Best of 2021: Whether it's 'cowgorithms', posts made from recycled plastics or reimagining the wool sector, we spoke to some clever Kiwis this year.

Scientist Logan Williams has invented a material he hopes will save New Zealand's wool industry from its five-decade decline.

Of the many bicycles that have been manufactured in New Zealand over the past 150 years, 60 are still in existence today.

Emma Lewisham is the Auckland-based founder of the rapidly growing natural skincare brand that bears her name - and boasts celebrity fans like Kourtney Kardashian and Margot Robbie.

Former physio Bart De Vries is on a mission to create office furniture that helps prevent back pain. The adjustable wooden desks created by his new company Limber have been hailed by international experts as "the world's healthiest desk".

Bart De Vries Photo: One Percent Collective

Does a co-working space that sells local fashion and indigenous art while mentoring young creatives sound too good to be true? Manawawharepu Udy has created just that.

Scott Brown's carpentry 'how to’ videos are helping DIYers get the job done not just in New Zealand but around the world.

Scott Brown Photo: supplied by Jessica Bell

Sandhya Sriram is putting her love of food and passion for stem cell science into the world's first cell-based crustacean meat company.

A Waiuku company making fence posts from used plastics cannot keep up demand.

Jerome Wenzlick of Future Post Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles

New Zealand's southernmost province is aiming to put itself on the map for producing premium food products, such as ice cream made with pinot noir grape skin powder.

Icecream made with pinot noir grape skin powder Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles

Manu Caddie talks about utilising the land to boost economic growth in Ruatorea.

Co-founder of Rua Bioscience, Manu Caddie. Photo: Supplied

Jono Reed was only 14 when he started breeding cattle. His wife Sarah uses the fleece from their hoggets to produce blankets and knitting yarn for her Grumpy Merino brand. 

Sarah and Jono Reed Photo: RNZ / Cosmo Kentish-Barnes

After Jeremy Bank's daughter found plastic all over a beach in Hawai'i, the Wellington entrepreneur was inspired to create sustainable shoes.  His company YY Nation produces shoes from merino, pineapple husks, algae, bamboo and recycled plastic.

In one year, Jayden Klinac's suburban farm in Wellington has diverted over 40,000 kg of food waste and packaging from landfills. He's also developed New Zealand's first biodegradable and compostable water bottle.

Amidst profound deprivation, Alan Chew’s illiterate parents raised him to become a leader in innovation and helping those in need.

 A Kiwi agri-tech company called Halter is creating electronic cattle collars that use sound and vibration to guide and contain individual cows. Halter's founder and CEO Craig Piggott dreamed up the idea while working at Rocket Lab.

Halter founder and CEO Craig Piggott with Basil Photo: Supplied

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