This International Women’s Day, we’re turning the spotlight on extraordinary women who are creating meaningful change in a field that’s deeply close to our hearts: sustainability. Sustainability is more than just the foundation of our brand—it’s a movement that constantly evolves, demanding the dedication and passion of those who champion research, innovation, and communication in this space.

We’ve partnered with incredible women who are making a tangible impact in the world of sustainability. To honour their inspiring work and unwavering commitment, we’ve chosen to recognise them with outfits that reflect their values and celebrate their efforts to drive positive change.

Here’s what they had to say about their work.

Meet Helena

Helena first caught our attention with her groundbreaking PhD research on microplastics. Her idea of fun is time spent analysing these tiny particles under a microscope. We’re deeply grateful for her commitment to exposing the impacts of microplastics.

When did you finish your study?

I handed in my thesis in June 2024, and took the oral defence exam in September.

What drew you to Microplastics?

Microplastics appealed to me because of how tangible they are, they’re not this mysterious substance you can only see with lab equipment and experimentation. While some of them are really tiny, we can all see, feel and hold the products they originate from. I wanted to know how they went from these plastic objects we use in everyday life, to miniscule particles in our environment.

And what did you find?

It turns out microplastics are pretty sneaky and pollute our environment in lots of ways we don’t realise! What we wash down the drain, flush, or put through the laundry, can all contribute to the microplastics problem. Wastewater treatment plants aren’t designed to remove microplastics and, after researching them, I don’t think they ever will be. This means they end up in our waterways and soil.

One major source of microplastic pollution is the sludge from wastewater treatment. The water is filtered of all solids and the remaining sludge gets applied back to the land. There are so many invisible microplastics in there. Another source, again from our waste, is compost. It’s applied to land for food production, but when scraps are processed to produce compost, all different forms of waste are accepted, including industrial waste containing microplastics.

What was the most challenging aspect of your research?

Getting a solid out of a solid is extremely hard. You hear lots about microplastics in the sea because it’s much easier to filter the particles from water and study their presence. Only 5% of microplastic research looks at our soil, and the ones that do are working with really tiny samples like 0.1 of a gram. When you scale up the findings from such a small sample it distorts the accuracy. I had to develop an entirely new method of separating solid particles to produce conclusive research. This enabled me to work with 30g samples, which are more scalable.

In doing that, I discovered just how prevalent microplastics are in waste products and how they’re accumulating in them. They’re all products we use on the soil, so soil health is negatively impacted.

Despite being able to separate the particles I couldn’t always decipher the source of that specific plastic, but I did find a lot of kitchen sponge, glitter, and microbeads. Screen printed t-shirts are also a big one, they’ll still say 100% cotton on the label, but they’ve been screen printed with a design which is plastic based. While the t-shirt will fully disintegrate, the screenprinting never will.

What would be your dream job in the field?

I would love to work in waste minimisation. I spent so much time researching waste, now I would love to actually do something about it.

What companies have you seen making a difference?

I think the companies looking at reusable services are doing really good things. Again Again, Reusabowl*, Chunky.

The conclusion I drew from my research is that once microplastics are in the environment, they’re there to stay, regardless of the amount of technology we develop to recycle. So, the only way to really make a difference, is to stop introducing new plastics in the first place and stick to reusables.

*No longer operating unfortunately.

If you could eliminate one source of microplastics, what would it be?

Synthetic textiles, specifically those in your home such as fluffy blankets and carpets. Every time you hoover a synthetic carpet it’s throwing microplastics into your environment.

What is your standard work ‘uniform’?

Doing lab work we’d have to wear natural fibre clothing otherwise we’d contaminate the samples.

What do clothes mean to you, in your work?

Because I buy mostly secondhand clothes, it’s hard to curate a style. I feel like I end up in casual clothes a lot, because they don’t need to fit as well. So, it would be really nice to have some more formal options for interviews, made from natural fibres of course!

For her outfit, Helena chose the Alvis Jacket in steel, coordinated with our Eldora Pants, both from the Spring Summer 24/25 collection. She complemented these with an Esther Crew for her base layer.

Meet Millie

Millie is an environmental scientist and sustainability communicator, empowering businesses to build brand loyalty and trust through credible, sustainability storytelling.

How does the work you do to help companies share their sustainability initiatives, benefit a greater good?

It’s so important that people share their stories. When this information is out there, you have the potential to inspire others to do good. That’s how progress is made. A lovely aspect of working in the sustainability field, is having everyone march to the beat of the same drum. We’re all part of a larger community, so learning from each other is crucial. Leaders and early adopters are important, but to create overarching change, it needs to filter down, and that’s where I come in.

There is a tendency towards greenhushing. I like to remind companies that a world full of greenhushers is not going to solve any problems! If we’re working for the overall betterment of the planet and people, we need to work together and share experiences and ideas.

By putting your message out there, you’re adding to the positive stories. In a sea of negativity, it’s important to move the needle towards more positivity, and drowning out the negative could make all the difference.

What prompted the move from science to comms?

I’d always been in science, deep in the research. I was witnessing evidence and practical solutions, but becoming frustrated with the lack of change all this knowledge was actually having. I wanted to make a practical difference and influence systemic change I’d previously done some sustainable events with a friend, which gave me the sustainability bug and showed me the influence I could have if I were to get into the corporate side of the industry.

