making movement

It doesn’t feel like that long ago since I sat down to write the last update, but as I reflect on the past three months, I realise a lot has happened. Let’s dive in.

Welcome Te Wāhi Whakaora Rotorua and District Women’s Refuge (TWWR)

I’m thrilled to welcome Julie, Mere and the amazing team at Te Wāhi Whakaora Rotorua and District Women’s Refuge (TWWR) to the Ripple community.
It’s a privilege to support your crucial work and send Ripple Gear Boxes your way. The delivery to TWWR was a team effort and I want to thank both ImpacTex and Alsco Rotorua for helping us extend our reach. What’s extra awesome is that by leveraging existing activity, we’ve avoided any extra travel or carbon emissions.

Ripple in Schools

A big shout out to Howick Primary School for kicking off our school programme in their Montessori classroom. Ripple was created for kids, so it’s essential to involve them in our mission and demonstrate how small changes can make a big difference. If your school is interested in learning more about our school programme, please get in touch. A massive thanks to Room 16!

Ripple on Seven Sharp

In June, Lucus De Jong and the Seven Sharp crew spent the day with us and featured a segment on Ripple. While the prospect of being filmed was terrifying, I’m so glad we got to showcase our system in action. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can check it out here.

Gratitude to ORIX

A huge thank you to ORIX for hosting a fantastic Gear Drive in Auckland. We received some amazing items, including bags of hand-knitted beanies made by Sandy. Thank you for all your care and support; we hope the experience was as enjoyable for the team as it was for us. If your business is interested in hosting a Gear Drive, please reach out to hello@ripplemovement.co.nz.

Westfield Local Hero Nomination

I’m excited to share that we’ve been nominated for the Westfield Local Hero Award. This potential funding offers a huge opportunity for Ripple in continuing to do our work. Your vote can make a difference, so if you can, please vote for us here. Your support means a lot.

Can you help?

Last summer, Ripple was able to pass on 120 pairs of togs to kids without their own gear. This year, we anticipate having a lot more. If you have a connection to a primary, intermediate school, or swim school with children who would benefit from these, please ask them to get in touch at hello@ripplemovement.co.nz. Our togs cover ages newborn to 12 years and are either new or in excellent condition.

A countdown to circularity

Lastly, stay tuned to our social media or our website for our first product launch—the RePack. It’s our first fully circular product made from our end-of-use textile waste, brought back to life as something special for kids. I always intended to use our textile waste to create a product, but I didn’t want to sell just anything; it needed to solve a problem. The RePack is lightweight, durable and showerproof, offering great protection for kids’ school devices. It is also recyclable over and over again, simply by popping it back into a Ripple Collection Bag.

We’re putting the finishing touches on the RePack and an exciting donation channel for businesses, so watch this space for details. It’s been a long journey, but I’m thrilled with the outcome and all the learnings along the way. Achieving full circularity has always been the goal and it’s great to see the vision coming to fruition.

To finish up, let’s review the metrics that matter most – here is what we’ve achieved together:

💦 2.6 tonnes processed (20,867 items)
💦 262 kids clothed for a year
💦 $78,600 estimated combined value of items donated
💦14,985 items reused
💦5,446 items recycled
💦436 items repaired or repurposed
💦1,282 kgs of greenhouse gases prevented from entering the atmosphere

Thanks for all your support. Until next time!

The Ripple Team