 *Around the globe dolphins & WHALES are showing scientists that the planet has become unlivEable. deaths are piling up. Each year, 400,000 cetaceans are destroyed. We are knowingly sentencing our brothers and sisters to extinction. Yet, our fate is inexorably linked to theirs. Overfishing. Globally, 44,000 floating slaughterhouses are marauding the oceans 24/7/365. Measuring a total of 13 million miles, with a couple of billion legal and illegal hooks, they are wiping, tunas, sharks, rays, sea turtles, cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises), sea birds and so many other masterpieces off the planet at an unprecedented rate.  The economics of extinction is quickly driving bluefin tunas off the planet. Individual fish sell for $3.1M. Image credit: CNN Overfishing is rampant. It’s rife with corruption and organized crime. In February, along France’s western coastline, 600 mutilated dolphins drifted ashore. They drowned in the Bay of Biscay as bycatch within fishery nets. 90 percent of these masterpieces were amputees with broken jaws caused by being trapped in nets and struggling unsuccessfully for life.  Fishery nets killed 600 French dolphins from the Bay of Biscay. Image credit: Pelagis Marine Life Observatory Never have the oceans been emptied of every large creature of every species in 1.1 billion years of reproductive evolution. Each year, deep-sea trawling is ransacking the ocean floor and its seamounts by an area 150 times greater than clear-cutting ancient forests. 4,000-year-old deep-sea cold coral gardens, the slowest growing communities on Earth are being smashed to smithereens. Hideous biological annihilation.  400 tons of mackerel caught in just one massive planet-killing net. Image credit: Whikepia Poisons. Annually, 250 billion metric tons of Man-made long lasting poisons are running into waterways that drain into the oceans. Bottlenose dolphins from Perth’s Swan River and Adelaide’s Port River are laced with cancer-causing non-stick chemicals used in cookware, upholsteries and carpets. These dolphins contain some of the highest known concentration levels in the world. Every Port River bottlenose dolphin born this year along Adelaide’s river is dead. Over the previous two years, 11 of 13 calves have perished. Shipping strikes as well as poisons are the culprits.
Climate change. In addition to all these atrocities, the oceans are broiling with stored fossil fuel heat. 2018 was the hottest global ocean temperature ever recorded. It is the equivalent heat of detonating 100 million Hiroshima-style bombs.  Rescuers worked to help some of the 416 long-finned pilots back into the Tasman Sea. Image credit: Associated Press Seismic. Expanding and accelerating oil and gas seismic surveys are also wreaking havoc with all sea life. Pulses of 242 decibels every 10 seconds 24/7 for weeks or months are deafening cetaceans and shattering larvae of many species in the phytoplankton off Australia, New Zealand, Mozambique, Peru and elsewhere. We need courageous lawmakers that will end this global insanity now. In 2017, a record number of 416 long-finned pilots were stranded on a remote coastline of New Zealand. Seismic surveys were fingered as the perpetrator. These pernicious explosions shatter cetacean eardrums. When these superlative mammals lose their hearing, they cannot communicate or hunt, so they must commit suicide. Man’s shameless lust for more climate-destroying petroleum is evil!  One of 16 huge plastic bags found in the stomach of a Cuvier’s beaked that suffocated and washed ashore onto the Philippines on March 16, 2019. Image credit: Mary Gay Blatchley Plastics. Lastly, wretched petroleum-based plastics are choking the dolphins and all marine life. Recently, an Olympian deep diver, a Cuvier’s-beaked dolphin washed ashore near Davao City, Philippines. Our brethren was crammed full of 88 pounds of plastics including 16 rice sacks, four banana plantation-style bags and many dozens of single-use disposable bags. It’s the latest in an ever-growing list of cetaceans suffocating on plastics.  Take action now.
We are all required to lend a helping hand by consuming and wasting much less. Refuse plastics. Reduce your family’s carbon footprint by switching to a plant-based diet. Walk more. Bicycle more. Drive less. Ride share. Spend 15 minutes daily next to a tree and breathe. Join the resistance. Each of us must change and we must change now. Support organisations like SeaShepherd and Living Ocean because they are protecting our kindred beings, the whales, the dolphins and the porpoises.
