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RNZ News
15 hours ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Dump shop rescues items to kit out homes for struggling families: 'It means everything'
By Kira Carrington , Local Democracy Reporter JBL Environmental managing director Chloe Abernethy, left, and operations manager Jabian Takarua help to run The Dump Shop's Unwanted Goods Project. Photo: Local Democracy Reporting/ Kira Carrington Staff at The Dump Shop in Blenheim have been flat out, connecting households in need with furniture and appliances that were destined for the dump. JBL Environmental Ltd has been running the Unwanted Goods Project since it was contracted by Marlborough District Council to take over the shop formerly known as the Blenheim Re-use Centre on Wither Road, in July 2024. The aim is to divert usable items from waste for their many customers across Marlborough ‒ both those looking for a bargain, and those in urgent need of furniture, appliances and other basic household items. Managing director Chloe Abernethy said they had never found themselves short on donations. "There's a really positive engagement with the community, they've been so supportive of us," Abernethy said. "When we went for this contract, our biggest goal was to just try and divert as much as possible [from landfill] and get it back out to the community. "We try to not reject anything from anyone. We try to take as much as possible." Items for sale at The Dump Shop. Staff select some to go towards the Unwanted Goods Project. Photo: Local Democracy Reporting/ Kira Carrington The service was particularly handy for people who did not have a truck or trailer to drop off or pick up items, she said. The service was free of charge. JBL operations manager Jabian Takarua said the project worked with organisations such as Women's Refuge, Work and Income, and Christchurch City Mission, sometimes kitting out families with a whole household's worth of items. "It's an awesome feeling," Takarua said. "When you can grab this resource from seniors that would otherwise have to throw it in the rubbish ... going to a family that's got nothing from the Hawke's Bay floods the other year, and coming down here trying to survive ... it means everything. "One man's trash, another man's treasure." The project provides second-hand household items to those who need them. Photo: Local Democracy Reporting/ Kira Carrington Gateway Housing Trust, which managed 16 transitional homes in Blenheim, worked with the project to secure household items for families leaving the service and moving into permanent homes. The trust's housing navigators Karyn and Carmel (who did not give their last names for privacy reasons) said they could not praise the project enough. "Most of our families ... they don't have a thing [when they leave], because all our units are fully furnished," Karyn said. "So when they go to move [out], they have nothing." Families in the Gateway Housing Trust's transitional housing may receive household items from the Unwanted Goods Project when they move out. Photo: Local Democracy Reporting/ Kira Carrington With eight families currently in the process of moving out, the trust reached out to The Dump Shop for help, and the team was able to spend last weekend organising furniture and household goods for the trust. They then put together starter kits to give to Gateway's families, made up of plates, pots, pans, sheets, pillow slips, and towels. "I think JBL do an amazing job for our community and for our people," Carmel said. Along with the Unwanted Goods Project, The Dump Shop's initiatives to divert waste included soft plastic recycling, a pallet recovery scheme, and even repurposing a tomato farm's coconut peat mulch. They planned to do even more community outreach and launch more projects, such as a construction and demolition waste recovery scheme. "We've always said if we got kicked out of a job because there was no waste, then that would be a great day," Abernethy said. "We've done our job." Collection and delivery forms were available by searching for the Unwanted Goods Project on the Marlborough District Council website. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
CNET
3 days ago
- Business
- CNET
Best Dishwashers for 2025
