Pair have eco-friendly food storage wrapped up

Marcia McWhirter and her daughter, Kate (7), with Mrs McWhirter's eco-friendly food wraps. Photo by Tracey Roxburgh.

That's the message from Wakatipu woman Marcia McWhirter who sells reusable, plastic wrap-free and funky products to wrap food while keeping it fresh.

Mrs McWhirter's involvement with 4MyEarth, an Australian concept developed by another mother, Rebecca Hurst, began in 2008 when she was looking for an eco-friendly way of wrapping her young daughter's food.

While she could have stopped with providing Kate, now 7, with one of the wraps or pockets, she wanted to help stop the "disgusting" amount of waste.

She estimated that a child taking a sandwich, muffin and nuts or sultanas to school for lunch every day for a year, would use 105m of plastic wrap.

Multiple that by a school of 450 pupils and that added up to 47,250m which was dumped each year - a figure that Mrs McWhirter, who lives near Arrowtown, found disturbing.

Business has grown since she started selling the wraps and pockets, made from eco-friendly fabric, to some other local mothers and then at a market.

Describing herself as the "real McCoy", she was not just in it for the money - "otherwise I'd have to find something else to do", she said with a laugh.

She liked to do her own composting, grew vegetables and supported farmers markets where possible. Like Ms Hurst, she was community minded and supported various charities.

While she had previously worked in the corporate world, Mrs McWhirter said she had always been "a bit of a tree hugger" and keen on a healthy lifestyle.

She sold 4MyEarth products to everyone from parents to trampers and office workers, from Paihia to Bluff, and some sales went overseas. It kept food fresh, looked funky and children loved it, she said.

Her plan for the future was to continue to grow the business and, along with that, an awareness that people could make a difference even if it was in a small way, without much of an outlay.

It was all about contributing towards a bright, clean and happy earth for generations to come, she said.

She even had television personality Te Radar using a wrap.

He gave a testimonial on her website describing the products as "great". "They even made me pack a cut lunch especially," he said.

While she sold through the website, she could also be found in "nooks and crannies" like A and P shows.

And her daughter who started it all?

She liked being her mother's "little eco-warrior".