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Distinguished conservation biologist. Award-winning author & broadcaster. Eco-stress physiologist Reese Halter specialises in Earth life support systems. The whales, turtles, manatees, dugongs, albatross, ravens, hummingbirds are his brothers and sisters. Visit DrReese.com  The Great Australian Bight is home to endangered pygmy blue whales, southern right whales and southern bluefin tunas. It’s an essential feeding ground for sea lions, great white sharks, migratory sperm whales and short-tailed shearwaters. 85 percent of all the marine species that are found in the Bight occur nowhere else on the globe.  Non-stop ear shattering pulses of 242 decibels every 10 seconds will occur for 90 consecutive days. Not only do seismic surveys burst larvae within the plush mats of phytoplankton, the basis of the entire marine web, but also, they smash to smithereens eardrums of cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises). Excruciating pain drives these masterpieces to beach themselves before eventually expiring. “I fail to see how you can actually approve this type of seismic activity in the middle of one of the most significant nurseries in the world,” remarked Peter Owen, South Australian Director at The Wilderness Society Australia. “It’s totally unacceptable.”
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Author DR REESE HALTER*Distinguished conservation biologist. Award-winning author & broadcaster. |
*The fate of our brethren, the highly intelligent and sensitive cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises), is very grim. The hideous man-made Sixth Mass Extinction is accelerating more than 1,000 times faster than the previous five others.
Legendary biologist and animal activist Farley Mowat meticulously documented the human destruction of cetaceans in Sea of Slaughter. He estimated that humans murdered in excess of five million whales in 18th, 19th and first half of the 20th centuries.
Legendary biologist and animal activist Farley Mowat meticulously documented the human destruction of cetaceans in Sea of Slaughter. He estimated that humans murdered in excess of five million whales in 18th, 19th and first half of the 20th centuries.
WHALING IN THE FAROE ISLANDS, DENMARK. PHOTO CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA
A more recent account by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) workers found that 2.9 million whales were slain between 1900-1999.
PERUVIAN FISHERMAN MASSACRE DOLPHINS FOR BAIT TO CATCH ENDANGERED SHARKS. PHOTO CREDIT: JIM WICKENS
In 2003, Duke University and the University of St. Andrews researchers sounded the alarm on discarded fisheries gear slowly drowning 308,000 cetaceans annually. Instead of the world leaders addressing this ocean crisis they subsidize it by more than $250 billion per annum.
The World Animal Protection conservation group blew the whistle in 2017 on 640,000 metric tons of fisheries gear, mostly petroleum-based plastics, discarded annually. They estimated that the life span of those nets and hooked lines was 600 years.
The World Animal Protection conservation group blew the whistle in 2017 on 640,000 metric tons of fisheries gear, mostly petroleum-based plastics, discarded annually. They estimated that the life span of those nets and hooked lines was 600 years.
This week, a detailed account by Whale and Dolphin Conservation revealed that more than 40 countries savagely hunt 100,000 dolphins and small whales each year. Heartbreaking carnage. These glorious masterpieces are tortured and slowly executed, then disdainfully used as shark and tuna bait.
Some 13 million miles of longlines with a couple billion hooks indiscriminately kill 50 million sharks and another 50 million are ruthlessly annihilated annually. 100 million butchered sharks each year.
Some 13 million miles of longlines with a couple billion hooks indiscriminately kill 50 million sharks and another 50 million are ruthlessly annihilated annually. 100 million butchered sharks each year.
…more than 40 countries savagely hunt 100,000 dolphins and small whales each year.“
The top annual offenders driving dolphins and small whales quickly to extinction are:
The worst cetacean-killer of them all is Japan. Japanese ocean-killers have exterminated 173,662 dolphins and small whales.”
- Peru (15,000 for bait and shark finning);
- Nigeria (10,000 meat market and fishing bait);
- Brazil (several thousand for fishing bait);
- Venezuela (several thousand for meat and fishing bait);
- India (several thousand for meat and fish bait);
- Madagascar (several thousand for meat and fish bait;
- South Korea (several thousand for meat);
- Malaysia (several thousand for meat and fish bait);
- Greenland (3,100 for meat) and
- Japan (about 2,300 for meat).
The worst cetacean-killer of them all is Japan. Japanese ocean-killers have exterminated 173,662 dolphins and small whales.”
BETWEEN 2007 AND 2016, GREENLANDERS HARPOONED 232 ORCAS. PHOTO CREDIT: TOM LEE
Psychopathic.
As if this insatiable human lust for cetacean cruelty isn’t enough to sicken you, there’s more.
At the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting on September 4, 2018, in Florianopolis, Brazil, Japan intends on introducing and passing a motion to resume commercial whaling. Recently, Japan went on a Caribbean buying spree to attain votes ahead of the whaling meeting. Japan is well known for its overt bribing of government officials from industrialized developing countries in order to control the IWC.
