Thousands of Kiwi women are set to access a world-first sanitary product designed to reduce reliance on single-use plastic, with tonnes of non-biodegradable waste from disposable tampon applicators estimated to be sent to landfill in New Zealand each year. 

The move follows a five-year research and development programme involving feedback from Kiwi women.

According to a new report from the World Health Organization, around 12 billion disposable menstrual products are used each year globally, contributing to plastic waste, landfill volumes and associated carbon emissions. Over a lifetime, an individual may use approximately 10,000 menstrual products, many of which contain plastic that can take hundreds of years to break down. 

The new product, known as Tazi, is the first bendable sanitary applicator and can be reused across multiple menstrual cycles, providing an alternative to disposable plastic applicators.

Its developers say the product is designed to address a longstanding environmental challenge within the menstrual health sector, where convenience, hygiene requirements and limited innovation have contributed to continued reliance on single-use products.

The New Zealand launch follows a scientific and user testing programme where feedback from Kiwi women was used to refine the product’s design, usability and performance in real-world conditions.

Peter Price, co-founder and CEO of Tazi, says plastic waste from menstrual products has historically received less attention than other forms of single-use consumer packaging.

“Billions of menstrual products are disposed of every year, yet this is an area where the environmental impact is still rarely discussed openly.

“While consumers are increasingly being encouraged to reduce their use of plastic bags, drink bottles and disposable packaging, there have been comparatively few practical alternatives developed for sanitary applicators.

“Tazi is designed to replace the disposable applicator rather than requiring users to completely change the menstrual products they are comfortable using,” he says.

Price says the ability to reuse the applicator across many cycles will help reduce plastic consumption without compromising convenience or hygiene.

The protected insertion method also minimises direct skin contact, helping reduce the potential transfer of bacteria from the hands or beneath fingernails.

Din Redzepagic, pharmacist and COO of Zoom Pharmacy, says environmental improvements are more likely to be adopted when they also offer practical benefits for consumers.

“For sustainable products to achieve widespread use, they need to be convenient, hygienic and easy to incorporate into people’s existing routines.

“This provides consumers with a way to reduce their reliance on disposable plastic applicators while continuing to use familiar sanitary products,” he says.

The product is also intended to help address preventable hygiene risks, including rare but serious conditions such as toxic shock syndrome.

Emeritus Professor Ian Frazer, immunologist and co-developer of the HPV vaccine, says reducing unnecessary contact can support improved hygiene practices.

“Personal hygiene is a critical part of avoiding infections we would rather not have. If you can remove the need for unprotected touch, you reduce the risk of transferring organisms to or from the body.

“We all carry microorganisms on our bodies. The key is avoiding introducing the wrong ones into areas where they can cause problems, or spreading them beyond where they should be,” he says.

The product is also designed for use in environments where access to appropriate handwashing facilities may be limited, including while travelling, at festivals or in public facilities.

New Zealand was chosen as the first international market because of its position as an early adopter of menstrual health and sustainability policies.

Government initiatives have included providing free sanitary products in schools, with environmentally friendly product options available to young people.

Price says New Zealand also has one of the few markets where sanitary product use is relatively evenly divided between applicator and non-applicator products, making it well suited to testing a product designed to accommodate both preferences.

Under a new agreement, Zoom Pharmacy, New Zealand’s largest online prescription pharmacy, will become the first retailer to provide nationwide access to the product range.

“New Zealand consumers have played an important role in developing the product over the past five years.

“The launch will allow us to measure the potential reduction in applicator waste, understand consumer adoption and refine the model before expanding into larger international markets,” he says.

The New Zealand programme is expected to inform a broader international rollout and support the development of further reusable menstrual health solutions.

“We believe menstrual products should be part of the wider conversation around reducing single-use plastics.

“This is a category used by billions of people, so even incremental changes in product design and consumer behaviour have the potential to prevent significant volumes of plastic from entering landfill and the wider environment,” says Price.

For more information, visit mytazi.co.nz.

Tubman Heating is now listed in the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) Energy Finance Provider Directory as a provider of Lease-to-Own and Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) solutions for New Zealand businesses.

