About Us

Our History

The Rubbish Whisperer emerged from our own desire to reduce rubbish. In 2009 we were living in Nepal and saw lots of plastic rubbish on the roadsides and in the rivers. We realised that in NZ we produce far more rubbish but because a truck takes it away every week, we are never confronted with how much of it we really produce.

Then, learning about the existence of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and that rainforests are being cleared for palm oil to put in our processed goods, we decided to try to reduce the single-use disposable plastic in our lives. We started to see plastic, not as convenient, but as a pollutant that would outlive us, our children and our children’s children.
Most of us care about the environment but don’t realise the scale of the pollution our disposable lifestyles are creating. The Rubbish Whisperer shows people how easy it is to have a huge positive impact on the environment by making small and simple changes.

Our Values

• The Rubbish Whisperer is a triple bottom line business. We consider financial, environmental and ethical concerns to have equal value.
• We donate 1% of sales to local environmental projects.
• Our reusable produce bags are handmade in NZ by local people to whom we pay the living wage.

Our Impact
Since 2013 we have saved:
• 2.24 million plastic bags
• 72 km of plastic wrap
• 98,000 plastic straws

Our Partners
We work with waste educators both in NZ and overseas.
We are partners with Waste Free Parenting and are a
a member of the Plastic Pollution Coalition.