Each year, Japan kills hundreds of pregnant minkes in both the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific. But that is not enough. They want more whale blood, not for human consumption, but rather, as dog treats
As if this insatiable human lust for cetacean cruelty isn’t enough to sicken you, there’s more.
At the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting on September 4, 2018, in Florianopolis, Brazil, Japan intends on introducing and passing a motion to resume commercial whaling. Recently, Japan went on a Caribbean buying spree to attain votes ahead of the whaling meeting. Japan is well known for its overt bribing of government officials from industrialized developing countries in order to control the IWC.
Each year, Japan kills hundreds of pregnant minkes in both the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific. But that is not enough. They want more whale blood, not for human consumption, but rather, as dog treats
JAPAN ILLEGALLY WHALING INSIDE THE SOUTHERN OCEAN WHALE SANCTUARY. PHOTO CREDIT: TIM WATTERS/SEA SHEPHERD
In addition to all this human-induced mayhem, cetaceans face deadly ship strikes by 100,000 ocean vessels daily as well as constant propeller noise pollution. Hundreds of thousands of crab pot lines entangle cetaceans and slowly, painfully kill them. Fish farm microbes and viruses poison them along with as many as 51 trillion pieces of ocean plastics.
Worst of all, 242 decibels of incessant global seismic surveys every 10 seconds for weeks or months on end that deafen them, as humans scour the sea beds for every last drop of climate-wrecking subsidized fossil fuels. A deaf whale is a dead whale.
Already, deadly fossil fuel pollution has claimed 337 giant sei whales in the largest mass stranding of filter feeders ever recorded. The whales were victims of man-made fossil fuel heat. They ate squat lobsters laced with domoic acid from a heat-induced red tide along the shores of Patagonia.
At this current rate of unrelenting persecution the cetaceans have no chance of survival. Not only is this amoral and criminal, it is suicidal for the human race. Without the whales, dolphins and porpoises the oceans will collapse.
It’s time for each of us to double-down and reaffirm our morals and love of Nature.
“Ethics is nothing other than Reverence for Life. Reverence for life affords my fundamental principle of morality, namely, that good consists in maintaining, assisting and enhancing life, and to destroy, to harm or to hinder life is evil,” wrote Dr. Albert Schweitzer.
Worst of all, 242 decibels of incessant global seismic surveys every 10 seconds for weeks or months on end that deafen them, as humans scour the sea beds for every last drop of climate-wrecking subsidized fossil fuels. A deaf whale is a dead whale.
Already, deadly fossil fuel pollution has claimed 337 giant sei whales in the largest mass stranding of filter feeders ever recorded. The whales were victims of man-made fossil fuel heat. They ate squat lobsters laced with domoic acid from a heat-induced red tide along the shores of Patagonia.
At this current rate of unrelenting persecution the cetaceans have no chance of survival. Not only is this amoral and criminal, it is suicidal for the human race. Without the whales, dolphins and porpoises the oceans will collapse.
It’s time for each of us to double-down and reaffirm our morals and love of Nature.
“Ethics is nothing other than Reverence for Life. Reverence for life affords my fundamental principle of morality, namely, that good consists in maintaining, assisting and enhancing life, and to destroy, to harm or to hinder life is evil,” wrote Dr. Albert Schweitzer.
- Do not purchase cetacean-killing country products or services.
- Refuse to support their tourism.
- Refuse to support the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
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*all blogs and the views expressed are entirely the writers own and Living Ocean waives any responsibility for views expressed.
The Future Of The Ocean: A Positive View
The Five Biggest Impacts Facing Our Oceans, plus Five Easy Ways You Can Make A Difference.
A BLOG by alice forrest - conservationist, activist, mermaid, ocean frother & adventurer.
Don’t worry, this is not another doom & gloom article about how we’re trashing the planet, killing our oceans, and are inevitably going to end up in a post-apocalyptic world filled with trash (just like Wall-E). However, given that two in every three breaths we take come from the ocean, and just how generally amazing the ocean is, it would be useful for all of us to be armed with some knowledge about what to do in the face of all these problems. So, in hope of inspiring some positive actions, here are the five biggest things impacting the future of our ocean, plus five easy things you can do right now to be part of the solution.
