Continuous loop of Reverse Garbage

We're having a big clear out trying valiantly to stop our home looking like a staging warehouse for the stores. I heard that environmentalists are the worst hoarders because they can not bear to send anything to landfill. That gave me great peace-of-mind about my compulsion. The guilt I feel when I sneak a large plastic kid's toy into the wheelie bin almost buries me. What do you do with a plastic toy piano that is completely broken? Can’t go to the Salvos because it doesn’t work, it has embedded components that can’t be recycled and no plastics recycling symbol.

We can finally be rid of the old printers, computers and faxes in our garage because at Greenfest I found Buyequip, who take it all. Incidentally, does it alarm anyone else that you can buy a fax machine at Officeworks for $95? Break that down into retailer margin (guessing 40% of $95), transport costs to Australia, materials and factory running costs, and it does not leave much for the wages of the people that assembled it. And, when it breaks (quite readily), it costs more to repair than buy a new one. So off it goes to landfill...

Back to the clear out, which reminded me about the wonderful not-for-profit co-operative, Reverse Garbage. They take all manner of industrial discards that people then purchase for schools and other creative endeavours. In my case, it is a continuous loop. I take stuff to Reverse Garbage that in their words is “waste that is too good to waste” and while I am there can’t resist a few must-haves (“I just know those cardboard pipes and plastic discs will be great for a store display one day”). Then, here I am 12 months later, donating those same items back to Reverse Garbage. Of course, I can’t leave without one quick circuit around the shelves - and so it continues.... The photos here are from their website, which also lists what they accept and sell and Eco-art School Holiday workshops. Surely you could find a use for those eyes!

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life is like riding a bicycle - in order to keep your balance,
you must keep moving. - albert einstein

when I see an adult on a bicycle, i do not despair for
the future of the human race. - h. g. wells
(quoted around the "golden age of the bicycle" 1890-1905)

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Lighthouses - shining the way

Our participation at Greenfest in Brisbane inspired us to start a new feature called “Lighthouses”. A lighthouse shines a light for travellers, shows the way and protects from harm...and so it is with people who illuminate our path.
The light eminating from Greenfest was positively blinding. The grand lighthouse of them all was Greenfest founder, Colman Ridge. Graham Readfearn of The Courier-Mail has written more about Colman's story

How exciting though to find a group of young people devoting their time to a sustainable future. As part their community education outreach, the Queensland Youth Environment Council were running seedling workshops. One of the QYEC team visited our stall to show us the paper pot maker they were using to make little seedling pots from recycled newspaper. We were thrilled to see the useful life this little Biome product was having. The story, however, is about the young leaders who are members of the QYEC and their work for our planet's future. Read more on the QYEC website.

Biome team sets up our green theme display.
Do you have a story from Greenfest or can you tell us about someone who is a Lighthouse?

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Saturday morning greens

I was on top of my green game this morning. I asked for my Gloria Jeans latte in a mug, rather than the plastic-coated takeaway cup. Just by sitting for a few minutes to drink from a mug, I saved a cup and lid from landfill! Not only did I remember my reusable bags, I also brought along my Onya weigh reusable fruit & vegetable bags. Is something wrong in my life that I can take such pleasure from placing mandarins into a sack made from nylon mesh? I'm sure anyone who saw the lady at the mandarins with the silly grin must have thought I was lost in the emotions of something much more exciting. I asked the baker to put the bread rolls straight into my own reusable bag and I said 'no' to a receipt.

I was in deep green form, skipping back to my car ... hmm, car ... that popped my bubble of green reverie. Oh well, there is always room for improvement next Saturday.

We'd love to hear your ideas on how to green-up a grocery trip...

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keeping it local with "slow shopping"

You have probably heard of "slow food", which is all about eating food that is healthy for people, is good for the people who grow it and good for the planet.

According to Slow Food Australia it is a movement to “counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions, people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world”.

It made me think that what we offer is "slow shopping". We delight in helping our customers to slow down and think about where a product comes from, what it is made from, how it is made and especially, who made it.

We support products made close to home so we can reduce our carbon footprint and foster a vibrant local community. One of our favourite local artisans is Kylie Johnson who makes her gorgeous ceramic quote tags, ornaments and earrings within a few kilometres of our store. It takes Kylie a long time to carefully hand make her ceramics and they embody simplicity.

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Travel advice from friends

Here's some lovely travel advice from a good friend of Biome:

"What a beautiful blog you've got going. Thanks for sharing your journey. It makes me think of all those well-known traveling quotations like
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" &
"One's destination is never a place but, rather, a new way of looking at things".

Interesting, isn't it, the parallels between becoming more sustainable and traveling? Not only do we have to become greener step-by-step, but there is no ultimate destination for us to reach - it's more about how we look at things." - Kelly-Ann, Bliss Ecowear.

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nature is not a place to visit. it is home.
- gary snyder

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Nothing but plants in this soap

Watching TV can be quite stressful as I can't help but watch the claims from mass commercial brands. Tonight, an advertisement for a "real soap" with 1/4 moisturising cream. Actually, real soap has 100% moisturisers - just pure plant oils, like these gorgeous soaps from Est. Conventional soaps need to "put back" the moisturiser because they take it out in the first place. Many soap makers strip out the moisturising glycerine because it is more valuable to sell it to the cosmetics industry. With many commercial brands, the moisturisers are also actually from petrol, not plants.

These lovingly hand moulded Est soaps are made from olive oil. Est mix herbs, grains and oils in huge stainless steel bowls in their lovely old shop kitchen. Even better, they are free from palm oil (widely used in soap making because it's cheap), so they are not contributing to the deforestation of orangutan habitat. They last forever too -- my Nanna says we'll go broke selling them because people don't need to come back for months! natural beauty

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Misleading claims hurt true greenies

The company that manufactures “Natural Instinct” has been found guilty of deliberately failing to list all ingredients such as Sodium Laureth Sulphate, listing some chemicals by incorrect names, and claiming that some products are "made from 100% pure oils and certified organic herbs" when in fact, only a very minor proportion of the product uses these. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has told it to publish corrective notices. Thank you to the Cleanlife blog for their story with all the details.

When I see a "natural" brand that is so low cost, it puzzles me how they can make the products so cheaply - either they contain a lot of fillers/bulking agents (like water and salt) or the ingredients are perhaps not as they say.
Not that a natural brand has to be expensive. There are some beautiful, reasonably priced natural beauty brands that use high quality ingredients to nourish your skin - like Bod and Sanctum.
Before I trust a company or its products, I like to know who are the people behind it, their story and their inspiration. With N.I., I was always concerned that I could not find any information about who they were. We all need to be sceptical consumers, try to garner as much information as we can to make an informed choice and, ultimately, rely on our own (dare I say) instinct.

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Remarkable Rocks, Kangaroo Island

Remarkable Rocks in Flinders Chase National Park, Kangaroo Island, South Australia

A recent family holiday on Kangaroo Island was the perfect recharge - beach, wildlife, spectacular natural wonders, fascinating history and local food. This remarkable cluster of massive boulders has been sculpted by the elements. They perch miraculously on a granite dome right at the end of a peninsula.

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