The funding options are designed to make energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades more accessible by reducing the need for significant upfront capital investment.

Businesses can explore flexible financing for steam, hot water and heating system upgrades, renewable energy projects, biomass solutions and other energy efficiency improvements.

Read more about Tubman Heating’s Energy-as-a-Service solutions.

Your iPhone battery is draining by lunchtime. Your MacBook screen has a hairline crack spreading from the corner. Your iPad won't hold a charge overnight anymore. At some point, every Apple device owner faces the same question: who do I actually trust to fix this?

It's a harder question than it sounds. Apple hardware is tightly integrated — the battery, logic board, display, and software are all engineered to work as one system, which means a rushed or careless repair doesn't just fail to fix the problem, it can create new ones. Here's what actually separates a repair shop worth your time from one that isn't.

The technician matters more than the storefront

Anyone can hang a sign that says "Apple repairs." What matters is who's actually holding the screwdriver.

A properly trained technician has worked through structured certification covering how iPhones, MacBooks, and iPads are built internally — not just how to swap a part, but why a repair needs to be done a specific way to avoid damaging adjacent components. Apple's hardware changes with nearly every product cycle, so a technician who trained five years ago and hasn't kept up is working from an outdated playbook.

A quick way to check: ask the shop how they stay current with new device generations, and ask what happens if a technician runs into something outside standard procedure. A confident, specific answer is a good sign. A shrug isn't.

Good repairs need the right tools, not just good intentions

Diagnosing a modern Apple device by feel or guesswork isn't really possible anymore. A reliable Apple repair Auckland shop uses proper diagnostic software to isolate whether a problem is a failing battery, a software conflict, or a hardware fault — before opening the device up.

Equally important is the environment the repair happens in. Static-sensitive components can be damaged by something as simple as an ungrounded workbench. Delicate jobs — display alignment, micro-soldering, board-level repairs — require purpose-built equipment, not a kitchen-table setup. If you're ever able to see the repair area, that alone tells you a lot.

Parts quality is where corners get cut

This is the part customers notice least and regret most. A cheap, incompatible replacement screen or battery might work fine for a few weeks — then start causing touch responsiveness issues, battery drain, or software instability months down the line.

A trustworthy Apple service Auckland shop is upfront about what parts they're using and why, and stands behind the repair with some form of warranty. If a shop won't tell you what part is going into your device, that's worth asking about directly before you commit.

Just as important: a repair shouldn't be considered done the moment the device turns back on. It should go through functional testing — charging performance, connectivity, camera and display checks — before it's handed back.

You shouldn't have to decode the invoice

A repair estimate that just says "screen repair — $XXX" with no explanation isn't transparency. Before work starts, you should know:

• What's actually wrong with the device (in plain language, not jargon)
• What parts or repairs are needed to fix it
• What it will cost and how long it will take
• Whether there's a warranty on the work

If a shop can't answer these clearly upfront, that's a signal — not necessarily that they're dishonest, but that communication isn't a priority, which tends to show up elsewhere too.

The best shops look past the immediate fix

A battery replacement is a good moment to also flag that your charging port shows early wear, or that a software update is overdue. That's not upselling — it's the kind of attentiveness that prevents your next repair from being an emergency instead of a heads-up.

Preventive guidance — safe charging habits, when to worry about battery health percentage, how to avoid heat damage — is a small thing that separates a shop that wants repeat business from one that wants a single transaction.

The bottom line

None of this requires expertise on your part. It just requires asking a few direct questions: Who's doing the repair, and how are they trained? What parts are being used? What does the estimate actually include? Is there a warranty?

A repair centre that can answer all four clearly, without hedging, is one worth trusting with a device you rely on every day.

If you're in Auckland and want to see how this looks in practice, Advanced Computers walks customers through each of these steps before any repair begins.

When people look at architectural doors and windows, their attention often goes straight to the design. The proportions, colour, finish and overall style are what tend to stand out first. But behind all of those decisions is something even more fundamental: the material itself.

Material choice can influence not only how architectural elements look when they are first installed, but how they perform, age and interact with the rest of a building over many years.