Alice free diving with Humpbacks
#1: PLASTIC
We all know about this one – almost everything we use day-to-day is packaged in, surrounded by, carried in or drunk out of plastic. From those sneakily plastic-lined coffee cups, to the ubiquitous supermarket bag, to straws & soy sauce fish & bottled water. It’s inescapable. You may not know that it has now made it to the bottom of the deepest sea, to the inside of humpback whales & even inside people (11,000 microplastic particles a year for seafood eaters!). You may not be aware of quite how huge this problem is, with virtually every piece of plastic ever made still in existence and more microplastic in the ocean than stars in the Milky Way. It all seems a little overwhelming. The good news is, we have all the solutions we need. This is as simple as reduce, reuse, redesign & change your habits. There are a million things you can do, but here’s just one easy thing to start with:
SAY NO TO SINGLE USE PLASTICS: straws, coffee cups, bottles, bags… Choose one and start with that and for good measure, you can also TAKE 3 pieces of trash next time you’re at the beach.
We all know about this one – almost everything we use day-to-day is packaged in, surrounded by, carried in or drunk out of plastic. From those sneakily plastic-lined coffee cups, to the ubiquitous supermarket bag, to straws & soy sauce fish & bottled water. It’s inescapable. You may not know that it has now made it to the bottom of the deepest sea, to the inside of humpback whales & even inside people (11,000 microplastic particles a year for seafood eaters!). You may not be aware of quite how huge this problem is, with virtually every piece of plastic ever made still in existence and more microplastic in the ocean than stars in the Milky Way. It all seems a little overwhelming. The good news is, we have all the solutions we need. This is as simple as reduce, reuse, redesign & change your habits. There are a million things you can do, but here’s just one easy thing to start with:
SAY NO TO SINGLE USE PLASTICS: straws, coffee cups, bottles, bags… Choose one and start with that and for good measure, you can also TAKE 3 pieces of trash next time you’re at the beach.
Alice on the remote Henderson Islands where rubbish has washed up at the ends of the world
#2: CLIMATE CHANGE & ACIDIFICATION
I’m sure you’re probably heard of this one too, but did you know it affects our ocean in a range of different ways, not just through rising water levels in South Pacific Islands. Here’s a brief list: ocean acidification (nicely summed up in this daggy cartoon video), mass coral bleaching, changes in fish distribution, drowning our wetlands, changing plankton behavior (the base of the whole food chain), and messing with tiny baby turtles (their sex is determined by temperature). Even potentially changing the basic oceanic currents, which keep Europe warm and the Arctic cold.
Again there are many solutions, from taking the bus more to switching your energy supplier, but probably the easiest thing you can do right now is to:
CHANGE YOUR DIET – this could be going vegan (trust me, it’s easier than it sounds and you do get used to life with no cheese) or even just reducing your meat consumption (Meat Free Mondays anyone?) – animal farming is a huge producer of CO2. Additionally, shopping local & in season makes a massive difference.
I’m sure you’re probably heard of this one too, but did you know it affects our ocean in a range of different ways, not just through rising water levels in South Pacific Islands. Here’s a brief list: ocean acidification (nicely summed up in this daggy cartoon video), mass coral bleaching, changes in fish distribution, drowning our wetlands, changing plankton behavior (the base of the whole food chain), and messing with tiny baby turtles (their sex is determined by temperature). Even potentially changing the basic oceanic currents, which keep Europe warm and the Arctic cold.
Again there are many solutions, from taking the bus more to switching your energy supplier, but probably the easiest thing you can do right now is to:
CHANGE YOUR DIET – this could be going vegan (trust me, it’s easier than it sounds and you do get used to life with no cheese) or even just reducing your meat consumption (Meat Free Mondays anyone?) – animal farming is a huge producer of CO2. Additionally, shopping local & in season makes a massive difference.
In season vegetables, fresh herbs and grains
#3: OVERFISHING
Basically, we are now just much too good at catching fish, and we are pulling them out of the ocean faster than they can reproduce. Our vast ocean is not limitless, and many fish stocks have collapsed. This includes the large predators – populations of big fish like marlin, tuna, and even cod have been reduced by 90 percent since 1950. Some studies say we can expect total fisheries collapse by 2048. Farmed fish is also not a great answer and pirate fishing is a growing issue.
Luckily the news here is not all bad, recent research has shown that fisheries management programs in some countries (including Australia, Canada & Norway) are increasing fish stocks. However there are many countries where the opposite is true. So, is seafood really necessary for you? If so, there are Sustainable Seafood apps out there: know what you’re eating, and how/where it was caught. As well as changing your diet, an awesome way to protect our oceans is simply to:
SUPPORT MARINE SANCTUARIES – they maintain critical biodiversity, protect habitat, can boost fish stocks, and help oceanic communities build resistance to problems like climate change. (There’s a sweet video here if you want to learn more.)