We did a deep dive into spec and user reviews and spoke with industry experts to find the best dishwashers for 2025. Tyler Lizenby/CNET Unlike most consumer tech and small appliances, which are easy to test in at home, large appliances like dishwashers have logistical hurdles that make hands-on testing much more difficult. The plumbing and electricity needs alone require special accommodations, not to mention the expense of shipping and storing bulky appliances. Because of this, I'm focusing on a research and data-heavy approach. I also surveyed four dishwasher experts to get the nitty-gritty details on what you should look for in a dishwasher. These experts include a dishwasher repair technician, an online appliance retailer, and two representatives for major dishwasher brands. To avoid potential conflicts of interest, they had no input in the evaluation process. I also examined over 8,200 customer ratings, prices and specifications to help you figure out the best dishwasher brand for your needs. While this approach is best for a detailed bird's-eye view of each brand, it's harder to recommend specific models based on performance, only customer satisfaction. Methodology Extensive pricing and customer rating data are a major component of my evaluation process. CNET Before I discuss my methodology, I want to point out that it differs heavily from those we use for hands-on testing. I normally pepper my methodologies with detailed insights and results for each product. However, the overwhelming amount of data limits me to fewer examples -- at least if I want to keep it moderately interesting. The data collection and analysis phase took over a week, which is much more than I typically dedicate to hands-on testing. However, the results provide a good foundation for my recommendations and which dishwasher model should represent each brand. Here's what I collected: 8,273 data points (prices, ratings, specifications) from 679 product pages on 34 retail and manufacturer websites (as of May 9, 2025) 483 unique dishwasher models across 42 brands 577 ratings based on 674,348 customer reviews (some product pages didn't have ratings) Energy Star data (as of May 9, 2025) Eventually, I picked 12 noteworthy brands. While I believe the brands I chose for this dishwasher review are the best options for most people, customer sentiment was also very high for dishwasher manufacturers overall—81% of brands had a median customer rating of 4 stars or higher (out of 5 possible). I wasn't able to evaluate countertop or portable dishwashers for this review. To make this comparison and my recommendations easier, I selected a "representative model" for each brand to highlight what I like most about the company. Your budget and preferences may lead you to a different model, but the representative is a solid starting point. Evaluating over 674,000 online customer ratings to find the best dishwashers Online customer reviews aren't the best replacement for hands-on testing, so it's vital to scale the sample size beyond a handful of models. John Carlsen/CNET For large-scale data journalism projects like these, this means crawling every online resource I can find to create a comprehensive spreadsheet. While these numbers can help us find broad trends, there are three limitations: Limitation 1: There's a lot of overlap Some retailers host reviews from the manufacturer's website in addition to those from their own. John Carlsen/CNET Some retailers, especially Home Depot and Lowe's, host reviews from the manufacturer's website in addition to those from their customers. To their credit, the overlapping reviews have clear labeling, but it complicates things for me. For example, the Bosch SHE53C85N has 10,907 reviews on Bosch's website, 4,924 on Lowe's and 3,140 on Home Depot. Altogether, that's 18,971 reviews. Using on-page review filters, I eliminated 3,970 overlapping reviews to reach 15,001 ratings. However, even this number isn't foolproof -- because Bosch shares reviews among similar models, making the number fuzzier with no way to focus on a single model. To Bosch's credit -- as well as other brands -- it discloses this info below shared reviews. Granted, many dishwasher models have only cosmetic differences, but I'd love to filter out as much overlap as possible. Limitation 2: Incentivized reviews Incentivized reviews tend to skew positive so we weigh them less heavily. John Carlsen/CNET Incentivized dishwasher reviews result from a manufacturer or retailer soliciting customer reviews after a purchase. These reviewers didn't get a free dishwasher to review, but they probably got a coupon or another benefit -- for example, KitchenAid had a Ratings and Reviews Sweepstakes in 2024. This type of review isn't completely useless since it can encourage customers who would never review a product otherwise. Still, most incentivized reviews have a tendency toward glowing reviews -- though plenty have a one-star rating. This practice may skew the numbers a little -- even when a company asks customers for an honest opinion, so it's best to treat online ratings as a rough guide rather than a definitive answer. Limitation 3: Brands that don't sell dishwashers online A limited online retail presence means fewer user reviews to