Brass, steel, aluminium and timber each bring very different qualities to a project. Brass offers warmth and natural variation, steel can create a more restrained and industrial appearance, timber introduces softness and texture, while aluminium is often chosen for its clean and consistent finish.

The difference becomes especially noticeable when these materials are placed alongside stone, concrete, brick, glass or other exterior finishes. A brass-framed entrance against pale stone, for example, creates a very different architectural effect from the same material surrounded by dark timber or concrete.

Specialists such as 2K work with architectural brass systems where material choice becomes an integral part of the overall design rather than simply a finishing decision.

How a Material Ages Can Be Just as Important as How It Looks

One aspect that is sometimes overlooked is that not every architectural material is designed to remain visually unchanged.

Brass is a particularly good example. Exposure to air, moisture and touch gradually alters its surface, producing subtle changes in tone and eventually a natural patina. This process can give the material more depth and individuality as it ages.

Timber also changes with exposure, while other metals may depend more heavily on coatings and surface treatments to maintain a consistent appearance.

For architects and property owners, this means the initial appearance should only be part of the decision. It is equally important to consider what the material may look like several years after installation.

Increasingly, natural ageing is being treated as a desirable architectural characteristic rather than something that automatically needs to be prevented. Materials that develop subtle variation can give buildings a greater sense of character and allow them to respond more naturally to their surroundings.

Performance and Maintenance Matter Too

The environment in which a door or window is installed can also have a significant influence on material choice.

An element located inside a sheltered building will face very different conditions from an entrance exposed to sun, rain, wind and salt air. Coastal properties in particular can place additional demands on exterior materials and finishes.

Maintenance expectations are another factor. Highly polished surfaces may require more frequent care if a consistent appearance is desired, whereas naturally aged or textured finishes can often accommodate marks and variation more readily.

These considerations are important because the most visually appealing option on day one is not always the most appropriate choice for the life of the building.

Material and Design Need to Work Together

Material selection also affects the way doors and windows are detailed.

Frame proportions, profiles, finishes and the visual weight of an architectural element can all change depending on the material being used. In contemporary buildings, where detailing is often deliberately minimal, these small decisions become particularly noticeable.

This is one reason architectural brass doors and windows can create such a distinctive result. The character of the brass, the proportions of the framing and the surrounding architecture all contribute to how the finished system is perceived.

Rather than treating the material as a layer applied at the end of the design process, considering it early allows the architectural element to feel more naturally integrated into the building.

Ultimately, there is no single material that suits every project. The right choice depends on the appearance being created, the environment, maintenance expectations and how the material is expected to change with time.

When those factors are considered together, doors and windows can become more than functional components. They become part of the architectural language of the building itself.

When investing in blinds or shutters, the warranty can be just as important as the product itself. But what does a typical warranty actually cover, and what could leave you paying for repairs or replacements?

From manufacturing faults and operating mechanisms to motors, fabric defects and shutter components, understanding your warranty can help you make a more informed decision. It’s also important to know what may not be covered, including incorrect installation, accidental damage, unsuitable environments and normal wear and tear.

With the Consumer Guarantees Act also providing protections for New Zealand consumers, knowing your rights and asking the right questions before you buy can help you choose with greater confidence.

Find out what to look for in a blind or shutter warranty and how to protect your investment. Read more about what’s covered and what to ask your supplier before you buy.

What does it really feel like to take on New Zealand’s highest bungy? For one traveller, a Queenstown work trip turned into an unexpected decision to face “the big one” at the Nevis Bungy.

From the nerves of travelling deep into the rugged backcountry to crossing the canyon in a glass-floor cable car, the experience builds to 8.5 seconds of freefall before the cord catches and sends you soaring back towards the sky.

Discover what happens when fear takes a back seat and you choose to leap anyway. Read more about the experience and what it’s really like to face the Nevis.

Is Life Insurance worth it in New Zealand? It’s a question many New Zealanders ask at some point – usually triggered by a life event. A new mortgage, a growing family, or simply a bit more awareness of how quickly life can shift.

Life insurance isn’t something you use day to day, which can make it feel easy to put off. But when you step back and look at what it’s there for, the value becomes clearer. 