Basically, we are now just much too good at catching fish, and we are pulling them out of the ocean faster than they can reproduce. Our vast ocean is not limitless, and many fish stocks have collapsed. This includes the large predators – populations of big fish like marlin, tuna, and even cod have been reduced by 90 percent since 1950. Some studies say we can expect total fisheries collapse by 2048. Farmed fish is also not a great answer and pirate fishing is a growing issue.
Luckily the news here is not all bad, recent research has shown that fisheries management programs in some countries (including Australia, Canada & Norway) are increasing fish stocks. However there are many countries where the opposite is true. So, is seafood really necessary for you? If so, there are Sustainable Seafood apps out there: know what you’re eating, and how/where it was caught. As well as changing your diet, an awesome way to protect our oceans is simply to:
SUPPORT MARINE SANCTUARIES – they maintain critical biodiversity, protect habitat, can boost fish stocks, and help oceanic communities build resistance to problems like climate change. (There’s a sweet video here if you want to learn more.)
Marine sanctuaries seed life to surrounding areas
#4: TOXIC SUNSCREEN
While we were all told in the 90s to Wear Sunscreen, it’s now increasingly clear that it’s actually causing huge amounts of damage to coral reefs. Oxybenzone, along with several other chemicals found in almost all sunscreens (particularly sprays) seriously harms coral, having a similar effect as gasoline! That’s why Hawaii is currently introducing a law to make certain sunscreens illegal.
While pollution in general, along with habitat destruction, seismic testing, seabed mining, oil spills & introduced species could all probably be put on a list like this, I feel like the sunscreen thing is much easier to take on board. As well as finding some shade, covering up (hats/shirts/shorts/rashies) & learning more, all you need to do is:
SWITCH YOUR SUNCREEN. Consider awesome alternatives like SurfMud, Sun Butter or Surf Yogis (or at least check the bottle & buy non-nano Zinc Oxide based sun protection).
While we were all told in the 90s to Wear Sunscreen, it’s now increasingly clear that it’s actually causing huge amounts of damage to coral reefs. Oxybenzone, along with several other chemicals found in almost all sunscreens (particularly sprays) seriously harms coral, having a similar effect as gasoline! That’s why Hawaii is currently introducing a law to make certain sunscreens illegal.
While pollution in general, along with habitat destruction, seismic testing, seabed mining, oil spills & introduced species could all probably be put on a list like this, I feel like the sunscreen thing is much easier to take on board. As well as finding some shade, covering up (hats/shirts/shorts/rashies) & learning more, all you need to do is:
SWITCH YOUR SUNCREEN. Consider awesome alternatives like SurfMud, Sun Butter or Surf Yogis (or at least check the bottle & buy non-nano Zinc Oxide based sun protection).
#5: THE BELIEF THAT SOMEONE ELSE WILL SAVE THEM
Of all these threats, this one is the most toxic, terrifying & ominous one of them all. And also the most easily fixed. While it’s easy to feel like our actions don’t make a difference, it’s also literally the only thing we can do. You can’t control the climate, government decisions, business activities, or fishing pirates. You can take your own coffee cup to work, switch sunscreens and think about what you’re eating.
Supporting legislation changes like marine sanctuaries (for example in Sydney) and organizationswho fight to protect the ocean is also worth doing, but at the end of the day the best thing you can do is:
JUST DO SOMETHING. Start with One Thing. Make it as simple as you need, but the important thing is that you try. Also, smile why you do it. And most importantly, get out there and enjoy it. Because there’s no way we’ll be able to save our big blue planet without positivity & some serious love for that magical salty playground.
Of all these threats, this one is the most toxic, terrifying & ominous one of them all. And also the most easily fixed. While it’s easy to feel like our actions don’t make a difference, it’s also literally the only thing we can do. You can’t control the climate, government decisions, business activities, or fishing pirates. You can take your own coffee cup to work, switch sunscreens and think about what you’re eating.
Supporting legislation changes like marine sanctuaries (for example in Sydney) and organizationswho fight to protect the ocean is also worth doing, but at the end of the day the best thing you can do is:
JUST DO SOMETHING. Start with One Thing. Make it as simple as you need, but the important thing is that you try. Also, smile why you do it. And most importantly, get out there and enjoy it. Because there’s no way we’ll be able to save our big blue planet without positivity & some serious love for that magical salty playground.
