Despite her years working with organisations and on projects to bring about change in our community and environment, it has taken a while for Sophie Ward to embrace the term ‘activist’.

Sophie grew up in Melbourne with a strong role model in her father, who was one of the pioneers of paper recycling in Australia. But Sophie’s initial career path seemed set when she completed a business degree and spent years working in banking.

Then she travelled overseas for a year, including biking through China, Vietnam and Nepal. After that, it no longer made sense to her to work for an organisation that wasn’t contributing to the planet or the environment. "I decided I never wanted to work for an organisation that didn’t have a positive outcome.”

A sideways step into wastewater project management was more aligned with her values, and that was followed by a move to Wanaka in 2005, with her then-boyfriend Mal.

"I always thought if I had the opportunity to live in New Zealand, I’d take it,” Sophie said. "My perception was that New Zealand was clean and green.” She imagined buying organic, locally grown food in a sustainable environment, but the reality was somewhat different. In fact, the first time she asked to buy a reusable shopping bag at the supermarket, "they didn’t know what it was”.

However, Sophie loved the mountains, the landscape and the lifestyle. "I was living in such a beautiful place, and it’s definitely a town where people are really passionate about the environment. Now I just love the whole seasonal excitement of the food that comes and goes - the first tomato of the year, the first asparagus.”

Her first job here was summer work with Backcountry Saddles horse trekking in the Cardrona Valley, followed by contract work for the Queenstown Lakes District Council on waste issues.

Sustainable Wanaka had just been launched, and Sophie contacted Megan Williams, the coordinator, more or less begging to be allowed to volunteer her time and expertise for the organisation. Megan probably couldn’t believe her luck.

Sophie’s first project with Sustainable Wanaka was the Bag the Habit campaign. She’s quick to point out others had been working on the issue for years. "I just picked it up and ran with it, gave it a new name,” Sophie said. The project ran for a few years: reusable bags were made and given away, awareness raised, and at one point about 40 percent of Wanaka shoppers were taking their own bags to the supermarket.

Then Sophie moved to Wastebusters, and the bag campaign got bigger - it joined with the Get Real campaign to reduce plastic bags and packaging. In 2012 Get Real successfully pressured Foodstuffs to introduce a 5c charge for plastic bags, but there was a lot of resistance (although not locally), and the decision was revoked after just a few months. Foodstuffs were on their own, Sophie said, and Nick Smith (the Minister for the Environment) and the packing council were saying there was no problem with plastic bags, and recycling was the answer.

The Get Real team was philosophical, Sophie said. "We thought ‘I guess New Zealand’s not ready for a plastic bag ban or tax’.” They turned their attention to packaging.

Their ‘Unpackit’ awards for the best and worst examples of packaging made national headlines and were funded by the Ministry for the Environment for three years. Sophie and the team got to travel all over New Zealand with Unpackit. "Foodstuffs will say those awards changed the way they packaged fruit and vegetables.” (Both supermarket chains Foodstuffs and Progressive have now agreed to phase out single use plastic bags by the end of 2018).

Sophie celebrating with Gina Dempster when both Countdown and Foodstuffs announced they would phase out plastic bags last year. PHOTO: Supplied

But there is a long way to go: Sophie is currently doing Plastic Free July (an international campaign which encourages people to try to avoid buying any plastic for the month). "It’s hard. There are some products where it’s not possible. There’s such a long way to go.”

After leaving Wastebusters and doing some contract work here and there, Sophie and Mal went to Nepal for the best part of a year (2015), where Sophie volunteered for Karma Flights, a small NGO which raises money through the paragliding world to fund girls’ education. "It was a great life,” she said.

One day they were having coffee with friends in Kathmandu when the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck. They ran outside and huddled together, watching the buildings weaving like trees in the wind. "It was terrifying,” Sophie said.

Within two days Karma Flights had taken trucks filled with supplies to the epicentre - they were the first group on the ground. Sophie and Mal started their own disaster relief programme, working with Sir Ed Hillary’s granddaughter Amelia Hillary to get aid to badly hit areas. Sophie described it as "a very intense three weeks”, with no sleep, amid constant aftershocks. She and Mal opened a Givealittle page, and through their contacts ("it was probably more Mal than me,” Sophie said) raised $120,000 for the relief efforts.

Sophie then went on to work for the UN for two months, working 12 hour days "doing logistics” for the remote area operation getting aid, meals, and people to where it was most needed. She loved it: "The work was really interesting and they were amazing people.”

Sophie doesn’t like to do the same thing twice, so on her return to Wanaka a role with LINK Upper Clutha beckoned, doing lots of research, event management and community engagement. But when the government changed last year she was drawn back to Wastebusters.

"I felt the context had changed around waste with the new government. I was like ‘this is our moment, this is our time to be in this space’. We’ve got a Green Party Minister for the Environment [Eugenie Sage], and she’s saying that waste is a problem. And that is something we have not heard for a long time.”

"I feel like the crisis around recycling is such a big opportunity to focus on reduction of waste. And you can feel it - people are talking about it.”

Sophie’s project work with Wastebusters included the Waste Free Fair, which took place earlier this month. It had "energy and excitement”, Sophie said, and people were keen to learn. Plastic Free Wanaka is still committed to its ambitious goal of Wanaka becoming plastic bag free by 2019. "We’re about to find out how far away we are,” Sophie said: the group’s next step is to compile a list of local plastic bag free retailers.

Meanwhile, she lives simply (but eats "really well”) and is modest about her "not very hardcore” outdoor activities: climbing, trail riding, bike packing and touring, tramping, and skiing.

"I kind of dabble in things. My Melbourne friends think I’m super adventurous, but in Wanaka - I’m at the back of the pack.”

Sophie said she’s always avoided the term ‘activist’. "I never felt like it fitted me.” But she was inspired by the advice of climate change activist Bill McKibbens (who visited Wanaka in 2009) to do what you can do; work actively in your community; change your work to align with your values; and lobby.

"Basically, be an activist,” Sophie said. "I think I’m owning it a bit more now.”