Welcome aboard to The Rubbish Whisperer

Cleaning up our oceans one straw at a time.

Pathway is excited to welcome new social enterprise The Rubbish Whisperer to its recently launched social enterprise hub.

Selling reusable produce bags, eco straws, reusable food wrap and other waste saving products, The Rubbish Whisperer aims to reduce the prevalence of single-use disposable plastic in everyday life. Ultimately, its goal is to rid the South Pacific of plastic waste items like disposable bags and straws.

For Founder and Director Helen Rupp, it all began in 2009 during a stay in Nepal with her family. "We were living in Nepal and saw lots of plastic rubbish on the roadsides and in the rivers. We realised that in New Zealand we produce far more rubbish but because a truck takes it away every week, we are never confronted with how much of it we really produce."

Later, Helen learned about the existence of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and the terrible damage being done by the clearing of rainforests for palm oil. She felt called to take action.

And, she has. So far The Rubbish Whisperer has managed to save 12 million plastic bags, 72 km of plastic wrap and 600,000 plastic straws - not bad considering they have only been operating since 2013! The business has also made a positive economic impact locally. Its reusable shopping bags are sewn in Christchurch and made primarily by people without other employment. In addition, 1% of profits are donated to local environmental projects. 

The decision to join the Pathway Social Enterprise Hub was initially prompted by the need for a warehouse and meeting space in town. "It was becoming difficult and inefficient to get our stock shipped to Diamond Harbour where we live, processed and then shipped back out again," says Helen. "We really needed a storage space in town.

"It's really nice having the support and resources made available by Pathway. It's good to be supported in this young stage of business."

Pathway looks forward to supporting Helen and her expanding team as they grow this exciting business.