BILL FULTON, LIVING OCEAN MARINE RESEARCH DIRECTOR, VOLUNTEERS WITH DR. JENN LAVERS ON LORD HOWE ISLAND TO ASSIST IN ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF PLASTICS IN SHEARWATER POPULATIONS.
LIVING OCEANS FUNDS SOME OF THIS RESEARCH WITH DONATIONS FROM ITS MEMBERS AND TRUST FUND...
Alone at night in the middle of a sandy rainforest on a remote Pacific island, this Living Ocean volunteer is utterly lost. A step in any direction might collapse sand on the burrow of a chick, dooming the bird within. My companions are nowhere in sight and I have no idea which way to go. With wife Ineke I’m assisting a team of scientists researching how ingested plastics affect the health of shearwaters. Lord Howe is an island of incredible beauty — World Heritage — but right now I’m wondering if being here was such a good idea. Most of our two-week stay lies before us. At last I momentarily spot the distant gleam of a lamp and, remembering with enormous gratitude the compass app on my phone, manage to navigate back to our makeshift camp, cyclist’s lamp on head, with the chick I’ve captured.
Like so many others bagged that night, it weighs only a couple of hundred grams, far below the healthy weight of 550-750 grams for a chick its age. It is emaciated and starving. As is usual for the species, its parents have left for the Sea of Japan in advance of the chicks, so there isn’t going to be any more food until the chick departs the island and learns how to catch it. Clearly this one will never be able to. The starvation may be due to the lack of food in the Tasman Sea, where the parents have ranged over hundreds of kilometres, even as far as Sydney, or a stomach full of plastic that the adults have inadvertently regurgitated along with the squid. Or both. We will be finding out.
Back at the camp, everyone is a picture of concentration and words are few. It’s a production line, and time is precious. Dr Jennifer Lavers from Tasmania is measuring and weighing birds, banding the ones that can be released. Rubbing the chicks’ stomachs, Jennifer gets a good idea of how much plastic they contain. Blood samples that she is taking will be analysed for a range of diseases such as diabetes, allowing a correlation between the amount of plastic and incidence of disease. So far, it’s looking like even small amounts of plastic may cause disease. This year with a larger sample, the blood analysis costs being underwritten by Living Ocean, this suspicion may be confirmed. That would be a stunning result, likely with huge implications for most marine life and ultimately human life as well.
A few steps away Dr Alex Bond, from the UK, is working on the ‘how much plastic’ part with the original instigator of the project, Ian Hutton of the wondrous local Museum. Water under gentle pressure is being introduced into the upper stomach, the proventriculus, flushing its contents into a tub. In the lab tomorrow morning we’ll be counting, classifying and weighing the plastic pieces - 80 of them in one case — nothing near a record, we’re told. Ineke has found a niche as data recorder extraordinaire.
It’s early morning on the beach. After too short a sleep, Ineke and I have slogged our way over to the other side of this mountainous island, and are weary. Rainshowers on the eastern horizon, caught by the light of the rising sun, have a transcendent beauty that ameliorates the tragedy unfolding before us. Here is an emaciated dead chick at the high tide line, here is another, and another. At the base of the cliff, a dying chick is pathetically scratching away in a totally failed attempt to start a burrow. I look away for a moment, then I catch it and put it gently in a carton.
9am sharp and here we are in the lab. There’s scarcely a ‘good morning’ — nothing unfriendly, it’s just there is so much work awaiting. Everyone is at it immediately, a well-oiled machine. The scientists are dissecting birds, dead ones and ones that needed euthanasia. Jennifer, who comes here every year at this time, relates how for years she tried to feed and save emaciated birds but could not succeed with even one. We watch with awe and horror as the two stomach compartments, gizzard and proventriculus, are slit open, revealing piece after piece of plastic, some large, some small, some tiny. Pumice as well - that’s normal. Bottle tops, bits of a computer, nurdles used in plastic manufacture, sharp bits puncturing the stomach, round bits, every shape and colour. And ever so many balloon clips — three in one bird! Plastic and pumice are being counted, weighed to four decimal places, classified and recorded. These, along with feathers, liver and other organ samples are wrapped in aluminium foil for later study. I make some mistakes and am gently corrected. Occasionally I briefly run out of work and can get some video. Twenty-two birds today.
