To be Plastic-free July Aotearoaand that means it’s time to evaluate our use of plastic and synthetic materials in the home.
We all know we need to cut off the pipeline that runs – whether we realize it or not – from our kitchens and bathrooms to our environment.
This year the focus is on say no to the purchase and use of single-use plastic products and better demands from large companies around the use of plastic.
From decor to cookware, from cleaning to dining, plastic can be found in every part of our home, making it a real challenge to give up the stuff, but it can be done.
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* Plastic problem bigger than ever amid global pandemic, experts say
Check out this interactive game to see how much you can save by going kwireless (plastic free) – To bring up (give it a chance)!
Here are just a handful of the Kiwi brands doing their part to help you buy more sustainable household items — whether that’s plastic-free, plastic-negative, or locally sourced.
Frances Nation
Located in the historic arts center of Ōtautahi Christchurch, Frances Nation Home and Grocery curates a collection of high-quality New Zealand-made products with sustainability in mind.
After a quality, Kiwi made saucepan, you will find it here; funky, powder-coated steel toothbrush holder in a cool color, look no further; beeswax candles made in the capital, Frances has them.
Sarah Rowlands / Stuff
Tessa Peach’s shop Frances Nation displays beautiful New Zealand-made wares at Christchurch’s Arts Centre.
Don’t be a doormat
Plastic-backed doormats are far from disposable, but what happens when they wear out? They go straight to landfill and the plastic ends up in the environment.
Family business Don’t be a doormat makes 100 percent coconut mats that can go straight onto the compost or into the garden when they wear out. They also come in a range of fun and funky welcome slogans to greet your guests.
Wild Clean
I know, the bottles are technically plastic, but they are far from disposable. Wild Clean‘s kaupapa is to be plastic negative by taking plastic completely out of the system and turning it into these funky, long lasting spray and pump bottles.
Jericho Rock Archer
Sarah and Richard Shirtcliffe, founders of Wild Clean, are working to be plastic-free in their own kitchen.
Cleaning solutions come in home compostable bags, and you can buy them when you need them or through a subscription. Just pour them into the bottles, add water and you can laugh. They also smell nice.
Ironclad Pan Co
If homewares existed on a spectrum, from single-use and disposable to family heirlooms you’ll use for generations, the cast iron pan would be furthest from plastic straws.
At the Ironclad Pan Company, they make cookware that you will leave to your grandchildren in your will. In fact, they even give you a three-generation warranty when you buy one of their pans. That’s durability you can rely on.
Chris McKeen / Stuff
Ironclad’s cookware is made to order at Skellern’s foundry in Avondale, Auckland. Kate Slavin is passionate about producing sustainable cookware that will last a lifetime.
lore
Fast furniture is increasingly becoming a problem, with sofas, chairs and other household items clogging the landfill — often too poorly made to repair or restore — it’s been a long time since we’ve slowed down the whole process.
lore does its best to do just that by making, upcycling and restoring furniture from sustainable materials here in NZ. By working with linen, hemp, cotton wool and other natural, hard-wearing materials, the company strives to create beautiful furniture that lasts.
Stuff is a commercial partner of Wild Clean. Read more about how Stuff manages partner content here.