Photos: Maree Wilkinson.
Emma Saunders, 47
Emma Saunders has such a knack for repurposing items others would throw out that she’s earned herself the nickname “Tinder for Waste”.
By connecting all of the organisations that have excess with groups that have a need, she’s helped divert 170 tonnes of materials from landfill.
Be it organising kitesurfing sails for the Cancer Society to create post-surgical drainage bag covers, coordinating the delivery of 40kg of peanuts with damaged packaging to Nelson’s Natureland Zoo or working on her business The Green Collective, Emma is a master matchmaker.
“I grew up around the mentality ‘fix it, make it, mend it’ and became more aware of waste as our family grew,” says the mum of three. She’s also a Pilates teacher and originally trained as a physiotherapist. “What I’m doing now is just an extension to that.”
Emma’s first foray into her waste-reduction business came 10 years ago. She was making reusable mesh produce bags to help reduce single-use plastics.
“We took them to Nelson’s Saturday market. Halfway through, they were sold out, so I had to run home to sew up more,” she recalls.
“Every day, my family uses all of my products. They need to withstand heavy use, but be nice- looking and give joy. Why settle for ordinary when you can have colourful?”
Now she’s often found transforming redundant advertising banners and car-seat straps into waterproof tote bags or sourcing products that provide practical, eco-friendly solutions, like her latest brainchild to stop gift cards ending up in the bin.
“I wanted a solution to something that was really irking me environmentally,” explains Emma. “Experts estimate people only recycle a quarter of gift cards. My alternative is reusable, compostable Swedish dishcloths, screen-printed with beautiful works by New Zealand artists.
“They’re perfect to write messages on and wrap around gifts. The new-card option even comes with an envelope so the recipient has a dishcloth that’ll last them around a year.”
For Emma, the mission is simple.
“I hate waste and I love problem-solving,” she asserts. It’s a fun challenge to find solutions to avoid things going straight to landfill.”
Kristy Hunter, 49
Business is in the blood for Good Change co-founder Kristy Hunter, who credits her dad Murray Read-Smith with inspiring her to start her very first enterprise in her forties.
The eco-cleaning product range she launched with friend and co-founder Stine Smith in 2019 has gone from being a small start-up in Tauranga to selling in supermarkets throughout New Zealand and across the Tasman.
Kristy traces her passion for business back to her Bay of Plenty childhood, where Murray had a successful trade show company amongst other ventures he started and sold over the years.
“Around the dinner table, there were lots of conversations about business, lots of laughter and lots of really crazy ideas,” remembers Kristy.
“I used to dress up in a business suit when I was 12 and go off to Dad’s trade shows. I wanted to do all the money-handling at the ticket office.”
After leaving school, Kristy completed a business degree, then worked in marketing, sales and recruitment, until she and her businessman husband, Mark, 51, became parents to Polly, now 15, George, 13, and Meg, 11.
Then just at a time when she was ready for a new challenge, her friend Stine called with a proposal.
“Literally, the day my youngest started school, half an hour later I had a meeting with Stine,” smiles Kristy. “She presented this idea about a compostable cloth. I went, ‘Oh, my God, that’s actually got legs!’
“The learning curve was steep,” admits Kristy. She adds that there were some nerves about rejoining the workforce after a decade of full-time parenting. But Kristy soon realised as a woman in her forties, “You don’t care too much about what other people think. You’re also not afraid to talk to people in high places.”
The product range includes compostable cleaning cloths and scrubbers, bamboo wipes, reusable spray bottles and cleaning tablets. There are more products in the pipeline and even plans to expand even further across the globe.
One of the ideals her “massively energetic” mum, Gay, 79, and Murray, 78, always encouraged was “to have a higher purpose, rather than just making money”.
And they feel delighted their daughter is doing just that.
“I don’t have to tell Kristy this, but I’m beaming with pride,” shares Murray.
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