We get a few hours off while the scientists are transferring data to computer. They never stop; it’s awesome to behold. Already it’s time for the next night’s work.
Looking down on the mountains and lagoon as our prop-jet bears us away from the island, our hearts are filled with such varied emotions. The amount of data is stupendous, with a record number of birds processed in 2+ weeks. We reflect on our new-found love for these beautiful birds and hope that our small efforts will in some way help future generations of a species whose numbers have plummeted dramatically in recent times. We think also of the luckier, healthy chicks, who will spend around seven years at sea shuttling between hemispheres without ever making landfall, returning eventually to breed in the colony of their birth and in some cases even to the very same burrow, where some future researcher may find them wearing the bands we attached with love.
Like so many others bagged that night, it weighs only a couple of hundred grams, far below the healthy weight of 550-750 grams for a chick its age. It is emaciated and starving. As is usual for the species, its parents have left for the Sea of Japan in advance of the chicks, so there isn’t going to be any more food until the chick departs the island and learns how to catch it. Clearly this one will never be able to. The starvation may be due to the lack of food in the Tasman Sea, where the parents have ranged over hundreds of kilometres, even as far as Sydney, or a stomach full of plastic that the adults have inadvertently regurgitated along with the squid. Or both. We will be finding out.
Back at the camp, everyone is a picture of concentration and words are few. It’s a production line, and time is precious. Dr Jennifer Lavers from Tasmania is measuring and weighing birds, banding the ones that can be released. Rubbing the chicks’ stomachs, Jennifer gets a good idea of how much plastic they contain. Blood samples that she is taking will be analysed for a range of diseases such as diabetes, allowing a correlation between the amount of plastic and incidence of disease. So far, it’s looking like even small amounts of plastic may cause disease. This year with a larger sample, the blood analysis costs being underwritten by Living Ocean, this suspicion may be confirmed. That would be a stunning result, likely with huge implications for most marine life and ultimately human life as well.
A few steps away Dr Alex Bond, from the UK, is working on the ‘how much plastic’ part with the original instigator of the project, Ian Hutton of the wondrous local Museum. Water under gentle pressure is being introduced into the upper stomach, the proventriculus, flushing its contents into a tub. In the lab tomorrow morning we’ll be counting, classifying and weighing the plastic pieces - 80 of them in one case — nothing near a record, we’re told. Ineke has found a niche as data recorder extraordinaire.
It’s early morning on the beach. After too short a sleep, Ineke and I have slogged our way over to the other side of this mountainous island, and are weary. Rainshowers on the eastern horizon, caught by the light of the rising sun, have a transcendent beauty that ameliorates the tragedy unfolding before us. Here is an emaciated dead chick at the high tide line, here is another, and another. At the base of the cliff, a dying chick is pathetically scratching away in a totally failed attempt to start a burrow. I look away for a moment, then I catch it and put it gently in a carton.
9am sharp and here we are in the lab. There’s scarcely a ‘good morning’ — nothing unfriendly, it’s just there is so much work awaiting. Everyone is at it immediately, a well-oiled machine. The scientists are dissecting birds, dead ones and ones that needed euthanasia. Jennifer, who comes here every year at this time, relates how for years she tried to feed and save emaciated birds but could not succeed with even one. We watch with awe and horror as the two stomach compartments, gizzard and proventriculus, are slit open, revealing piece after piece of plastic, some large, some small, some tiny. Pumice as well - that’s normal. Bottle tops, bits of a computer, nurdles used in plastic manufacture, sharp bits puncturing the stomach, round bits, every shape and colour. And ever so many balloon clips — three in one bird! Plastic and pumice are being counted, weighed to four decimal places, classified and recorded. These, along with feathers, liver and other organ samples are wrapped in aluminium foil for later study. I make some mistakes and am gently corrected. Occasionally I briefly run out of work and can get some video. Twenty-two birds today.
We get a few hours off while the scientists are transferring data to computer. They never stop; it’s awesome to behold. Already it’s time for the next night’s work.
Looking down on the mountains and lagoon as our prop-jet bears us away from the island, our hearts are filled with such varied emotions. The amount of data is stupendous, with a record number of birds processed in 2+ weeks. We reflect on our new-found love for these beautiful birds and hope that our small efforts will in some way help future generations of a species whose numbers have plummeted dramatically in recent times. We think also of the luckier, healthy chicks, who will spend around seven years at sea shuttling between hemispheres without ever making landfall, returning eventually to breed in the colony of their birth and in some cases even to the very same burrow, where some future researcher may find them wearing the bands we attached with love.
