The Dirt Doesn't Hurt Story

It started with a brief conversation between great friends in a preschool:

“Let’s eliminate single use plastic bags in ECE centres” 

In Pukekohe, Tanz, an Early Childhood Education (ECE) teacher, was doing her final paper for her study on sustainability within ECE centres. Tanz had the great idea to eliminate plastic bags within ECE centres, but unsure where to start she approached me (Ange), a parent at her centre with a love for crafts and sewing.

 Together we started to research the impact of plastic bags on the environment and felt more and more horrified. A colossal ‘sea of plastic’ which stretches for miles has been found floating in the Caribbean. We felt sick thinking about the plastic pollution issues our kids were inheriting. 

So with determination to try to make a difference, two mums embarked on a life changing journey. Months of hard yakka later, Dirt Doesn’t Hurt is launched! 100% NZ made TIKA Junior bags that are such high quality, they should last for years. Machine washable, zero strangulation risk (Velcro rather than pull cords), sturdy and easy for small hands to use, encouraging independence.

Dirty or wet clothes can popped in the bag and then it can be clipped to the outside of the school bag with a carabiner. No longer may filthy clothes be hidden in school bags for days until they are unearthed, all sweaty from a single use plastic bag which then gets dumped in the rubbish! Or if a good quality book bag is what you are after, then we have TIKA School - the same bags but without the carabiners. 

Our range of products has now expanded to include TIKA Sports bags & TIKA Work bags, as well as TIKA Sleepover (toilet bags for kids) and TIKA Create (aprons made from our same wonderful fabric as the bags). 

We are also pretty keen to help complete the education cycle and so we have committed to donating to community based and under-resourced ECE centres and schools across Aotearoa to help them fund sustainability projects such as building worm farms and creating veggie gardens. And of course, we donate some of our wonderful TIKA bags to them.

There is only one thing for us to do and that is to do our best, right where we are, every day of our lives. This inspired us to try to give up plastic bags, for the planet, for our kids…and to help other Kiwi families along the way do the same. 

By buying our 100% NZ made TIKA products, you are helping eliminate single use plastic bags from ECE centres and schools all over our beautiful Aotearoa - we are pretty stoked about that!! 

Arohanui, Ange & Tanz a.k.a Chief Plastic Bag Eliminators. 

Follow us on Facebook to see where our journey takes us facebook.com/dirtdoesnthurt.co.nz  or email us at [email protected]