analyze. John Carlsen/CNET I can't analyze customer reviews that don't exist. Miele is the biggest example from my research because it directs buyers to authorized dealers instead of selling dishwashers directly through online retailers like Home Depot. In these cases, I rely on word of mouth, other expert reviewers and specifications, which isn't ideal. How do customer ratings affect our rankings? Filtering out all incentivized reviews and overlap may be possible with a small dataset, but it's a far more difficult with a category as large as dishwashers. Still, I feel like the sheer volume of data somewhat offsets these limitations. After identifying broad trends in the large dataset, I chose a representative model that I believe best showcases each brand's strength. The representative models are among the highest-rated products from a brand, which aren't always those with the highest ratings or most popularity. Evaluating dishwasher specifications Once I have a lineup of representative models, I dig deeper into the specs for those products to highlight the features that helped them stand out from the competition. Maytag While customer reviews can reveal consumer sentiment, they might gloss over a dishwasher's features. So, reviewers often fill in the gaps with manufacturer specifications -- even for hands-on tests. In this case, I pulled many specs from the product names in my dataset. This is because some retailers list specs in the dishwasher's name. Check out this example from Home Depot: Bosch 500 Series 24 in. White Top Control Tall Tub Pocket Handle Dishwasher with Stainless Steel Tub, 44 dBA Let's break it down: Bosch 500 Series (SHP65CM2N) 24 inches wide (full-sized dishwasher as opposed to an 18-inch compact dishwasher) White finish with a control panel on the top of the door and a pocket handle rather than a towel bar handle Stainless steel tub Sound level of 44 dBa Most dishwasher product names I collected follow a similar pattern, so I standardized the formatting. From there, all it took was a few formulas to summarize the features of hundreds of models at once. I won't stray too deep into the weeds on this -- data analysis can be very boring -- but I think it's pretty neat. Once I have a lineup of representative models, I dig deeper into the specs for those products to highlight the features that helped them stand out from the competition. These in-depth specifications are the main component of every table in this comparison. (For extra insurance, I double-checked the info on each product page before putting it in a table.) This summary data was mostly useful in evaluating sound levels. It's how I determined that Samsung (DW90F89T0U12, DW90F89P0USRAA, DW90F89P0USR), Bosch (SHP95CM5N, SHP9PCM5N) and LG (LUDP8908SN) have the quietest dishwasher models at just 38 dBa. Evaluating Energy Star data for dishwashers Energy Star certification was a requirement for inclusion on this list. John Carlsen/CNET Every product in the top five needed to have an Energy Star certification. A direct download on took less than a minute to add to my spreadsheet, making this the easiest data to collect. Standard-size dishwashers must meet two criteria to earn an Energy Star label: use less than 240 kilowatt-hours per year (kWh/yr) of electricity and less than 3.2 gallons per cycle. (Energy Star says that 240 kWh per year equates to less than $50 in annual electricity costs -- $4.16 or less per month.) Requirements are tighter for compact dishwashers, which hold fewer than eight place settings. (Midea, my pick for the best compact dishwasher, holds exactly eight place settings, so it's technically a standard dishwasher, according to Energy Star.) As with specifications and consumer reviews, the Energy Star program isn't a catch-all method for finding a great dishwasher, but it's always helpful if you value energy-efficient appliances. Energy Star's greatest strength is its evolving criteria, with the latest update coming in July 2023. This also means older models won't keep an Energy Star label forever -- none of the dishwashers on Energy Star's current list were released before late 2017. Electricity usage Various Energy Star ratings influenced my dishwasher picks. Energy Star I gave the most credit to dishwashers that meet the Energy Star Most Efficient 2025 Criteria (PDF) because they go beyond the standard certification. Miele dominates the Most Efficient category in terms of numbers -- 20 models -- which is over three times as many as qualifiers from Bosch, Samsung and LG combined. Notably, the Miele G 5892 SCVi SL is the most efficient model at 200 kWh/yr. This is 16.67% more efficient than the base Energy Star rating of 240 kWh/yr. As for the normal Energy Star rating, GE, Miele, Bosch and Frigidaire had the most