Sustainability

Wink started with the desire to make beautiful custom made bedheads and accessories that are easily able to be purchased and enjoyed by all. In the process of establishing the business, founder Lisa Sinke discovered that there were some materials and practises used in the creating of the products that she didn’t feel comfortable about, so she sought to do something about it.

An important aspect of being mindful of our environment and planet in developing this business is the desire to be locally and NZ made. Supporting our local makers is important to us, and the resultant decrease in air miles is incredibly beneficial for our planet.

We are constantly reviewing our sustainability and environmental practices and do not claim to be 100% sustainable and ecological, but we do everything we can across the business to be as kind to our environment as possible. We still have a way to go and will keep pushing, and if you have any suggestions of any practices that we can implement to enhance our impact then we would love to hear from you!

Bedhead padding

Upholstered furniture typically uses foam and tetron wadding. These are man made materials, that never degrade once they are made. Foam is made by chemical reactions, and once it is formed it never break downs or leaves our planet. Tetron is also synthetic, with manufacturing processes that are harmful to the environment, and it also does not break down and ends up in landfill. These materials concerned Lisa enough that she decided to find a different way of making bedheads.

After a period of prototyping a new methodology was developed using New Zealand natural wool, which is a much healthier choice for the environment. In Aotearoa we have a lot of sheep, and sheep grow wool! The wool that Wink uses is grown right here in NZ, is a natural, renewable resource that is non-toxic and biodegrades when it is at the end of its lifespan so there is no synthetic residue. Furthermore, as well as being toxin-free, it is hypoallergenic, non-irritant and odourless. And to add to Wink's wool cred, our supplier is committed to sustainability and all offcuts are recycled within their factory. Winning!

Timber

The timber that we choose to use at Wink is produced in Aotearoa, using NZ grown timber to be the lowest emission timber board possible. It’s emissions are equal to those found in timber in the natural environment, whereas other more cheaply produced timber board uses solvents that are harmful to the planet, and that off gas.

Our timber carries the Environmental Choice New Zealand Certification and is certified by the FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) which ensures that the forest is managed in accordance with FSC principles and criteria by following exacting social and environmental guidelines.

Glues

We have chosen to use screws in our bedheads rather than the usual toxic wood glues. Similarly, for our lampshades we use water-based non-toxic fabric glues.

Calico

We specifically choose to use unbleached calico as our backing fabric, and wherever we use covering cloth such as under removable covers. Calico is cotton that has been less processed than traditional cotton therefore may have small flecks of cotton seeds visible in the fabric. Because the calico is  unbleached it is an off white colour, as the cotton only becomes white by being bleached.

Bleaching has severe environmental and health issues associated with it. The chemical processes used require huge quantities of water and energy, depleting existing water reserves and polluting the water, air and soil. Chlorine, which is a by-product of bleaching, is a toxic chemical that ends up in our water and soil, remaining in the environment for several years, harming wildlife. There are new technologies being developed and used that are overcoming some of the issues with bleaching, and bleaching is sometimes unavoidable in fabric production, but reducing the amount of fabrics that are bleached is always going to be a good thing!

Feathers

Most feathers that are used the world over in our day to day lives are harvested from live plucking. True and shocking fact! Because we care, we use feather inners that are made with 100% duck feathers that are truly ethically sourced as a by product from duck farming. These are known as 'ethical feathers', how good is that? And not only that, these are ducks that live in NZ on a farm in the Waikato.

Lampshades

Our locally made lampshades are kinder on the planet than other conventionally made lampshades. We have done away with using the usual imported plastic liners, and have instead gone back to the old school ways of using card. So you can choose the perfect lampshade to match your bedroom scheme and know that our famous Wink ethics of caring for our environment are intact.

Packaging

We have carefully considered our packaging choices with the environment in mind. We use cardboard to wrap your bedheads for safe delivery. The cardboard is recyclable, biodegradable AND is made from recycled cardboard.

We use eco tape which is made from natural wood fibres derived from a managed and sustainable forest.