When carpenter Rikki Gilbey moved from England to Sydney nearly a decade ago, it changed his life in several ways, including a new found love for bodysurfing.
But when he tried to find a handplane to use for catching waves, he could find any at the quality level he wanted, so he put his carpentry skills to use to solve the problem. He made a few extra to sell at the markets. Demand was so strong Rikki decided to turn it into a business with a strong environmental focus.
WAW Handplanes are handmade using sustainable, recycled and reclaimed material.
The timber handplanes are made from sustainable timbers and Rikki donates to a charity fund that plants a tree for every one sold. So far more more than 4,000 have been planted.
When he decided to make a scalable plastic handplane, Rikki used recycled plastics gathered from the ocean around the Great Barrier Reef. Each WAW BadFish handplane removes a bag of plastic from the sea. The Yulex hand straps made from FSC and Rainforest Alliance-certified plant-based rubber.
The innovations Rikki introduced in building his startup led him receiving an Amazon Australia Launchpad Innovation Grant. He sells WAW Handplanes through Amazon Australia.
Over 12 days in the lead up to Christmas, we’ll be sharing the stories of great Australians startups selling on Amazon Australia, told by their founders.
To order WAW Badfish Handplanes, click here.
Here is Rikki’s story. Happy holidays to all.
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