A doorstop made of 100% recycled materials will soon be available at Mitre 10 Dunedin thanks to the creativity of some local high school students.
The high number of people, especially small children, who slam their fingers in doors is "out of this world", says Kavanagh College agribusiness student and Under the Door Enterprises chief executive Hayley Anderson.
The Woolly Wedge. Photo: Supplied / Under the Door Enterprises
The Woolly Wedge is a sustainable Kiwi-made solution, she tells Jesse Mulligan.
"It's a great way to stop that visit to the ER with sore, swollen fingers."
The Woolly Wedge is a double-sided doorstop with one side covered in NZ wool (from carpet offcuts), the other side covered in rubber (from old bike tubes) and a recycled wood offcut creating a wedge shape between them.
Hayley and other Kavanagh College students designed the Woolly Wedge for the Young Enterprise competition, partly because their classroom's "normal wood doorstop" just wouldn't stay in place, Hayley says.
The group realised a carpet-covered doorstop would "create a little bit of friction".
"Because it's made out of recycled material we wanted it to look like it's green and it's clean and it represents New Zealand."
The students are excited to see the Wooly Wedge for sale at the Dunedin Mitre 10 store in August.
A four-pack of woolly wedges will sell for $12, some of which will go to the rural wellbeing charity Farmstrong.
(From left to right): Emmeline Taimalie, Josh Forrester, Lachie MacArthur, Te Kahui Mariu-Boreham, Lewis Chinula, Mitchell Stewart, Hayley Anderson, Kahlia Pulham. Photo: Supplied / Under the Door Enterprises