models that qualified for the Energy Star rating, with at least 39 models from each company. It drops off quickly from there, with LG, Midea and Samsung boasting between 17 and 23 Energy Star models. However, Cafe, Whirlpool, KitchenAid and Maytag had fewer than 10 Energy Star models -- Maytag sells only a single model with the certification. These brands meet the previous Energy Star standard but haven't yet caught up to the latest criteria from 2023. While Ikea sells only six Energy Star models, these comprise the entire lineup, which is a nice bonus for Ikea fans. Water usage Even the least water-efficient dishwashers use less than would be needed to hand-wash the same number of dishes. Lexy Savvides/CNET A handful of Bosch models use less than half the US Federal Standard (5 gallons) for water per cycle at just 2.3 gallons. While this is notable, even the least water-wise dishwashers on the Energy Star list use only 3.2 gallons per cycle -- a difference of just 0.9 gallons. Even dishwashers that don't meet Energy Star's electricity usage requirements can be water-wise, with the KitchenAid KDTM404KPS sipping only 2.4 gallons per cycle. However, there's a caveat with Energy Star's water usage calculations: they only examine the low end of a normal wash cycle, which sometimes uses more water on heavily soiled loads of dishes. Likewise, heavy-duty and quick wash cycles can use more water than the Energy Star specification. (You can find water usage estimates for each cycle in your dishwasher's manual or cycle guide.) Although I like knowing roughly how much water a dishwasher uses, Energy Star's water usage figures aren't useful performance indicators for other wash cycles, at least when reviewing products. For this reason, they don't influence my ranking decisions. Still, you can rest easy knowing that a full dishwasher load uses less water than hand-washing an equivalent amount of dishes in the sink. Remember to do a full load as often as you can since dishwashers' efficiency benefits diminish as load sizes go down.
Fast Company
3 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
Keurig's tiny new coffee maker is cute enough to keep on your counter
Morgan Lombardi, Keurig's senior director of product management, believes pod coffee makers have become too big, too mechanical, and maybe even a little bit ugly. 'We've seen that coffee makers, including our own, have started to feel more and more like a machine,' she says. They are also getting increasingly bigger while kitchens are getting progressively smaller. Which is why Keurig is introducing the K-Mini Mate, a 4-inch-wide brewer that costs $79.99 and launches exclusively at Target starting June 29. After seven years watching consumer behavior at Keurig, Lombardi tells me she observed that people were starting to view their morning brew routine as an obligation rather than a moment of pleasure. Her team discovered that consumers wanted their morning coffee ritual to feel like 'this wonderful little moment'—rather than a mechanical ' click-CLACK!' chore. The coffee maker needed to be gentler to the eye and to the touch, and it also needed to be much smaller. Both were hard challenges, she says, because the current puncturing mechanisms for Keurig's brewers are too unwieldy to allow for a subtler, smaller design. The space problem drives everything Kitchen real estate drives modern appliance design decisions. 'Nobody's kitchen is getting any bigger,' Lombardi explains. Yet, coffee makers remain essential equipment to turn on human brains in the morning, and they need to be there 24/7—not taken out of a cabinet. They require permanent positioning, she says, creating a design constraint that forces manufacturers to think smaller. The most significant technical challenge to achieve the smaller footprint involved redesigning what Keurig calls the puncture mechanism. Standard Keurig brewers use a mechanical crunching motion to pierce K-Cup pods; a big handle pushes down to move the array of needles that open holes in that pod. If you have ever used a Keurig machine, it feels a little like pushing down the handle to turn off the Death Star. 