Buying Kiwi-made for the bathroom
Home » Blog » Sarah Marquet » Buying Kiwi-made for the bathroomRazors, deodorant, toothbrushes and tissues: the bathroom aisle of the supermarket is a made-in-New Zealand-free zone.
'All the toothpaste you need' photo above by ToastyKen via Flickr. Rechargeable battery photo below by Comedy_Nose via Flickr
It’s been a week of disappointments this week. My stash of foreign-made goods has started to get very low, and I’m struggling to find New Zealand-made alternatives.
I can’t find any New Zealand-made razors—and I’m down to my last one. I figure that’s not so bad at the moment: it's been pants weather for a while, and we still have winter to get through. I considered waxing but I’m a bit of a wuss so I’m not sure how that’s going to go. There is a wax alternative called sugaring, with a DIY option that's made here called Bodeze, which will be worth a try.
I have an electric razor, but will need to buy made-in-China batteries to power it. If the wax option doesn’t work out, I might let myself buy some rechargeable batteries. That way I only have to buy a non-NZ-made thing once instead of regularly.
I hadn’t been able to find New Zealand-made deodorant either. I found several alternatives: vinegar, lemon or baking soda. The lemon seemed the best option of the three, but all it really did was make me a bit sticky and discolour my shirt.
I looked in my local health shops, chemists and supermarket and didn’t find anything. Then someone sent me a link to the Ecostore website. Not only are their products made here, they are sustainable, using biodegradable ingredients instead of harsh chemicals. I’ve seen Ecostore cleaning products and shampoos in the supermarket but didn’t realise they made so much more. I still haven’t been able to find their deodorant in the shops, but thankfully they have an online order system.
I have a wee stash of toothbrushes—I got a few double packs in my Santa stocking—so I shouldn’t have to worry about them for a while. That's good, because I can’t find any that are made in New Zealand. Red Seal toothpaste is made here which is awesome, I seem to be going through quite a bit more toothpaste now that I can’t buy gum.
Tissues are another thing I can’t buy: the supermarket brands of tissue are all made in Australia.
In the kitchen
All the supermarket brands of dried pasta are made in Australia too. The fresh pasta in the deli section is made here, but you can’t make mac n cheese with it!
Rice: also not made here. The rice in the supermarket is from Australia, Thailand or India.
Thankfully, we had a whole cupboard full of half bags of pasta and rice that I have been able to use, but that’s disappearing rather fast and I’m not sure my flatmates are going to be too happy if I serve up potatoes every time it’s my turn to cook.
Mon April 26, 2010 @ 12:31 PM
