New Zealand suffers from one of the worst rates of child poverty in the western world impacting 1 in 10 Kiwi kids. Child poverty has a disproportionately high effect on Māori and Pasifika households, with a quarter of Māori children and almost a third of Pasifika children living in poverty.

Children who grow up in poverty are more likely to experience poorer health, educational outcomes and have a harder time finding work in adulthood. Kids in poverty who lack material things enjoyed by other children can also suffer from social exclusion and alienation from their peers.

Having fitting, weather-appropriate clothing, shoes, raincoats and pyjamas is something that many of us take for granted but with the rising cost of living, basic essentials are fast becoming luxury items for many families.

Textiles are responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions, making them “one of the most carbon-emitting industries in the world alongside oil, gas and agriculture”. In NZ, textile waste accounts for approximately 5-6% of landfill, they produce about 30% of the carbon impacts.

Reusing clothing can help. Extending the average life of clothes by just three months of active use per item would lead to a 5-10% reduction in each of the carbon, water and waste footprints. But eventually, all clothing regardless of its usage, brand or composition will all end up in the same place.

Synthetic and blended clothing now makes up the bulk of what the world wears generating huge amounts of plastic pollution. Yet despite the scale of this issue, it rarely gets the airtime it deserves.

What’s more, if we follow Europe’s lead, sending textiles to landfill will be banned from 2025 – solutions are needed fast.

New Zealand suffers from one of the worst rates of child poverty in the western world impacting 1 in 7 kiwi kids. Child poverty has a disproportionately high effect on Māori and Pasifika households, with a quarter of Māori children and almost a third of Pasifika children living in poverty.

Children who grow up in poverty are more likely to experience poorer health, educational outcomes and have a harder time finding work in adulthood. Kids in poverty who lack material things enjoyed by other children can also suffer from social exclusion and alienation from their peers.

Having fitting, weather-appropriate clothing, shoes, raincoats and pyjamas is something that many of us take for granted but with the rising cost of living, basic essentials are becoming luxury items for many families.

Having children inevitably brings a lot of stuff into your life, especially clothing in those first 12 years. Many household find themselves with an excess of unwanted or outgrown clothing and want to move these on in a convenient, responsible way.

While there are currently a number of ways to donate or sell goods, there are often issues with these solutions.  Secondhand shops on average sell approximately 50% of stock received with the remainder going straight to landfill. Many commercially operated clothing bins are only able to sell 20-30% of donated clothes. The majority ends up being sold to rag traders in the Pacific region if they do not sell, they are often dumped offshore.

What’s more, if we follow Europe’s lead, sending textiles to landfill will be banned from 2025 – solutions are needed fast.

Textiles are responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions, making them “one of the most carbon-emitting industries in the world alongside oil, gas and agriculture”. In NZ, textile waste accounts for approximately 5-6% of landfill, they produce about 30% of the carbon impacts.

Reusing clothing can help. Extending the average life of clothes by just three months of active use per item would lead to a 5-10% reduction in each of the carbon, water and waste footprints. But eventually, all clothing regardless of its usage, brand or composition will all end up in the same place.

Synthetic and blended clothing now makes up the bulk of what the world wears generating huge amounts of plastic pollution. Yet despite the scale of this issue, it rarely gets the airtime it deserves.

Ripple was born out of frustration that in this day and age, we do not have a system in place to easily move quality items from those that have to those that do not and a better way to deal with waste responsibly.

Ripple makes this easy to do, offering a hassle-free solution to both material hardship and the textile waste problem in New Zealand.

But ultimately for us, this is about backing our kids. Using clothing to keep them warm, healthy and confident and cleaning up the way we dispose of it, to make their future environment a better one.