Another thing I can’t seem to go without is light bulbs. I can’t find anyone that makes them here but it’s starting to get dark around 4 in the afternoon (in my room at least) and the one light I have left doesn’t light it anywhere near well enough for me to do my homework. When I started this year I had grand visions of living it out by candle-light but sadly I now realise it’s not going to happen. So just like batteries, I am going to have to buy foreign made lights. I did find a couple of New Zealand companies that import and sell bulbs direct to the public, The Light Bulb Shop, The Light Bulb Man, and Lighting Direct. I figure buying from a local business like these is the next best solution.

Photo: qisur, flickr

Batteries: I just can't do without them.

I was rushing to get to an interview in the weekend when I realised I had left my pen and paper at home. I had my dictaphone, but the batteries were almost flat and probably wouldn’t have lasted through the interview.

As I was already running late I didn’t want to turn around to find a Whitcoulls or such shop where I know they sell New Zealand-made pens and paper, and I knew I'd be driving past a supermarket. The supermarket sold made-in-NZ Bic pens but not paper, all the batteries were made in China. I knew I was going to need batteries at some point though as I rely on my dictaphone so I went ahead and bought them. Unfortunately they had no rechargeable ones so I had to buy the disposables. Rechargeables are the way to go though, not only will they reduce the amount of batteries in landfills, they will reduce the amount of foreign bought goods I will need this year.

Zerobag - An awesome NZ made alternative to the plastic shopping bag

Has anyone stumbled across Zerobag bags yet? They're made here, from recycled parachutes soucred locally. When I heard that I thought 'why would I want a bag made of parachute?' I had assumed that parachute material would be big and bulky but no, it's really thin but also super strong. When the Zerobag team told me that the bags would hold 16 bottles of wine I thought they were having a laugh so I tried to catch them out. I didn't have that many bottles so raided the book shelf, filled the bag right up with books and it survived, I should have just believed them to begin with! Not only are they super strong, they pack down so small that I usually have to hunt through my handbag to find it.

A New Zealand Made Mother's Day

While searching for something NZ made for Mum I came across three companies offering NZ made gifts.
Buckton & Day and Checkout New Zealand offer everything from oven trays to cat doors. The Beautiful Box Company Ltd offers a range of gifts sectioned into categories such as corporate gifts; gifts for kids; Maori gifts and even Mothers day gifts. www.getnzmade.net, my new favourite site also has a search option for Mothers day gifts. Check them out if your stuck for ideas!

Health Basics, a cheap NZ made alternative.

I can’t believe I didn’t think of them before: the Health Basics range is made here. They’re really cheap compared to other New Zealand made skincare ranges and you can find them almost anywhere, even in The Warehouse. It really is a bit slack that they’re usually on the bottom shelf though. Whatever reasons supermarkets actually have for which products go on which shelves, the ones on the bottom are not going to be bought if people can’t see them as well. I know hardly ever look at the bottom shelves. I’m not sure if the supermarkets always carry their whole range either, I found a kiwifruit scrub in the clearance bin today but I’ve never seen it on the shelf before. Anyway, it is an amazing scrub. It has large exfoliating particles though so not an everyday scrub. Skinfood do an amazing everyday scrub though, I’ve been using it for at least a month now and it’s definitely as good, if not better than the American made one I was using before.

A New Zealand Razor!

Made by Goodfella (www.goodfella.co.nz) the razor is $95 and unfortunately quite outside my budget. It is a one time purchase though which is always a plus so if the wax thing doesn’t work out I can always save for it. The guys at www.rubbishfree.co.nz will be selling them there soon too if you want to check them out.