'The standard Keurig mechanism feels like you are crunching something inside,' Lombardi says. To enable the smaller brewer size, the puncturing mechanism needed to be much shorter: 'The space between the brewer mechanism and the bottom of the brewer needed to be able to fit a travel mug [around 7 inches],' she says. They managed to reengineer the mechanism and change its position, which allowed them to get rid of the crunching handle and turn it into a flat surface that matches the cylindrical shape of its front. The new mechanism doesn't give you the same hard resistance as the previous one, which allowed Keurig to use soft-spring open and closing. She thinks that this alone creates a feeling that's more human, 'making the act of making coffee more like a soft handshake' and less like destroying coffee pods inside a plastic crunching machine. A new design language The resulting machine is much more attractive. The design language features softer radius curves compared with Keurig's standard angular aesthetic. The brewer uses rubberized touchpoints alongside ABS plastic construction to make it feel softer to the touch, too. A small rubberized tab on the top helps you to take the water deposit out, requiring just a finger to easily remove the top. The water reservoir also sits flat on counters without tipping over, like a water jar. The result—available in black, red, and green—is a machine that brews up to 12 ounces of coffee and is about 33% smaller than Keurig's previous smallest model. One that, perhaps more importantly, doesn't look like your great aunt's brewer from yesteryear, but like a modern piece of design. The company's research revealed that younger consumers entering the coffee-maker market prioritize simplicity and visual appeal over advanced features. Generation Z buyers need coffee makers for college or first apartments, but they don't have strong preferences about brewing functionality. According to Lombardi, consumer response has been great during testing. From initial foam prototypes through in-home use studies, 'people fell in love with this product—and they're saying, you know, it's small. I haven't seen anything like this. It's just really cute. When can I have it?' She also tells me that the K-Mini Mate represents the first product in what will become Keurig's new visual brand language across its entire lineup. 'Keurig updates its visual brand language every five years to match shifting consumer preferences,' she points out. Future models will incorporate similar aesthetic principles while adding features like larger water tanks. So, that's definitely good news for Keurig fans everywhere. The final deadline for Fast Company's Next Big Things in Tech Awards is Friday, June 20, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
CNET
4 days ago
- General
- CNET
How to Burn in Your Brand New Oven to Reduce Chemical Residue
Summertime brings great sales with deals on big items like refrigerators, televisions, ovens and more. A recent CNET survey shows 70% of US adults are taking steps to become more energy efficient, which could mean swapping out old appliances. For those who took advantage of these sales to upgrade their kitchen by adding a new stove, you will want to make sure to burn in the oven before you cook. When you first turn it on, you may notice an odd smell filling your home. As alarming as it may be, it's completely normal, so long as the odor is oily or of something burning (and not gas -- that's rather more serious). Learn what causes the smell and how to get rid of it before using your new oven for cooking. What's that smell? According to Samsung, the burning smell caused by a new oven is due to the "insulation surrounding the oven cavity emitting odors the first few times it is exposed to the extreme heat inside of the oven." This is the smell of a bonding agent curing. Also, if you fail to remove some of the zip ties used to secure the inserts during transit before turning it on for the first time, you may also smell the plastic melting and burning. Appliance maker Belling, on the other hand, explains that the smell and light smoke you may see on the first use is from a protective coating of oil that is used during the manufacturing process. Whatever the case, new ovens smell. The best way to get rid of the smell is to run a proper burn-in cycle. It's recommended that you not cook any food prior to a burn-in, as the smell (and potentially the taste) can stick with your food. How to break in your new oven No matter what type of oven you have, the first thing you should do is remove any zip or twist ties. Then use warm, soapy water and a washcloth to wipe down any racks and the insides of the oven. Once you have wiped down all the surfaces inside the oven, it's time to start the burn-in. While instructions may vary from one manufacturer to the next, the premise of every "burn-in" process is the same: Turn on the fan in the ventilation hood and, if possible, open a few nearby windows. Set the oven to high heat, between 400 to 550 degrees Fahrenheit (204 to 288 degrees Celsius). Let the oven run at this temperature for between 30 minutes and an hour. If the smell persists after the cycle, repeat the process once or twice more. Once you no longer smell oil or a burning odor, allow the oven to fully cool and use a warm, soapy wash cloth to wipe down the inside of the oven a final time.
