WAW Handplanes

"Carbon Positive Australia allows us to donate to tree planting for every sale we make. It’s a great initiative that regenerates degraded land and offers us a perfect way to give back, seeing as we use timber to make our handplanes. We do this by donating the equivalent to one tree per timber handplane sold."

This month our Carbon Hero is Rikki Gilbey from WAW Handplanes. He has been a supporter of Carbon Positive Australia since 2016.

Can you tell us a little about yourself and the inspirations behind your brand?

My name is Rikki Gilbey and I am the founder of WAW Handplanes. A company that manufactures body surfing handplanes from sustainable and recycled materials so that you can get barrelled but leave no trace.

Why is caring for the environment important to you?

The environment is everything to me. It provides the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe. But It also gives us an amazing place to explore, play and relax and so keeping it free of industry, waste and pollutants that are harmful to it, is a given.

What motivates you to support Carbon Positive’s work in particular?

Carbon Positive Australia allows us to donate to tree planting for every sale we make. It’s a great initiative that regenerates degraded land and offers us a perfect way to give back, seeing as we use timber to make our handplanes. We do this by donating the equivalent to one tree per timber handplane sold.

Are there any other environmental initiatives that your organisation is working on?

Yes! We have just launched our latest handplane: the WAW BadFish, which is a board made using recycled ocean plastics collected directly from our Australian beaches. It’s the first product ever made commercially in Australia using this material. We hope that this project will help to inspire other businesses to incorporate post-consumer materials into their products and stem the flow on virgin plastic production.

Do you have any environmental goals that you would like to achieve? If yes, how and by when?

So many haha, We will continue to plant as many trees as we can through the sales of timber body surfing hand planes but our greatest goal currently is to scale up our ocean plastics recycling supply chain.

Is there anything else you would like to share with our supporters?


Pick an issue in this world that frustrates you, and see how you can use your business to help offer a solution, for us the issues were deforestation and marine plastic pollution. Committing to running a sustainable business is easy if you make the choice at the beginning and base all your decision making around it. 5 years down the line when your competitors are struggling to find their purpose your company, driven by a passion for the environment will secure your success.

Check out Carbon Hero Rikki’s hand planes WAW Handplanes

Rikki Gilbey Carbon Hero
July 2019 Carbon Hero: Rikki Gilbey from sustainable business WAW Handplanes
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