This article originally appeared in The Press August 31, 2024.
Written by Carly Gooch
Anthea Ibell couldn’t believe her luck when former prime minister Jacinda Ardern wore a pair of her locally made earrings.
The move was more than complimentary - it had a ripple effect that enabled the launch of an award-winning children’s toy by a pair of sustainably-focused friends.
Water fights with her 2-year-old daughter seemed like a fun idea, Sustained Fun co-founder Anthea Ibell said, but the single use water balloons weighed heavy on her conscience.
Determined not to miss out on the fun, she teamed up with Sustained Fun co-founder Helen Townsend to design a reusable alternative.
They made the product in New Zealand, but weren’t able to scale up, Ibell said.
“We didn’t really know what we were doing [so we] parked it.”
Instead, she started her own business, Remix Plastics, creating earrings from recycled plastic waste.
“Jacinda wore my earrings just after lockdown and it all kicked off,” she said.
More than 800 pairs sold, giving Ibell and Townsend the funding to revisit the water balloons.
With Ibell’s background in marine biology and zoology, and Townsend’s career as a botanist, the business partners complemented each other.
“Absolute science nerds,” Ibell said.
EcoSplat reusable water balloons are made from a polyester yarn, crocheted into a ball which soaks up water and releases it on impact multiple times without redunking.
“You can have a much longer water fight. The single use ones, you throw them and it’s all over in five minutes.
“They just keep going and going ... and you don’t have to pick up all the rubbish afterwards like single-use ones.”
The reusable water balloon launched in 2021 and had a “massive” summer
The balloons also developed imagination, Ibell said, whose 8-year-old daughter uses them in the bath, or to help wash the car.
“She’s on a whole different level. She has ideas and imagination galore.”
EcoSplat won best new product at the New Zealand Gift and Homewares Fairs in 2021 and 2022, and bagged silver at the Clean and Conscious Awards 2023.
They are stocked in stores around the country, and recently picked up in Australia.
Following the success of EcoSplat, they created other products, including treasure hunt card games to do in the backyard or on walks with children.
The cards encouraged children to get outside and connect with nature away from devices, which was beneficial in a number of ways.
“If you connect kids with nature when they’re little, and have a perceived value of nature, they’re more likely to grow up and have environmentally friendly behaviours. It’s actually getting them outside and caring about stuff.”
A 1000-piece whale poo and CO₂ puzzle created by the pair was designed to get the family talking about climate change without being “confronting and depressing,” she said.
“It’s showcasing a nature-based solution to climate change. If we look after what we have, we’ll be better off.”
Ibell and Townsend haven’t stopped at designing toys. They’re aiming to create an international movement on November 15 - World Sustainable Toy Day.
She said a lot of toy companies were “far behind in sustainability”, generating a high turnover of low quality products in the same way fast fashion was.
Research showed kids lost interest in 25% of their toys in seven days, she said.
“It’s exciting, there’s heaps of opportunities to solve all these problems.”