Eco Voice: Q & A – FIRST EVER ALL-FEMALE NEW ZEALAND TRADE DELEGATION IN AUSTRALIA

ECO VOICE: Q & A – FIRST EVER ALL-FEMALE NEW ZEALAND TRADE DELEGATION IN AUSTRALIA

Led by New Zealand’s Minister for Economic Development, Hon Barbara Edmonds, the Wāhine Trade Mission celebrated the excellence of women in leadership and 40 years of Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations, coinciding with the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 – co-hosted by the closely connected countries.

The delegates are leaders in their respective industries, spanning technology, investment, manufacturing, skincare, cleaning products, fashion, beauty, beverages, personal care, sustainability, services, and packaging. This all-wāhine Trade Mission served as a platform to bring together a diverse cohort of leaders, raising the profile of the delegates and to bolster New Zealand’s brand in Australia.

Tim Langdon, publisher of Eco Voice, had the pleasure of facilitating a Q & A with three of the delegates:

Michele Wilson – AWWA Period Care

• AWWA Period Care produces reusable period proof underwear.
• For this BCorp, sustainability is at the heart of the brand. AWWA underwear is made with natural, organic and recycled fibres, and the brand has a fully traceable supply chain.
• By choosing AWWA underwear, customers have prevented more than 35 million single-use period products ending up in landfill.

 Q1. What is the vision and mission of your sustainability-focused business?

AWWA is a period care brand that deeply reflects the relationship and connections between oneself, our environment, and planet. Our products help people all around the globe to manage their monthly cycles with confidence and connection without the negative impact associated with single use period products.

AWWA Period Care is deeply rooted in New Zealand Māori ancestry; Māori referred to their period as ‘te awa atua’ – the divine river, and this sacred idea promises a world where every person can feel divine and empowered during their period.

AWWA is a B-Corp brand that wants to create a more empowering, more sustainable, and more connected relationship with our periods – not just for our own children, but for everyone across New Zealand and around the world.

 AWWA’s purpose includes:

• To do our part to eradicate period poverty
• To have a net positive impact on our environment
• To change the narrative to ensure positive emotions about periods

Q2. What are some of the sustainable/eco-friendly products & services that you offer?

Our reusable period proof underwear means that people can say goodbye to single use period products for good. Depending on the style, our period underwear holds the same as up to 5 regular tampons or pads. We use natural, organic and recycled materials in a range of different styles, absorbencies and colours, so there is something for everyone.

By choosing to manage their period with our underwear, AWWA customers have saved over 35 million single use products from ending up in landfill.

AWWA is B-Corp certified and climate positive for business operations, offsetting more than 120% of carbon emissions for business operations annually.

We have a fully transparent supply chain which means our customers have access to knowing exactly who makes our underwear, where its grown, woven, died etc!

Q3. Is sustainability becoming increasingly more important in the sector that you operate in?

Definitely. Sustainability in businesses is no longer just for some; it needs to be something all businesses are aware of and need to be striving to always improve.

It’s not just in the products either – it’s the whole business operation. Businesses are a huge contributor to the output of carbon emissions. We work with Ekos to measure and offset our emissions each year, and are proud to once again be Climate Positive for Business Operations in FY23.

We look at every area of our business and continually improve what we are doing – the materials we use, the way we transport our products, the packaging we use and so on.

Q4. Have you experienced an increase in demand for your sustainable/eco-friendly products in recent years?

We have. People are becoming more and more aware of their impact of the environment and are searching out how they can make more sustainable choices. We have so many styles now – hipster briefs, boxer briefs, high waisted and cheeky styles – and we find our customers mix and match styles to cover different days of their period.

Q5. How do we get more people to embrace sustainability in your business sector?

Continual education. For all of the people who now use period underwear there are still so many more who do not.

We offer a 60 day free trial for all new customers for their first time trying one pair of AWWA – this way we find people who may have been on the fence can be more confident to try period underwear.

Q6. How can publications, such as Eco-Voice, play their part in promoting a move to more sustainability in your business sector?

There is a need for more education around the importance of choosing a product from a business that is actually investing into lessening their impact on the environment. The product alone cannot do this. You can have the most sustainable product but if you are not addressing how its made and also how the consumer users the product then your sustainable efforts are not reaching where they need to.  We need help educating consumers on this. Wonder why your super market brand period underwear do not last long? There’s a reason you will not find us in a supermarket isle and it lies in our sustainability and the cost to achieve this.  continuing to tell the story of brands who are committed to sustainability. It’s amazing how many people still haven’t heard of period proof underwear and we want to continue to educate people to help them make the most sustainable choice to manage their period.

Rebecca Percasky – Better Packaging Co.

• Better Packaging Co. is a carbon neutral B-Corp, that makes ground breaking and award-winning regenerative packaging solutions, including compostable and recyclable products.
• Its world-first, award-winning POLLAST!C range is made from certified Ocean Bound Plastic that is rescued from coastal communities throughout Southeast Asia and recycled into packaging.
• Better Packaging Co. stirred up quite a stink in Bondi Beach in June 23’, see here! This huge emoji poop represents the amount of plastic that enters the ocean every 30 seconds.

Q1. What is the vision and mission of your sustainability-focused business?

Better Packaging Co. is a carbon neutral B-Corp founded by Rebecca Percasky and Kate Bezar in 2018. While most sustainable packaging does ‘less bad’, We go one further and create packaging that delivers a whole lot of good instead!

We believe the world has already made enough ‘stuff’ we just need to get better at recycling what we’ve already taken, mined and then wasted. But there’s waste, and then there’s pollution. We’re starting with pollution because if we can create a commercial incentive to clean up pollution by turning it into packaging that our customers need, then we help solve a massive environmental issue and remove the need to create more virgin material

Q2. What are some of the sustainable/eco-friendly products & services that you offer?

