About

HOMEPAGE ABOUT HEADER MOBI
HOMEPAGE ABOUT HEADER 1

About Us

About Us

At GREEN HOME, sustainability is our passion, our vision and our daily work. We’re here to supply you with a great range of environmentally friendly food packaging in the best way we can. We’re committed to changing some trends, rewriting some rules and making plant-based food packaging the norm by 2030.

Big Picture Packaging

Established in 2007, GREEN HOME is South Africa’s first and longest running completely compostable food packaging company.

Our vision is to provide sustainable packaging for takeaway food throughout Africa, and beyond.

We believe that if food packaging is necessary:

1. It should be made from sustainable, renewable resources and
2. Should last only as long as it is needed.

BIG PICTURE PACKAGING

GREEN HOME encourages the following approach
to food packaging choices:

  • Avoid and reduce food packaging as much as possible.
  • Try to find reusable packing options where possible.
  • If it has to be disposable, ensure it’s made from plants.

How did it all start?

Catherine Morris visited a museum on a trip to Thailand in 2006, where she saw a cup made from tapioca starch. Underneath the cup the label said, “an alternative to polystyrene”.

This got her wondering if there were similar products out there and why we weren’t using them in South Africa!

In less than 1 year she made a radical career move and started GREEN HOME.

HOW DID IT START

Industry Pioneer

At GREEN HOME we are proud to identify as pioneers in the food packaging industry. We were South Africa’s first compostable food packaging company and spearheaded the introduction of bagasse and plant-based bioplastic products to the local market. We are also a female led business. We have led the way in a male dominated industry and continue to be a platform for training and empowering women in the workplace.

GREEN HOME is a founding member of the Organics Recycling Association of South Africa (ORASA)  whose mission is to promote and expand South Africa’s composting and organic recycling market. Together we are working towards zero organic waste to landfill. View our current membership certificate here.

INDUSTRY PIONEER

Carbon Neutral

We’re proudly carbon neutral. We offset our emissions by supporting a low-carbon housing development in Kuyasa, one of the most vulnerable corners of Khayelitsha. The project lowers greenhouse gases by providing low-carbon technologies for homes. These save locals money, improve air quality by reducing paraffin use and also create much needed jobs and skills training in the area.

Kuyasa is also home to the Yiza Ekhaya Soup Kitchen, which GREEN HOME has been actively supporting since Mandela Day in 2010.

You can view our offset certificate here.

Yiza Ekhaya

Yiza Ekhaya provides food, shelter and a safe space to 250 children in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the country. It is run by Mickey Linda, who initially used her own pension to feed local children in the Kuyasa area. The Yiza Ekhaya Soup Kitchen is a fantastic charity run by Mama Mickey in her community. Mickey is a pensioner, but she works tirelessly with her team of volunteers to feed, clothe, inspire and provide a safe space for 250 children, as well as vulnerable adults.

GREEN HOME has been instrumental in providing financial, practical and networking support, helping Yiza Ekhaya grow into a beacon of hope and positive change in the community.

A few years ago, GREEN HOME helped provide Yiza Ekhaya with a permanent structure in the form of Khayelitsha’s first (and SA’s third) Hemp building. Today Yiza Ekhaya continues to demonstrate what can be achieved with coordinated and caring community involvement – suitably housed in a building made from natural, healthy plant-based materials.

Recently GREEN HOME also built a new website for Yiza Ekhaya that tells the story of this amazing initiative and also provides a platform where the public can make much needed donations. Visit the Yiza Ekhaya website here.

Proudly Bidvest

GREEN HOME reached a significant new milestone in 2023, when the company was acquired by Bidvest, joining it’s Data, Print & Packaging division.

GREEN HOME’s company structure and ethos remain intact, and founder, Catherine Morris, continues to lead the team as managing executive. She had this to say about joining Bidvest:

Our vision is to make plant based packaging the norm. Food packaging should exist in a waste free loop. I’m excited about the enabling potential of this acquisition for GREEN HOME.

BBBEE Level 6

GREEN HOME is a BBBEE Level 6 certified company. We’re proud to be a women-led business participating in socio-economic and skills development in South Africa.

Together, we’re committed to actively contributing to our country’s sustainable growth.

You can view our BBBEE Level 6 certificate here.