A message from the Zen Tails books

Our online team has this postcard near the phone for inspiration when they are speaking to our customers - possibly you!  We have written a lot on the blog recently about people and companies speaking the truth (or shades of the truth) and I thought this message sums it up perfectly.

This image of Guru Walter Wombat is from the captivating Zen Tails series of books by Australian author Peter Whitfield (available from the children's book section of Biome).  Zen Tails are classical philosophical tales adapted and beautifully illustrated for children.  Each book contains a moral as well as the original Zen Tale.

As Peter says, the messages he teaches are thousands of years old and developed by far wiser souls than himself. I feel there are many adult business leaders who would benefit from the wisdom in these children's books.  

© Walter Wombat image is provided by courtesy of Zen Tails and can not be reproduced.

Share a nature photo that inspires you & win a $50 voucher

After a few challenging days, we'd love some fun and inspiration to re-connect with our precious environment!
On our Facebook page, we're inviting you to share an experience with nature that inspired you to live a more eco friendly life - and you'll have the chance of winning a $50 voucher. 

Our photos from Bitter Springs and Kakadu in the Northern Territory are posted below - what a spectacular experience!

What did SIGG say about BPA?

I have landed back into Brisbane after a wonderful escape around Darwin and Kakadu to be confronted by the reality of managing an eco and ethical business! A few days ago, the CEO of SIGG announced that SIGG water bottles made prior to August 2008 did contain trace amounts of Bisphenol A (BPA), but that the independent test results still stand that show there is no migration or leaching of BPA, phtlalates and other toxins from the lining. In other words, the bottles are still safe. Here is the link to the SIGG CEO's statement

Bottles manufactured since August 2008 have a new liner that is BPA free. It is a powder-based, co‐polyester coating that is also more eco-friendly as its application generates little waste and uses no organic solvents or VOCs. You can check which lining your bottle has by looking inside - the new liner has a dull, pale yellow appearance while the old liner is a shiny, copper bronze.

Prior to this year, Biome has informed customers that while SIGG would not reveal what the lining is made from, the bottles are safe based on independent tests showing no leaching of BPA. We were concerned they would not give full details, but we (and many reputable sources like treehugger.com "SIGG bottles now BPA free") trusted them and the test results.

With the 2009 range, we started saying that the lining is BPA-free, because for the first time SIGG stated this to be the case.

When asked by many sources last year SIGG did not give a straight answer to the question about whether the lining contains BPA. Our belief is that a "sustainable" company must be 100% transparent and disclose full ingredients so that consumers can make their own informed choice. Even if the bottle is safe, we have the right to make the choice.

What can you do? This is not a product recall, because the bottles are still safe and still do what they claimed to do.  Should you have a SIGG bottle with an old lining and are not comfortable to use it, the Australian distributor and Biome will replace the bottle with a new one. To do so, please contact us by email on info@biome.com.au or visit/telephone our stores to discuss the return - 07 3368 3009 (Paddington) or 07 32219842 (City).  We commend SIGG's Australian distributor for not hesitating to do the right thing to resolve this.  If you have any other concerns or comments, please email Tracey on info@biome.com.au.

Biome will continue to sell only SIGG water bottles with the new BPA free lining and their stainless steel range, plus Laken aluminium bottles with a BPA-free lining. We also offer Klean Kanteen and Nathan stainless steel bottles which have no lining. Should you be choosing stainless steel, you still need to be very careful about the quality of the bottle. Choose bottles from a trusted brand that controls the factory and makes their bottles from high-quality, sanitary grade 18/8 or 304 stainless steel with a low nickel content. There are many cheap choices on the market that are purchased "off the mass production shelf" and branded.  sigg bottles

LATEST NEWS :: please see this subsequent post SIGG CEO says sorry 

The "top end" of Australia has taken our breath away

We are so fortunate to live in Australia and enjoy its immense natural beauty - but I had not realised until now just how incredible the land is around Darwin, Litchfield and of course World Heritage Kakadu. We are on a family camping trip around the region and every day opens the door to a magical world.

