies whose product hers aims to displace.
It’s clear we are all on this path together as we seek out
eco-friendly, ethical and sustainable production. Could New
Zealand follow in the footsteps of San Francisco Airport
and go plastic-free? Will more countries follow China’s
initiative to ‘green-up’ deserts, laying grids to forest the
sands? Watch this space. One thing’s for sure, I’m on this
better-for-you, better-for-our-planet train, and with so
much choice, why wouldn’t we be?
From shampoo and shaving bars
to plant-based eateries, we are
turning into sustainable thinkers.
Good For, a packaging-free grocery store at The Welder.