Every new business wants cut through in their market, so when Madison Baker started Nůž in 2019 one of her main goals for the business was to build sustainability into everything it does. Knife making cuts deep for Madison and Kelsey Baker as their dad, Bryan Baker, started Svord Knives more than 40 years ago and both women grew up around the workshop, but with Nůž Madison wanted to forge a new path. “With my personal passion for sustainability, I really wanted to bring that into knife making and really have a sustainability focus on the products and materials as well as the way that we manufacture.” The original range of knives have handles crafted from sustainable, FSC-certified timber, while blades are made using recycled sawblades, but Madison has long been looking at new materials that fit her exacting sustainability standards.

So when Auckland plastics recycler Critical. got in touch about a collaboration using their Cleanstone product, Madison grasped the opportunity to use a product that repurposes hard-to-recycle and mixed plastics, diverting them from landfill.

“It’s cool being able to collaborate with another very like-minded New Zealand company, using a product which is from waste in New Zealand and it all goes back to mainly New Zealand homes as well,” she says. Basing the design on Nůž’s No.3 Daily knife, cutler Kelsey Baker crafts the Miromiro model from Cleanstone made from 100% recycled milk bottles, lids, labels and soft plastics, giving a black and white marbled pattern, while the swirling green tones of the Kererū knife uses Cleanstone from 100% recycled plastic packaging and commercial fishing nets.

She’s enthusiastic about working with the Cleanstone product. “Each sheet is unique depending on what colour plastics were in it – the black and white one is milk bottles and milk bottle caps, so you can see all different coloured flecks of the coloured milk bottle caps in there, which is quite cool. And we buff it to get that nice matte finish.”

While Nůž knives with wooden handles are lightweight, the Cleanstone handles are even lighter still. Madison explains, “It’s quite a common misconception with people buying knives that they think the knife has to be heavy to be a good-quality knife. But as long as it’s balanced really well between the blade and the handle, it’s actually better to have a lighter knife. It’s a lot easier to cut through things and have a lot more control.”

Other knives in the range have handles made from ivory micarta – a product made from layered paper and resin – ebony bamboo and a standout pounamu greenstone model. All combine old-school craftsmanship with a responsibility to the planet. nuz.nz, criticaldesign.nz