Women, wildflowers and hope

One of my favourite moments in the Biome store today was sharing with our customers an appreciation of these beautiful and intriguing greeting cards and the women who made them.

Handmade by women whose homes in El Salvador’s highland cloud forest were destroyed by a devastating earthquake and mudslides, these greeting cards represent a woman’s hope for the future.

Look closely as you may not realise that the pattern on these greeting cards is made from intricately placed dried wildflowers and leaves.

In 2001, massive mud slides and a devastating earthquake left many families in the highlands of El Salvador homeless and jobless. With their fields destroyed, many people began traveling long hours to low-paying factory jobs in the capital. A group of enterprising women, however, formed Arte Comasagua, an artisans’ organization that handcrafts stylish designs from native flowers and plants. These women now work locally, caring for their families and saving for their future.

These handmade wildflower cards are available online and at Biome Eco Stores at 2 Latrobe Tce, Paddington and 215 Adelaide Street, Brisbane CBD.


The cards are shared with the world through Hope for Women, a socially-responsible, for-profit organisation that provides retail opportunities for products made exclusively by women so they can take control of their lives and futures.  Learn more from this news story.

  

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Mr Harvey, can't you use your media power for good?

Photo from Greenpeace Australia Pacfic website

There is no doubt that Gerry Harvey is a very influential person in Australia due to the media air time that he commands - whether it be paid advertising, or as we saw when he spoke out against offshore online shopping, free editorial.

He recently gained so much free media time on the TV, radio and in print, trying to make the Government introduce a policy to discourage people from buying overseas.

Why then does
(a) Harvey Norman purchase furniture made overseas for sale in Australia?

(b) Harvey Norman allow furniture made from precious Australian native forest timbers to be sold in his stores?

(c) Mr Harvey not use his incredible media influence to be a true leader and speak out against this practice and urge the Government to establish an Australian labelling policy?

An Australian non government group Markets for Change investigation has revealed (excerpt taken from noharveyno.net):
                   The journey of many of Harvey Norman’s Australian native forest wood products starts in the forests of Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales. These forests are logged, shipped overseas to China, made into furniture and then shipped back to Australia to be sold back to us in the showrooms of Harvey Norman around the country.
Harvey Norman has no publicly available procurement policy that ensures the piece of furniture you buy has not come from an Australian native forest.

Australia does need a labelling policy that empowers the consumer to make an informed choice.  The labelling must identify the species from which products are made, whether the trees have been harvested from certified plantations or native forests, and the country in which the products are manufactured.

Take action

Here you can find an excellent resource with a list of the retailers and timbers to avoid.
Who's selling our native forests?

See the full report at the Markets for Change website

Sign the GetUp! petition here

Take the Ethical Paper pledge here

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BPA Free news

Pictured here: LifeFactory glass bottles with silicone covers

As reported on Channel 10 news tonight, 5 July 2011

Channel Ten news tonight aired an informative story on the dangers of BPA and how to avoid BPA.   Read more about our Biome store and the choices featured in the Channel 10 news story.  Founder of Biome Eco Stores and environmentalist Tracey Bailey, spoke in the news piece.  Link to the Channel Ten story.
We have all heard about BPA in the media lately and know that this dangerous compound is found in some plastic containers and drink bottles.  Make a difference in your and your family's health by choosing the safest water bottles and drinking containers available on the market today.

At Biome Eco Stores we have only ever offered safe, non-toxic choices including BPA free, PVC free and also free from lead and phthalates.

This post contains some thoroughly researched, credible sources that we have found on BPA.

The quick summary?  Good old-fashioned glass is the safest choice for any form of drinking vessel, drink bottle, storage container or cooking vessel.  This may not seem the most practical choice, but Lifefactory glass bottles are made from toughened glass and come with a silicone cover to help protect them from breakage.
What is BPA?


Bisphenol A (BPA) is a plastic and resin ingredient used to line metal food and drink cans and to make hard and clear polycarbonate plastics.  Here is a summary of the Environmental Working Group study in 2007 which found BPA in over half of 97 cans of name-brand fruit, vegetables, soda, and other commonly eaten canned goods.

The use of BPA is widespread, as is its permeation into the environment around us including drinking water and human breast milk.  BPA can leach into food from the protective internal lining of canned foods and from consumer products such as baby bottles and water bottles, polycarbonate tableware and food storage containers.  The degree to which BPA leaches from polycarbonate bottles into liquid may depend more on the temperature of the liquid or bottle, than the age of the container.  (Source: National Toxicology Program).

This Z recommends article explains the great advances made away from unsafe polycarbonate bottles that contained high levels of BPA, but calls for putting BPA-free into perspective.  Canada was the first country to ban BPA from baby products, followed by several US States.  It is still allowed to be used in Australia.

How do you limit exposure to BPA?

• Avoid polycarbonate #7 and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) #3 plastics, especially for children’s food or containers used for heating.  Plastics with the recycling labels #1, #2 and #4 on the bottom are safer choices and do not contain BPA.  Some #7 plastics are now free from BPA, so look for the packaging that also clearly states BPA free.
• Do not heat or microwave food in any type of plastic container – use glass or ceramic instead. Heating plastics to high temperatures promotes the leaching of chemicals.
• Reduce your use of canned foods – canned pasta and soups contain the highest levels of BPA
• Use glass baby bottles and glass bottles for drink bottles.
• Use high quality reusable bottles from trusted brands that publish results of quality control and testing.

Which water bottles and containers are safest to use?

In most cases, the old rule “you get what you pay for” is a good starting point.  There are many cheap metal water bottles in stores to meet the consumer demand for moving away from plastics.  We recommend only choosing an established drink bottle brand that you know and trust, that openly publishes independent test results, and that can be held accountable should there be a problem.

Metal bottles can still leach toxins, whether an aluminium bottle with no lining at all or an unsafe lining, or a stainless steel bottle leaching nickel – particularly if there has not been a tightly controlled and monitored approach to the manufacturing.

At the end of the day, you and your family are the ones who drink from the bottles and need to feel comfortable with whichever choice you make.

Biome offers only choices that are the best quality, reputable and free from all harmful things!

Glass water bottles
Lunch boxes
Sandwich wraps
BPA free baby bottles
Stainless steel bottle
Water bottle

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