What is life insurance? 

At its core, life insurance is about financial protection and security.

If you pass away or are diagnosed with a terminal illness*, it provides a lump sum payment to support the people who rely on you. That money can be used for anything – paying off debt, covering living costs, or helping your family maintain some stability during a difficult time.

It’s less about “getting something back” and more about having the financial security and protection to ensure your loved ones are taken care of if you weren’t around. 

When life insurance tends to be worth it

Because life insurance is a financial safety net, life insurance becomes more relevant when people depend on you, and/or you have financial commitments. The best way to think about this is, if your loved ones were to lose you and your income – what would happen? Would they be able to continue living the same lifestyle or would they struggle to cover the household bills?

For many New Zealanders, they often consider life insurance when: 

They have a mortgage or other significant debt/ Bills 
Are financially supporting a partner 
Are financially supporting children 
The primary income for a household 
Want to leave a gift or financial support to family 

In these situations, the financial impact of losing an income can be significant. Life insurance helps reduce that risk.

When it might be less of a priority

Life Insurance doesn’t suit everyone, and there are times when life insurance may not be essential.

For example, you might not find value if you :

have no dependents
don’t carry significant debt 
have enough savings or assets to cover future needs 

The cost versus the benefit

One of the biggest concerns is cost. And it’s a fair one. The key is to think about what you’re protecting, rather than just the premium itself. For many people, the cost of cover is relatively small compared to the potential financial impact on their family if something unexpected happens.

It’s also important to understand the flexibility in your cover. Life can change a lot in 10+ years – so your cover amount can be adjusted over time to fit your needs (e.g., your need for life insurance may decrease if your mortgage reduces or your kids move out).

Search for a local business now and the description you get is increasingly being assembled from things customers have said about it.

That matters because customers do not review businesses the way businesses describe themselves.

A plumber in Auckland might describe the company as doing maintenance, renovations, hot water cylinders, emergency callouts and new builds. But if most of the written reviews are from people who called after a leak, an AI assistant looking at those reviews may come away thinking emergency plumbing is what the business mainly does.

The business has not changed. The description of it has.

A five-star rating does not tell an assistant very much beyond the fact that somebody was happy. A review saying "replaced our hot water cylinder in Papakura on a Saturday, quoted before starting, no mess left" contains far more.

There is a job, a location, a time constraint, something about pricing and something about how the property was treated.

That information can be used.

Local search specialist Darren Shaw gives a useful example. Someone looking for a plumber might add that they have just had new floors laid. A business with reviews repeatedly mentioning tidy work suddenly has evidence that is relevant to that particular question.

Another plumber may be every bit as careful. If nobody has ever written that down, there is less for a search engine or AI system to work with.

We run into this constantly

Top5.nz currently publishes around 4,400 business descriptions across its ranking pages. Those descriptions are generated from each business's customer reviews, using up to 25 reviews where they are available.

The difference between businesses is noticeable.

Some have years of detailed reviews covering different jobs, suburbs and situations. There is plenty to work with.

Others may have a good rating and a decent number of reviews, but very little written detail. Sometimes fewer than ten reviews contain enough text to say much about the business at all.

We saw this during beta testing. A few business owners told us their descriptions made them sound narrower than they really were.

In several cases, they were right.

But when we went back through the reviews, the missing services were barely mentioned there either. We could not reasonably write them into the description just because the business told us they offered them.

The review request matters

Most businesses ask customers to "leave us a review".

That tends to produce reviews like:

"Great service, highly recommend."

Useful as a rating. Not much use as a description.

There is nothing wrong with asking someone to describe their experience in their own words. Google's policy does, however, draw a line around trying to influence what a customer says or what rating they give.

So don't hand customers a checklist of things you would like mentioned.

The more useful change is simply to ask consistently across the work you actually do.

If almost every person you ask is an emergency-callout customer, emergency work will dominate your reviews. If you also do renovations, installations and maintenance, reviews from those customers matter too.

Timing makes a difference for the same reason. Twenty reviews collected during one busy period give a different picture from reviews accumulated across several seasons and different types of work.