The Sun
5 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
All the areas giving out FREE white goods including fridges, freezers and washing machines this summer
HOUSEHOLDS can get free white goods including fridges, freezers and washing machines this summer. Essential appliances aren't cheap to come by, with Which? estimating the average price of a fridge freezer is around £800. 1 But you might be able to get help with the up front costs through a giant government fund. The Household Support Fund is worth £742million and has been distributed between councils in England. Further money has been issued to local authorities in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. What help you can get and whether you qualify for support depends on where you live as each council sets its own eligibility criteria. However, in most cases you will be in line for support if you are on a low income, benefits or vulnerable. Some areas are giving hard-up residents free white goods or help towards the cost of them too. We've rounded up some of the councils offering residents help with the cost of essential household appliances. Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council is offering thousands of hard-up households help. Some can get help covering the cost of white goods such as washing machines and fridges, and even beds for children. The council wouldn't say how much the average price of a white good someone will receive might be. How to cut energy costs and get help with FOUR key household bills Households requesting help must be referred to the council by someone like children's services, adult services or Age UK. You'll need to be of limited income to be referred. The criteria you must meet is: Single adult in work: Your household income must be below £26,057 (before tax and National Insurance) Two or more adults in work: Your household income must be below £38,870 (before tax and National Insurance) Your household savings must be under £2,000 If you're a pensioner, you can have savings up to £16,000 If you have received help towards the cost of white goods from Blackburn with Darwen Council in the last 12 months, you cannot get help in this latest round. More details on the scheme and how to apply are here - Isle of Wight Council Isle of Wight Council is distributing funding to local organisations to help residents pay for energy-efficient white goods like ovens and fridges. That means if you want help you will have to apply via either your local town or parish council, schools or colleges or a local charity. If you are on a low income or benefits, it's worth contacting the Isle of Wight council to see if you qualify for help. The number to contact is 01983 823644. Enfield Council Enfield Council is offering free white goods to households in need, with home delivery included. Those who qualify for help will be contacted by a supplier who will arrange for any appliances to be installed. You will need to prove you're struggling financially to apply though. To apply, you must: live in the borough of Enfield have an annual household net income of less than £40,000 have less than £1,000 in savings To find out more and apply, visit: Southend-on-Sea City Council Southend-on-Sea City Council is open for applications from hard-up residents - and households can get white goods. Households can also apply for help covering the costs of beds, bedding and clothing. You can apply for help if you're 16 or over, live in the Essex area, are on a low income and fit any one of a number of criteria. For example, one of these criteria is that you need help to ease "exceptional pressures" on yourself and your family. Another is that you cannot meet your immediate short-term needs because of an emergency like a fire or flood in your home. For more details and to apply, visit Barking and Dagenham Council Barking and Dagenham Council is distributing support to residents through a number of means including help towards the cost of white goods. The council has said help will only be given to those who need an appliance due to an emergency. To be eligible you need to be living in the borough and struggling with rising living costs like food and energy bills. You also need to prove you have previously taken steps to boost your income by claiming council tax support, housing benefit, Universal Credit or another benefit. More details can be found via What to do if you live outside these areas If you don't live in one of the above areas, check your local council's website to see what help you can get. You might not be able to get help covering the cost of white goods but may be eligible for other help. For example, Middlesbrough Council has started issuing payments worth up to £120 to those on benefits. Meanwhile, households in Reading are in line to receive £125 vouchers in the coming weeks if they receive free school meals, which are paid to families on benefits including Universal Credit. You can find what council area you fall under via Household Support Fund explained Sun Savers Editor Lana Clements explains what you need to know about the Household Support Fund. If you're battling to afford energy and water bills, food or other essential items and services, the Household Support Fund can act as a vital lifeline. The financial support is a little-known way for struggling families to get extra help with the cost of living. Every council in England has been given a share of £421million cash by the government to distribute to local low income households. Each local authority chooses how to pass on the support. Some offer vouchers whereas others give direct cash payments. In many instances, the value of support is worth hundreds of pounds to individual families. Just as the support varies between councils, so does the criteria for qualifying. Many councils offer the help to households on selected benefits or they may base help on the level of household income. The key is to get in touch with your local authority to see exactly what support is on offer. The last round ran until the end of March 2025, but was extended. The most current round is running between April 2025 and March 2026.