What trends have you seen in this space recently?

People are gaining back the confidence to move away from greenhushing. This is partly because they no longer feel like they have to be perfect to be able to share their message. It’s become more acceptable to say, ‘we’re trying’ and not get criticised.

We can’t talk comms without mentioning AI! Any thoughts on what the world of AI will do for sustainable messaging?

I’m optimistic, because I’m an optimist! I think you have to be to work in sustainability. AI has the power to make people’s lives easier and improve sustainability outcomes through awareness, so I can only take that as a good thing. When you put good into AI, you get good out of it. If you can put your specifics into AI and get more tailored responses, then you’re on the right track.

What power do you think an outfit has in terms of communication?

Outfits are an extension of ourselves and what we chose to wear is the same as putting your business values out there. It sparks conversations, mentioning something is from a secondhand store, for example, it makes secondhand shopping more widely accepted. Or why you bought a piece that aligns with your values, it all has the potential to spark conversations.

What’s your standard work ‘uniform’?

Comfy! I work from home and like to get out and go for a walk during the day, so having a balance between something comfy and professional on top for zoom meetings is key.

Millie chose the Sylvie Tee in Soft Shell, paired with the Alice skirt in Twilight for her outfit. Both are from our Spring Summer 24/25 collection.

Meet Gina

Gina is a dedicated textile enthusiast, working to bring soil-to-soil production to New Zealand’s makers. Gina has been part of our community for a while, having produced the indigo dye for last season’s flora scarf and working with us on textile innovations. She is well known throughout the office for having a container of silkworms join her at her desk (a passion project to learn all about the natural process behind mulberry silk.)

What came first, the textiles or the farming?

The textiles. I was a sewer originally. I also come from a family of creative green thumbs. Everyone in my family has a great garden, and all the women are plant nerds, so I’m surrounded by their creativity.

Tell us more about you!

I don’t know if there’s a gap between me and the work. When people ask me what I do for fun, this is it! There’s so much to learn, so there’s no danger of getting bored and you don’t learn it by reading books. The best way to learn is by getting your hands dirty. When I’m creating an indigo vat, it’s so much about the senses, the smell, watching the colour, the bubbles. Same as linen, it’s very tactical and instinctive.

What made you focus on indigo and linen?

I found a report by Fibershed online about soil-to-soil textiles and indigo production on a commercial scale and I thought, I can do that! The hardest part is convincing the market to use indigo vats. I take care of the plant all the way through to the pigment, but New Zealand only has a couple of dye houses, and as far as I’m aware, they work exclusively with acid dyes. Trying to get them to do a natural indigo dye would be difficult as it’s a fermentation process. It’s like taking care of a baby!

This means textiles have to be small batch dyed unfortunately. I thought about doing the dyeing myself, but I have to draw the line somewhere!

What are you working on with Untouched World at the moment?

We’re currently looking to replace the last 1% of plastics in the UW garments. One of the last remaining reliance’s on synthetics is the nylon draw thread used when the garments are knitted. This is just part of the garment set up on the knitting machine, so it doesn’t end up in the final garment, but we still want to remove it from production. It needs to be both tough and smooth, which is incredibly hard to achieve with natural fibres. We’ve already switched to using recycled nylon, but the goal is to find a natural fibre that can do the same job.

We’re currently in the trial stages of replacing it with linen. Alex is on my farm right now, trialling a flax puller. He is working on developing yarn production at a commercial scale. (Alex is the husband of Untouched World CEO and Founder, Peri. His background in engineering means he plays an integral role in research, development and innovation within the company.)

The actual machinery is a key element of this innovation. There was a linen industry in New Zealand in the 1940’s, but it disappeared once trade routes re-opened after the war. Amazingly, there’s no machinery at all remaining, so the linen flax needs to be pulled out of the ground by hand, when it is ready for harvest. Alex is hoping to automate that job, which would make this endeavour viable at a commercial scale.

I’m also working on creating a flax breaker out of an old printing press machine. Once we pull the flax, it has to be ‘broken’ to separate it out into fibres. The manual process is really physical, so if I could get the printing press repurposed for the job, we could at least do it at cottage industry scale. The next hurdle would be how to do it at a national scale.The other aspect we’re working on is replacing the suppy. When producing knitwear, the machine knits a couple of rows of ‘suppy’ for the garment to then be knitted on to. This is currently nylon elastic. It has to be stretchy for the machine to pull it down, then we knit a section of waste yarn, then a section of draw thread. The draw thread’s job is to separate the set up from the garment.

To replace the nylon in the suppy, we experimented with natural rubber coated with plain cotton, which performed well for garments but not for blankets, so we’re still working on that one.

What are you needing in your wardrobe?

Most of my days are spent farming, and the rest of the time, I’m processing my produce, so my day-to-day wardrobe is casual. I need something for the odd occasion when I do dress up. I have a talk in May where a friend and I are presenting to a room of fashion and textile professionals, so an outfit for that would be good.

Gina chose the Avi Knit Skirt and Top, both in Blackberry. She completed the look with a Heron Trench and Rib Merino Scarf.