Have a look at what yours say

An easy test is to ask an AI assistant what your business is known for.

Then ask what services it appears to offer.

The interesting part is often not what it gets wrong. It is what never gets mentioned.

You may know that a particular service represents a quarter of your work, but find almost no trace of it in your reviews. Or customers may repeatedly mention something you barely talk about on your own website.

That gap is worth knowing about.

Top5.nz does the same exercise at scale. The descriptions on our ranking pages are based on what customers have actually said about each business. Owners can claim their listing free, and subscribers can tell us which review-supported parts of their work they would prefer us to lead with. That changes the description, not the ranking.

The full guide looks more closely at what happens when the reviews a business has collected do not match the business it has become.

Žagar (or Zagar) is a leading band in Hungarian indie and electronic music. Their sound is based on contemporary electronic music, jazz and indie rock. The results are heavy beats, atmospheric mood and sound clips from the psychedelic era of the late 1960s. Andor Kovács and the leader of the band Balázs Zságer were the co-writers of the Yonderboi album Shallow and Profound in some track.

https://zagar.bandcamp.com/album/z-agar-early-works-2000-2010

Žagar (Band): A leading Hungarian electronic, indie, and downtempo music group formed in Budapest in 2001 by Balázs Zságer. They are well-known for tracks like "Wings of Love" and albums like Local Broadcast and Light Leaks. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Music Band

Žagar is a leading electronic and indie-rock band from Hungary.

The group was founded by keyboardist and producer Balázs Zságer.

Their style mixes atmospheric electronica, jazz beats, and 1960s psychedelic sound clips. [1]

Finding a meaningful Father’s Day gift often leads to predictable options like ties or socks. This year, more people are swapping physical items for experience gifts that create lasting memories.

An AJ Hackett Bungy NZ gift voucher offers Dad a genuine thrill, whether he takes on a bungy jump, zipride, or swing. Flexible open-dated vouchers allow him to choose the location and date that work best for him, while family members can jump along or support from the viewing deck.

Read the full article to see how an adventure voucher turns Father's Day into a memory that lasts forever.

A new partnership between NZ Business Connect and the University of Waikato's School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences is bringing the region's business and academic communities closer together, creating opportunities for knowledge-sharing, collaboration and new commercial connections.

The partnership will see the School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences sponsor and host one NZ Business Connect event each year, alternating between Hamilton and Tauranga. The school sponsored a NZ Business Connect event in Tauranga this year, with the next event planned for Hamilton in 2027.

For NZ Business Connect Founder Phillip Quay, the relationship is a significant step for the network and something few business networks can offer their members.

“Having the University of Waikato's School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences choose to work alongside NZ Business Connect in this way is a major endorsement of what we are building,” said Phillip.

“Not many business networks can say they have this kind of relationship with a university. This isn't simply about putting a logo on an event. It is about creating a genuine bridge between business and the knowledge, research and innovation coming out of the School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences.”

The relationship will extend beyond the annual event. University academics and representatives will have opportunities to speak at other NZ Business Connect events, while the university will contribute research and industry insights to The Pulse, NZ Business Connect's communications platform.

The University of Waikato will also connect NZ Business Connect with its wider commercial and business partnerships team, creating a pathway to stories, expertise and developments from across the university.

For members, that could mean greater access to research, emerging technology, specialist knowledge and the people behind it. It also provides a platform for businesses to share real-world challenges and explore where academic expertise may offer new perspectives or solutions.

The partnership reflects a shared interest in strengthening the business communities of the Waikato and Bay of Plenty by creating connections that extend beyond traditional networking.

For NZ Business Connect, the 2027 Hamilton event will be an opportunity to bring that vision to life on its home turf, while continuing a partnership that connects business owners and professionals with one of the region's key sources of research, talent and innovation.

With the relationship now established, members can look forward to more opportunities to engage with the University of Waikato through events, expert speakers and research-led content.

It is a partnership designed to turn connections into conversations, and conversations into opportunities for the wider business community.

Media Contact:

Phillip Quay
Founder, NZ Business Connect
027 458 7724
info@nzbusinessconnect.co.nz