Here are the children snorkelling in Bitter Springs, a setting so surreal it seems to have been landscaped. Fresh, warm and crystal clear water from an underground spring flows gently along a sandy course through reeds and lush bush. An Azure Kingfisher skims overhead as we drift, watching the underwater life. Apparently there are no crocodiles in residence - although they are omnipresent around here and have caused me great apprehension! We swam in many inviting waterfalls where it was signed as safe. The management of the National Parks from a visitor's point of view has been outstanding.

Today we joined a sunrise cruise on Yellow Water billabong in Kakadu. Experiencing the morning symphony of animals, birds and plant life was exhilarating. It was abuzz with crocodiles (one of the 17 we counted lurks below) and birds, like the regal Jabiru and Brolgas. We finished the day looking at ancient rock art and watching the sunset over the Kakadu wetlands at Ubirr.

Re-connecting with the raw beauty of our environment helps to reinvigorate our passion for eco friendly living and what we believe in at Biome. In the city it's too easy to feel distant from why we need to conserve water, save forests and reduce emissions.

Should you have any travel questions about what we did and saw, please post a comment.

WIN a $50 voucher with your photos >> On our Facebook page, we're inviting you to share an experience with nature that inspired you to live a more eco friendly life and you could win a $50 voucher.

Palm oil is in Australian chocolate too

At first we thought that it was only in NZ that Cadbury had introduced palm oil, but we asked what was happening in Australia - and learned that they had changed to palm oil in Australia also.

Interesting that while the issue created such a front page news hub-bub in NZ, in Australia it seemed to go under the mainstream media's radar.

The Northern Rivers Echo picked it up! See the article Group celebrates as Cadbury and KFC go palm oil free with a spokesperson from the Palm Oil Action Group.

Cadbury bows to the power of the people!

Further to our last post about palm oil...

From stuff.nz.co: Cadbury has bowed to consumer pressure and stopped using palm oil in its dairy milk chocolate. The confectionery giant caused a furore when it was revealed it had substituted cocoa butter with vegetable fat including palm oil. Read the rest of the article Cadbury stops using palm oil in its chocolate.

To better understand this issue, the links in our post below are worth looking at, particularly the article from the NZ Sunday Star Times.

At Biome we are trying to dig out any of our products that may contain palm oil. We then contact the manufacturer to find out their plans for removing palm oil. When we tackled this issue last year with Beauty & the Bees natural skincare, we were thrilled that they made the leap to replacing palm oil, including in the much-loved Beauty & the Bees beer shampoo bar. Changing their recipes and packaging was a costly step and we hope everyone gives this fantastic Australian brand even more support because of their leadership.

Palm oil has made its way into almost all conventional processed products (from food to skin care). Here are some of the ingredients to look out for that can be palm oil in disguise:

In food
cocoa butter substitute, palm olein, palm stearine, vegetable oil

Non-food
cetyl alcohol, fatty alcohol sulphates, glyceryl stearate, isopropyl, sleareth, sodium laurel/lauryl, sodium lauryl sulphate, sodium palmate, sodium stearate, stearic acid

Sustainable palm oil myth & Cadbury's "sticky mess"

We respect that each person is free to make their own informed choices, whether for example, they choose to eat meat or be vegan, or try to live an eco friendly life or not. Just like many companies are good citizens despite choosing to make environmentally-harmful products. However, should you choose to manufacture a product that is not green, you should at least have the integrity to call it what it is - and not try to 'green wash' away the grime.

Palm oil is a worrying example of this. As we posted earlier, we see many companies trying to pass palm oil off as "sustainable" on the basis that it is a plant. This is quoted from the packaging of several brands of palm wax tealights: xxx organic tealights are made from 100% vegetable palm oil, a replenishing raw material that is an environmentally friendly, natural alternative to paraffin candles.

