Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

David Trubridge takes a risky plunge as he announces he's pulling six of his products

Hawkes Bay Today
14 Feb, 2019 01:00 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
David Trubridge has announced he will immediately withdraw six of his products from production.

David Trubridge has announced he will immediately withdraw six of his products from production.

Hawke's Bay design studio David Trubridge has announced it will immediately withdraw six of its 13 remaining products with a high plastic content from production.

The remaining designs are planned to be phased out during 2019 and early 2020 as the last orders for the items are processed.

The company is prepared to take a hit on sales.

For company director David Trubridge it's disappointing to have to let these products go, but knows things have to change to reduce the environmental footprint of the company.

"The items being discontinued are close to my heart," Trubridge said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Despite this, we can't go on selling them and still claim we are doing all we can as a company to reduce our environmental footprint, but the time has come that we know we won't find a more eco-alternative to this plastic."

The plastic was the chosen product at the time due to the strength and features that the material possessed compared to environmentally friendly alternatives at the time.

"At the time we chose the Polycarbonate plastic due to its strength and the way it can diffuse light like rice paper," Trubridge said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The bulk of the company's luminaires are made from sustainably managed bamboo plywood.

Rather than completely abandon the discontinued designs, Trubrige set his studio the task of designing new plywood pieces that take inspiration from these.

The results have led the company to find new ways of using plywood.

"We had to stockpile all our plastic waste and truck it to a recycling depot. Now our wood waste goes to a local timber mill for efficient incineration to generate electricity in its steam power turbines," Trubridge said.

Discover more

Reluctant retiree after 50 years

13 Feb 08:00 PM

Fantasy Cave desperate for volunteers

14 Feb 07:16 PM

He hopes his company's stand will lead to others jumping on board and finding new ways in which other designers can find a more environmentally friendly approach to their work.

"I'm hoping I can bring light to the use of plastic in industrial design. Designers must think about materiality and life-span. What are you designing? How long will it be relevant? What will happen to it when it's discarded?" Trubridge said.

"We are all responsible for the future."

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Business

Business

‘Very concerning’: Kiwi wine industry dealt $112m Trump tariff blow

Hawkes Bay Today

New $750m solar farm for Hawke's Bay: Why is the region turning to solar?

Business

What’s going on with Rocket Lab shares?


Sponsored

Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

‘Very concerning’: Kiwi wine industry dealt $112m Trump tariff blow
Business

‘Very concerning’: Kiwi wine industry dealt $112m Trump tariff blow

NZ Winegrowers Advocacy says the tariff will go from 10c to around $1.10 per bottle.

04 Aug 10:26 PM
New $750m solar farm for Hawke's Bay: Why is the region turning to solar?
Hawkes Bay Today

New $750m solar farm for Hawke's Bay: Why is the region turning to solar?

28 Jul 06:00 PM
What’s going on with Rocket Lab shares?
Business

What’s going on with Rocket Lab shares?

24 Jul 10:59 PM


Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’
Sponsored

Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’

04 Aug 11:37 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP