Our mission
Our aim is to preserve traditions, create heirlooms and enjoy all the colour and fun of festivities but without the waste. We do this through the creation of reusables to take the place of single-use items.
We manufacture in Afghanistan with the sole purpose of helping women who have no other options for employment or income. Our product is merely the vehicle we use to assist women in dire circumstances.
Our customers want sustainable and ethical options for day-to-day living and make conscious buying choices that consider who made the item and how they were treated.
Our history
Waste Free Celebrations started as a craft stand at a small market in a very small town in New Zealand. Then Covid hit in 2020 and, quite by accident, the gift bags took off. We had to hire 12 women in two weeks just to keep up. That's when we knew we were onto something.
We moved to Auckland, where Afghan refugee women sewed for us. Then, in 2024, we moved our sewing to Kabul. That choice came from two places: my years as an aid worker in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2006, and two more assignments in 2007, and Rahila's story. Rahila fled Afghanistan as a two-year-old during the Russian invasion in 1982. Four decades later, she went home to help other women.
Manufacturing in Afghanistan has to be the craziest, hardest, most stubborn thing I have ever taken on. As if running a business wasn't hard enough, try running one with no banking system and no way to move money, no sea port, electricity that's unreliable when it exists at all, patchy Wi-Fi, an obscene amount of red tape, earthquakes, the odd bomb blast and no foreign embassies. Then add employing women in a country where women are banned from education and work.
What were we thinking?
Reusable gift bags and crackers might be a simple idea. But for the women who make them, they're a lifeline. Because you bought a bag, a mother can feed her children, or pay for her daughter to learn online.
Not bad for a little craft stand.
Read the full Waste Free Celebrations story
Come join us!
Emma
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Our team
Emma Conyngham
Director Waste Free Celebrations
Emma Conyngham is a former humanitarian aid worker who worked for UNDP and UNIFEM Afghanistan from 2004 - 2006. She also worked for World Vision NZ and TEAR Fund as Head of Communications and Advocacy. After having children and moving to Wānaka she started a small craft project making reusable gift bags to take the waste out of Christmas which exploded into a thriving business employing 60+ women in Kabul.
emma@wastefreecelebrations.co.nz
Anna Sutcliffe
Product Manager
Anna is a paediatric nurse by trade and a mum to three boys. She has been volunteering with the Afghan refugee community for many years and assisting with resettlement for women and children in Auckland. She has her own fabric importing business but is now Product Manager for WFC.
anna@wastefreecelebrations.co.nz
Rahila Sayed
Director Hope Sewing
Rahila grew up as a refugee in Pakistan after fleeing Afghanistan as a toddler during the Mujaheddin war against the Russians when her father was killed. She arrived in New Zealand in 2014 as a widow with 6 children. With her children now grown, Rahila wanted to return to Afghanistan to help women like her to earn an income and provide for their children. She has worked for WFC since 2021.
rahila@wastefreecelebrations.co.nz
Timmy Brown
Marketing manager
Timmy manages our direct-to-consumer e-commerce operations, as well as lending his experience and strategy to other key business decisions. In the past he has worked on the agency side, client side, and run his own company.
tim@wastefreecelebrations.co.nz
Julie Browning
USA Director of Operations
Julie leads our new business expansion into the U.S. and facilitates environmental and social sustainability efforts. She brings over 25 years of leadership and strategic thinking in international development with government and the private sector. She has managed large and diverse project teams across regions, working in democracy, human rights and governance and led successful, high dollar fundraising efforts.
julie@wastefreecelebrations.com
Chloe Polgase
Customer Support
Kia ora, I’m Chloe! I look after our hello@ inbox, so if you’ve emailed us about an order, a swap or a tricky question, chances are it was me writing back. I’ve also spent time in our warehouse, so I’ve had my hands on just about every gift bag we sell. My favourite? Our candy cane reusable crackers. They’re pure Christmas joy, minus the landfill.
When I’m not at my desk, I’m studying psychology, out tramping, or curled up with a good book. And my favourite Christmas movie is The Grinch. Even he’d come round to waste-free wrapping! Say hi anytime. I love hearing from you.
hello@wastefreecelebrations.co.nzSend us a message
Let's keep in touch
To get in touch please send us an email via hello@wastefreecelebrations.co.nz.
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