Since connecting with Tracy Duggan, creator of Clean Conscience in Tasmania, I am inspired by the positive change one individual can make to the world just by starting in our homes.
Palm oil is in nearly every cleaning product on the market, and as it is labelled as anything but palm oil, it is almost impossible to know what you are really buying.
Unlike other products on the market, Clean Conscience products contain no synthetic fillers or added salts to bulk out the product. Most items contain only 4 key ingredients, and that is all that is needed to clean your house.
I met Steph Woollard (Blessed-Life/Seven Women) when researching and putting together a sustainability expo in a 'previous life'. Steph just glows positive energy, and the more i got to know her, the more I was inspired.
Steph met seven disabled, marginalised women several years ago whilst travelling in Nepal, and on connecting with these women and their stories, Steph offered to pay for their training in sewing and craft. With much discrimination against the disabled in Nepal, this was the perfect hand up - not a hand out.
Several years later, the co-op has grown to over 100 artisans, and Chooktopia have now developed some exclusive designs that the ladies make - they now not only have a viable business and make a fair wage, but are empowered in their ability to make a living and learning new skills.
Here is a video of Steph and the ladies:
Other fair trade
Ssuubi beads
Ugandan ladies utilise paper and magazines that would otherwise be going to landfill, and hand make them into stunning beads for jewellery and accessories. The ladies are paid higher than average prices for their goods and sell them all over the world through a range of social enterprises.
Crafts of Hearts and Hands
works with small villages in Southern China and Northern Thailand to teach communities the skills to create crafts and a living, but also how to invest that money for long term income prospects.
Worm farms and Bokashi Bins are sourced from the lovely Shayne and Michelle Rogers in Kilmore. Shayne has taken an existing design and modified it for the Australian Environment.
Worm farms - are currently made in China from 100% recycled HDPE plastic (milk bottles). A pigment is added to the resin to produce the colour, and as such, the colour varies from bin to bin and batch to batch. We are currently working with designers to look at bringing our manufacture to Australia, as we can't bring the current patented design from the existing manufacturer.
Not only are our worm farms great colours instead of black, they are compact thus much easier to find a spot for them out of the sun (often a challenge with big bulky worm farms), they don't generate as much heat due to their size and colour, the air holes are on the size so they don't flood as easily, and the tap is on the side so it doesn't clog as easily. The leg system is also an all-in-one, so gone are the days of broken legs and having to sit your worm farm on bricks or an old milk crate.
Bokashi bins - most on the market are either virgin plastic with a ceramic powder added to the resin, or recycled plastic with no ceramic powder added. The ceramic powder is important in activating the enzymes in the Bokashi grain, and also provides stability for the plastic to make it more durable.
Unlike other Bokashis on the market (that are one or the other), we have worked with our manufacturer to come up with a blend that allows us to boast an EM (Ceramic Powder) Bokashi Bin with 50% recycled plastic content!