Fiona Leaning, founder of ReMaterialise.
What is ReMaterialise, and what upcycling is involved in what you do?
At ReMaterialise we take single use plastic supermarket bags from all over the country and turn them into reusable shopping bags. Each bag is made out of at least 40 recycled plastic bags, which makes them strong and able to carry the equivalent of three to five regular plastic supermarket bags. So upcycling is the basis of what we do; we take a disposable item destined for about 12 minutes' usage and give it an extended lifespan and purpose.
Part of what we do is help educate people about why they should stop using plastic bags in the first place. And we've also recently added a range of lunch wraps made out of fabric to our website offering to give people another alternative to using disposable plastic wrap.
Where did the idea for the business come from?
The idea actually came to me in the middle of the night three years ago. As a crafty person I'd been looking for interesting projects, and had been trying to come up with a new idea. I'd also been looking for a way to use the huge amount of plastic bags I'd accumulated over the years but never threw away, because it always struck me as a wasteful thing to do. Then after seeing what people were doing with fusing plastic on a small scale, I came up with the design for my bag, and the techniques to make it possible to do on a larger scale.
Why did the idea of upcycling particularly strike a chord with you?
Plastic bags are huge problem for our environment and I love the fact that we're able to make a difference in keeping them out of landfill and our ecosystem; so far we've upcycled 50,000 plastic bags through this business.
As a mother, I want to be able to leave the planet a better place for my kids and their kids, and I think upcycling is a great place to start. I was a big fan of The Wombles when I was a kid, and I love the idea of making good use of the things that we find; we don't need to keep making more 'stuff' when we have plenty of 'stuff' lying around for us to make new things out of.
Who are your customers?
They are people looking for good alternatives to plastic bags. They are also people who are environmentally conscious enough to realise that the reusable bags you get from the supermarket are just as imported as disposable plastic bags, and are looking for a homegrown alternative. The fact that they're made out of stuff we having lying around appeals to a lot of people, and the handmade nature of the bags also appeals to people who want something a little bit different. We get a lot of repeat business; once people have used our bags, they want a few more and often also buy them as gifts.
What have been the primary challenges you've encountered in the three years you've had the business?
Marketing has been a huge problem for me - especially without a marketing budget - so word of mouth and Facebook are the main ways we let people know what we're doing. The reality is that upcycling also costs money. There's so much work that goes into taking rubbish and turning it back into a useable item, which is why these kinds of products are often relatively expensive compared to buying something completely new.
Another challenge for me has been wearing all the different hats that a small business entrepreneur needs to wear. My primary focus is on upcycling plastic and creating more bags, but I also need to be a photographer, marketing whizz, web master and there just aren't enough hours in the day for all of that. So I feel I could do much better in those areas.
What's next in terms of developing the business?
I'm currently working with a few businesses to create branded bags for their clients. More and more companies are looking for that 'green' image and I think that being locally made gives the bags added value in the eyes of other businesses. Acquiring the skills of a decent product photographer and upgrading our website are definitely another couple of developments that are on the cards. And until plastic bags are ultimately phased out, I would love to grow the business be a real, viable option as far as recycling them on a large scale goes in New Zealand.