Our world first, award-winning POLLAST!C Range literally cleans up! It is made from certified Ocean Bound Plastic pollution that is rescued from coastal communities throughout SE Asia and recycled into poly mailers, poly bags, pallet wrap, bubble wrap, flow wrap, document pouches and more.

POLLAST!C is made from 100% recycled ocean-bound plastic collected from beaches, waterways and the surrounding environment before it reaches our oceans. Every piece of packaging  is part of an epic environmental clean-up program, smallest carbon footprint of any eCommerce packaging, it has a 75% less carbon foot print than alternative options and our customers get statistics on how many kgs of pollution they have prevented from reaching the ocean as well as kg of co2 emissions reduced by switching to POLLAST!C (up to 75% less co2 than virgin plastic), and my person favourites is that it meets 13 of 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals!

Here is a short short video.

We also have our world first bamboo range that can be made into retail bags, tissue paper, envelopes and more!

Bamboo is a fast-growing grass that is harvested above the roots then keeps growing – just like mowing the lawn. The growth and harvesting process is faster and less disruptive by contrast to logging trees which kills the entire tree and then requires re-forestation. Bamboo releases 35% more oxygen and absorbs up to 6 times more CO2 than an equivalent of pine trees, the product is FSC certified, curbside recyclable with paper and card, or compostable it can be made into boxes, envelopes, primary product packaging, tissue paper and so much more.

Plus, our original certified home compostable range which comes in mailers, poly garment bags, labels and bubble mailers. As a leader in this industry, we are continuously innovating and know how important it is to set the highest standard. We guarantee our products’ quality and ensure they conform to the most rigorous global certifications.

Q3. Is sustainability becoming increasingly more important in the sector that you operate in?

As below.

Q4. Have you experienced an increase in demand for your sustainable/eco-friendly products in recent years?

Absolutely. Businesses of all shapes and sizes are desperate for more sustainable packaging options – especially without having to compromise on style or cost. They are under pressure from consumers, investors, internally and increasingly from regulators. The UK has recently introduced a tax on packaging made with virgin plastic and the Australian Government has committed to making recycled content targets for packaging mandatory.

Q5. How do we get more people to embrace sustainability in your business sector?

There is already a lot of pressure on companies to improve their packaging footprint, however there is unfortunately often a lack of sophistication in their approach and brands are willing to be lead by consumer beliefs (driven by ‘appearing’ to be doing the right thing) than by applying rigorous sustainability frameworks and analysis, systems thinking. So it’s less about getting more people to embrace sustainability and more about getting them to do it in an analytical, science-based way rather than being swayed in their decision-making by the court of popular opinion.

Q6. How can publications, such as Eco-Voice, play their part in promoting a move to more sustainability in your business sector?

Consumer education is key. There are some very emotive sentiments commonly accepted by consumers e.g. “Plastic is bad/evil” “Packaging is bad/evil” that are just categorically untrue and unsupported by science. It is the responsibility of media and brands not to pander to these beliefs, but to follow the science and educate consumers accordingly. There is also an overly-large focus on the end-of-life of a product and not enough on the footprint of its production and supply chain. Again, this is a very important education piece.

Sophie Cooper – Anihana

• Anihana is a New Zealand-owned business that creates and markets personal care and beauty products that are fun, accessible and sustainable.
• Anihana products are made in Aotearoa New Zealand from natural ingredients, with solid formulations that eliminate the need for plastic packaging.

Q1. What is the vision and mission of your sustainability-focused business?

The Anihana mission is to create joy in everything we do. From our office right through to the customer experience when they use our products, joy is front of mind for us.

Our vision is to help make 100 million smiles! This is an ambitious goal, but we believe it’s a goal that’s worthy of ambition. We are collectively tracking this through sales, gifting, marketing, and our internal team culture.

 Q2. What are some of the sustainable/eco-friendly products & services that you offer?

We craft sustainable products that encourage joyful self-care. Our range includes solid body and hair care, plus innovative shower steamers. All our products are packaged in certified home-compostable boxes, and we have grown the brand with Papatūānuku, the Earth, at the front of our minds. From our operations right through to the on-shelf products, we strive for sustainability at every single step.

Q3. Is sustainability becoming increasingly more important in the sector that you operate in?

We like to think so! There are definitely more brands thinking of their impact on the Earth and their social responsibility when creating personal care and beauty products. There is still a long way to go before we are working sustainably as a whole sector but it’s great to see if becoming more of a need than a nice-to-have.

Q4. Have you experienced an increase in demand for your sustainable/eco-friendly products in recent years?

Absolutely. Consumers are constantly educating themselves on what is good for the environment and they’re choosing to shop with a sustainable mindset nowadays. It’s been great for us as a brand and it’s amazing to see more people adopting sustainable choices each year, it’s a real community of people trying to make change happen.

Q5. How do we get more people to embrace sustainability in your business sector?

I think it comes down to understanding that sustainability doesn’t mean boring or expensive. The Anihana brand is proof of that! Colour and joyfulness can be synonymous with home-compostable and affordable.

Once brands realise that the innovation exists (or is soon going to exist) to make their products and processes sustainable in an accessible way, they can open the gates to being more gentle on the Earth without sacrificing the fun stuff!

Q6. How can publications, such as Eco-Voice, play their part in promoting a move to more sustainability in your business sector?

I think supporting a diverse range of sustainable voices and brands is key to opening the conversation up to different communities and making sure the discussion is inclusive.

Recognising the work behind sustainable brands and community groups goes a long way too. It helps consumers understand the effort put in and the impact that it has on the world.