Kiarne Treacy

There is a certain kind of founder who does not set out to build a platform - they set out to solve a problem no one else has bothered to solve. Kiarne Treacy is that founder. The Sustainable Choice Group began not with a business plan but with a question she could not answer. A marketing client asked how to tell his sustainability story, and Kiarne went looking for the comparison site or app that surely must exist in this space. When she found nothing, the decision made itself. "I decided to build it."

Twenty years in marketing and brand strategy gives Kiarne a lens that most sustainability practitioners do not carry. She knows what moves people, what gets ignored, and why. That experience now underpins the Sustainable Choice Group's platforms, which reach tens of thousands of business leaders, sustainability practitioners, and consumers every week - making Kiarne one of Australia's most followed voices on business sustainability.

Her thesis is simple and unsparing: radical transparency drives sustainable growth. In a space crowded with greenwash and performative commitment, she is building infrastructure for honest communication - tools that help businesses say what they actually do, not what they wish they did. "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right," she says, and meaning it. In Kiarne's hands it is less a motivational poster than a description of how markets work: belief precedes behaviour, and behaviour moves industries.

Read Kiarne's answers to the Blooming Sustainability questionnaire and you will find someone who does not soften the harder truths.

BLOOMING  Sustainability Questionnaire

Name: Kiarne Treacy

Company & Title: Founder, Sustainable Choice Group

Website & LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiarne-treacy/ & sustainabilitytracker.com

* Guiding Values | Kaupapa

If sustainability were a flower blooming in your life, what would it look like? What nurtures it?

Honestly? Right now it doesn't feel like sustainability is blooming. It feels more like a fight. So… maybe a sunflower? A flower that stays pointed toward the light even on overcast days, growing taller than the conditions around it suggest it should, surviving on sheer stubbornness when the external odds are against it.

A quote, personal motto or whakataukī that reflects your vision:  
Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.

If you could mentor a rising change-maker in Aotearoa, what advice would you share?  

Change is incremental. You can't see it happening, it can be frustrating because every small action looks like nothing on its own, but they collect, and they multiply, and one day the curve bends. You have to do all the little things. You have to accept that each of them feels like nothing in the moment. And you have to keep fighting for it long enough for the collective to show up. But it’ll be worth it.

* Leading Change | Arataki

A key moment in your journey that shaped your path:

As a marketing consultant I had a client ask me for tips on building a sustainability campaign, I said I wasn't sure if that was a good idea. Then he said ‘so how do I tell my story?’ When I couldn’t find the app or comparison site that surely must exist in this space, in that very moment... I decided to build it.

What’s the main challenge you face in driving sustainability within your sector?  
It's hard to convince businesses to do things they don't have to do, especially when they're already doing more than they have time for. Sustainability is a bit of a "nice to have” at the moment. My goal is to shift it so it becomes a "must have," for commercial reasons businesses can't ignore.

An area you need more support with:  
I’m not sure how to answer this question. Everything, because changing the world needs a collective movement that crosses oceans. And… nothing, because I’m too stubborn to ask for help.

An Indigenous perspective you admire and want people to be mindful of:

During a Welcome to Country at the 2025 Sustainable Seafood Awards in Sydney, an Elder shared a principle that has stayed with me ever since. They said, “take only what you need, and use everything you take.” The simplest concept, embedded in a culture that cared for land and Country for tens of thousands of years. They are such simple words to live by but they can make a significant impact in almost every decision you make.

Your best approach for engaging stakeholders in meaningful dialogue about ESG:

Honestly? Make it about money. Talk to them about the fact that the climate generation, the kids who were striking school with Greta not so long ago, are now in their twenties, entering decision-making roles, and set to inherit the largest wealth transfer in history.

They are already one of the largest consumer cohorts in modern history, and climate and sustainability matter to them. If you're not building for that audience now, you're building for an audience that's shrinking. The minute you put the conversation in commercial terms, people start listening.

What do you think is Aotearoa’s superpower in creating a sustainable future?

It's an incredible test ground. New Zealand has long been known that way for startups. It’s an isolated, diverse, manageable sample size that can prototype legislation, business models and technologies faster than larger markets. That same capacity makes it a global laboratory for sustainability: trial something well in Aotearoa, learn from the data, and you can educate the rest of the world on what works.

 * Surfing the Green Wave | Kakariki

Books, podcasts, courses or other resources that profoundly shaped your approach to sustainability:

The book that changed my thinking permanently was something I read over 20 years ago, it’s called Change the World for a Fiver. The most profound thing in it hit me like a train and I think about it every single day, twice a day: turn off the tap while you brush your teeth, turn it back on to rinse. So ridiculously basic and yet still to this day when i tell people, they look surprised and enlightened with the little tip. I'm not suggesting it as a primary text today, but it was the moment in my youth that I understood that our habits can be changed effortlessly to make a big difference and certainly something that guided my path.

Events in Aotearoa or globally that you think are must-attend:

Honestly, I'm sceptical of the "must-attend" framing. The most valuable events are the ones genuinely specific to your work or your sector. If you go to something because it's specific to your needs, you'll find people, energy and conversations and inspiration that make it worth your time. If you go to an event because I told you to, it’s often far less impactful.

A sustainable initiative or project in Aotearoa that deserves more attention:

I don’t have enough context in Aotearoa, I got an answer from a bot but my response would have been inauthentic, so I’m going to leave it blank.

If your work could plant one seed of change for the future, what would it be?

That consumers and consumption have the power to change the world. We have the power to shift demand, and in turn, demand shifts supply. It's possible. It's doable. But it requires societal change, every one of us, choosing to act differently together. I believe it so deeply and I genuinely believe we're planting that seed every single day.

The leader(s) you endorse for a future edition of Blooming Sustainability:

Joanne Howarth, founder of Planet Protector.

She looked at polystyrene dominating supply chains across Oceania and built a wool-based replacement that performs better AND composts in the ground. Her products are proof that the commercial case and the sustainability case can be the same case… and that the cause can be championed by a fearless woman.

 * One actionable takeaway for our readers to make a change today for a brighter tomorrow:
Don’t waste food. Think of the animal who lost a life for your meal, the farmer, the chef, the delivery driver, the energy used to refrigerate it… all of those moving parts, only to throw it in the bin.

Here’s some quick tips:

● Don't be afraid to ask for a takeaway container.

● If you have an event or a morning tea, welcome people to take food and provide easy ways to do it.

● When your celery is wilting in the fridge, dice it up and pop it in the freezer for the next time you make soup.

● Try to find reasons and ways to recover food whenever you can.

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