Potatoes to the rescue! Hamish Dodd about his plastic alternative
We are drowning in plastics, in our soil, our oceans, our food chain, and recently discovered as nanoparticles in our gut. Mmmmm nanoplastics. The government banned single-use plastics in 2019, and is phasing out hard-to-recycle plastics such as meat and vegetable packaging later this year, but what to replace them with? Well, Earthpac is a New Zealand business turning to the humble spud for a solution. It’s a potato starch tray that can be frozen and microwave composted, and it’s free from nasty toxins. Well, that sounds good.
So why aren’t we using it yet? And when will we see it at our local Four Square? To hear more about the long journey to this fantastic solution Vincent was joined by spokesperson – Hamish Dodd.
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Getting social: Wendy Thompson, founder of Socialites
Ben catches up with Wendy Thompson, founder of award-winning social media agency Socialites. Wendy shares learnings from their journey, and thoughts around the crucial role social media can play in enabling dialogue between brands and the communities that grow around them.
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NZ’s growing tech sector and Budget 2022 + Tech’s Bad Side
Paul Spain and Bill Bennett discuss NZ’s $20M Budget boost for Tech sector, tech to supercede liquids ban when flying, AMD’s near 30% share of x86 CPU market and historical Vodafone FibreX drama is back. We also delve into the negative use of technology, including NZ businesses response to Ransomware, Canada’s blocking of China’s Huawei and ZTE and social media disinformation in Philippine’s election.
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No, It won’t destroy your Business: Why Removing Parking is a Good Idea
Few public debates get heated more quickly than the one around replacing kerbside parking with transit lanes or bike paths.
How do we make the conversation about parking less polarising and more productive?
For the answers, Ross Inglis spoke to Doctor Tim Welch, a senior lecturer at Auckland University’s School of Architecture and Planning. Tim, a very public advocate around cycling infrastructure, parking and other urbanist touchpoints, unwraps the issues and offers pointers for winning the barbecue debate about parking.
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NZ Tech Podcast: Tech Insights of the Week + How ASM are Altering the State of NFT’s through AI learning
Paul Spain is joined by David McDonald to discuss Altered State Machine which David founded. Also on the agenda – Russian TV hack, NZ web3 focused VC fund, THEIA Diabetes discovery, a passwordless future, DJI drones not so secure, and more internet in Australia and USA.
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Behind The Plug: Electric Vehicle Smart Charging
Electric vehicles are on their way, but is New Zealand’s grid ready for them? Christchurch-based Evnex makes clever chargers that refuel your car and let your lines company dynamically manage the load on its network.
Evnex CEO and founder Ed Harvey told Ross Inglis about the magic behind the plug.
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Spin Class: Catching up with Kelly Bennett
Ben speaks to One Plus One founder and industry veteran Kelly Bennett about the dark arts of PR. Kelly shares many of the insights he’s learned through a storied international career helping shape the communications narrative for organisations large and small, through a massive number of crises, opportunities, and news cycles.
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Carbon farming on Māori land – Blair Jamieson, Tāmata Hauhā
So much farmland – a million hectares according to one estimate – is mostly unfarmable because its erosion-prone, too steep, or inaccessible. In decades past that land might be destinated for forestry or just abandoned to return to scrub. Either way, the return on investment was poor. But now, thanks to the Emissions Trading Scheme, some of that land is destined to become permanent forest, with emission credits earned by the landowner. This so-called carbon-farming could be a lifesaver for some though it’s a worry for others, who point out that these permanent forests are always exotic trees, especially pines – colonisation here we go again.
What we need is more native ngahere not more foreign pests. Negotiating a way through this is Tāmata Hauhā, a Māori owned carbon farming business dedicating to help Māori landowners make the most of the ETS to earn income for their marginal lands. To explain how the scheme works, Vincent spoke to founder and CEO Blair Jamieson.
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How to sell climate change: Jo Bye, EECA
Most of the population accepts that climate change is real. Most want to do something about it. But what shall we ask them to do? And what’s the best way to elicit a response? Recently the EECA, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, released an updated version of their survey into attitudes towards climate change.
The results show that who you are, where you live, and what you earn dictate what you believe and how much you’re prepared to do support climate action. Vincent is joined by Jo Bye, GM of marketing and communications at EECA.
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Shyr and Brent Godfrey: the founders of Forty Thieves nut butters
Nuts about FMCG.
Ben speaks to Shyr and Brent Godfrey, the founders of Forty Thieves nut butters. They share their story so far and delve into just how they brought the brand to life, how they managed to get – and stay – listed in supermarkets nationwide and what being an FMCG business is like from the inside.
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A circular economy turnaround story – Comvita
Comvita is much loved for its honey products – who doesn’t love bees and their fluffy bums. But a renewed focus on sustainability has seen the company present a robust strategic plan based on circular economy thinking. The plan, called Harmony, is a comprehensive relook at the entire operation and arrives at a time of restructuring and repositioning the company after a few tough years. To explain the thinking behind the plan, Vincent met with Holly Brown, chief transformation officer, and Heather Johnston head of safety and sustainability.
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Shaun Edlin – CEO and Co-Founder of Dotterel Technologies
Paul Spain is joined by Shaun Edlin – CEO and Co-Founder of Dotterel Technologies to discuss the latest in audio capture technology – plus coverage of EU’s Digital Markets Act and its possible effect on leading Tech companies, NZ’s #5 spot for OECD Broadband speed, Microsoft bribe allegations, Potential Taranaki Windfarm to help NZ’s renewable energy aim and more.
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