Unfortunately, orangutans - and their jungle home that is being felled - are not "replenishing".

For opinion on whether palm oil can be sustainable, we defer to this Greenpeace article about the myth of sustainable palm oil. It is a few years old, but I believe it is still the situation (the article from NZ below also reinforces this). Having lived in Indonesia for four years, I have a healthy scepticism. In any case, it is not worth the risk. The devastating reality is what is happening in the pursuit of wealth. See below the wonderful program Orangutan Diaires on YouTube or watch it on Channel Ten, Sundays at 3:30pm.

14 May 2010: please see our latest post on sustainable palm oil as WWF is encouraging people to support Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO).  Also, some of the major food manufacturers have since made commitments to support sustainable palm oil.

Back to the tealights, labelling them as "organic" is also unacceptable when there is no explanation of how the palm wax was grown and processed without chemicals.

It is easy to feel disheartened by businesses getting away with pulling the wool over consumer's eyes. Even worse, that other eco stores are actually taking the claims at face value and have these candles on their shelves. But then, something happens to re-ignite the fighting spirit...when consumer power takes on a giant like Cadbury. Cadbury New Zealand recently introduced palm oil to its chocolate recipe (labelled as "vegetable fat"). There has been a huge consumer response, even the Auckland Zoo removing all Cadbury products from sale. Here is an good article from the NZ Sunday Star Times that lays out the debate Why Cadbury leaves a bitter taste

And then, watch the beautiful orangutans on YouTube...



Biome's organic skin care is all free from palm oil and palm oil derivatives.  Pure and Green organic skin care is very openly palm oil free.  Our mineral makeup blog compares which mineral makeup brands are palm oil free.  Musq mineral makeup is 100% palm oil free.

Hard work making life easier

By Hayley, Biome's Manager - Merchandise

We recently spent three days at the Melbourne gift fairs searching for useful, eco friendly and ethical choices to offer at Biome. The sheer quantity of low quality, synthetic, petrochemical, unethically-made products to wade through is incredible. It is like an exaggerated, intensified version of what eco-conscious shoppers deal with each day. Our criteria mean we need to ask many more questions than when a regular retail store selects products at these fairs.

There were many outrageous verbal answers, but I feel the written ones on the packaging are slightly more worrying. These printed messages will reach a bigger audience, and being printed on the product gives their claims more validity. Here are just a few examples:

• Labelled "organic" and "natural" without certification or justification and still containing synthetics or petrochemicals;
• Paper products promoting "recyclable" as an eco-benefit. This is environmentally misleading as almost all paper products can be recycled.
• Candles labelled as natural while still containing synthetics, or labelled as sustainable when containing 100% palm oil (at Biome we do not consider palm oil to ever be sustainably sourced due to the areas it typically comes from). See our Queen B beeswax candles for an alternative, and if you want a beautiful fragrant candle, add a few drops of our Tinderbox essential oils to the little wax pool at the top of the candle. Beware of fragranced candles touting themselves as natural as they will contain synthetic fragrances (natural essential oils cannot be mixed into candles without losing their scent very quickly).

Luckily there are some wonderful suppliers that answer our questions informatively and with empathy and integrity. We salute these amazing people and soon will be able to share the amazing products we discovered!

It's hard work, but at the end of the day we take so much satisfaction that we are making it easier:

• for our customers to choose genuine eco alternatives (without green washing);
• for those whose hands make the products (by supporting only those producers that fairly pay and treat their workers); and, ultimately
  
• for the earth.

Photo: Biome window display with a wonderful stick-light, hand made responsibly in Australia by Greg Hatton.

A bit of eco friendly buzz

It is always a little buzz when one of our products or Biome is mentioned in the media. We were honoured to have a lovely profile on our Brisbane City store in Home Beautiful magazine last year. There is great interest in eco friendly products from home style magazines, which has to be a reflection of what their readers are looking for also. What wonderful news for the planet! You can see the latest news stories about Biome here