Plastic straw use is generating extreme waste for unnecessary convenience. In recent times we have come to expect straws in our drinks when we dine out (even though we rarely use them when we stay in). In the US alone more straws than there are people get thrown out each day according to the Last Plastic Straw [link website].
It is time to take action. Hundreds of straws were found along our coastline at the monthly beach cleans held by Living Ocean last year. So it thrills the Living Ocean team to hear of local individuals actively promoting their avoidance, such as Farley MacDonald of the Facebook page ‘Convenient for who?’ and Bruce Raymond part-owner of fast food cafe Pineana. We are no longer ignorant to the impact that plastic is having on our oceans and the sea life within. In August 2015, a video went viral that showed the removal of a plastic straw from the nose of a sea turtle. To date, it has had over 11.7 million views. While we often hear about the impact that plastic bags and littering is having on our sea-life, we don’t witness it first hand. As difficult as the video is to watch, it is a moving reminder of the cost of our convenience.
*Warning: video below has graphic content that may be disturbing to some viewers.
It is time to take action. Hundreds of straws were found along our coastline at the monthly beach cleans held by Living Ocean last year. So it thrills the Living Ocean team to hear of local individuals actively promoting their avoidance, such as Farley MacDonald of the Facebook page ‘Convenient for who?’ and Bruce Raymond part-owner of fast food cafe Pineana. We are no longer ignorant to the impact that plastic is having on our oceans and the sea life within. In August 2015, a video went viral that showed the removal of a plastic straw from the nose of a sea turtle. To date, it has had over 11.7 million views. While we often hear about the impact that plastic bags and littering is having on our sea-life, we don’t witness it first hand. As difficult as the video is to watch, it is a moving reminder of the cost of our convenience.
*Warning: video below has graphic content that may be disturbing to some viewers.
Straw use is generally completely unnecessary and saying “no” to their use is, in my view, an easy enough place to start. I was surprised by comments on a recent anti-straw film doing the rounds on social media. The predominant reasons people did not want to give up straws were concerns with tooth sensitivity when drinking cold drinks and hygiene with drinking directly from the glass. I’m not sure I agree that a much-handled straw (unwashed since creation in a factory setting) would be a more hygienic option, but overall I was shocked by how attached we have become to these single-use, so-called “disposable” conveniences. At the end of the day, no matter how you look at it, the ultimate hygienic solution for the die-hard straw fan is to carry your own reusable glass or metal straw in a pouch. And if you are that concerned about the hygiene of a glass when dining out, I recommend you throw in your own knife and fork at the same time.
While straw use is a global issue, we can make the greatest difference by advocating for change in our local communities, encouraging cafes and restaurants to not immediately offer straws, and if requested to provide an alternative to plastic. Local northern beaches mum, Farley MacDonald, has started a petition to the Northern Beach Council to say no to ’single use’ plastic straws on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Farley has always lived on Sydney's Northern Beaches and so feels a very strong connection to the area. “Over recent years I had been fighting, fairly quietly, against single-use plastics,” says Harley. "After having my little boy in March last year however, I decided it was time to get louder. I was spending more time (than in a long time) out and about and the amount of rubbish, in particular single-use convenience items, was staggering. I started picking up as much as I could and one item that stood out amongst the rest, was plastic straws. The more I thought about these convenience items, the more I realised just how unnecessary they are! After taking part in 'Clean Up Australia' this year and finding over 100 plastic straws under a 5x4 metre raised seating area on Narrabeen Beach, I decided enough was enough ... the final straw, so to speak! …And so I launched the petition.” Please show you support for the cause and jump over to change.org to sign the petition.
Pineana (Pine - ana), a plant-based asian inspired salad noodle bar in Avalon, is paving the way for other such food outlets in our local community, to say “no” to the plastic straw. Driving Pineana’s ethos to “eat fresh, feel good, do good” is part-owner, local surfing legend, Bruce Raymond and his partners, long time vegans, Tom Luedecke, his wife Anick and Adam Guthrie. As an ocean devotee, he is passionate about protecting our oceans and creating a business of low-environmental impact. They believe that a plant based diet is the best contribution we can make for a better planet: for your own health, the health of the environment, and to be humane to all species. From the outset, Bruce has been in contact with organisations and passionate locals, such as Living Ocean and Wander Lightly, as he endeavours to establish a sustainable business practice.
In their bid to offer a healthy, more environmentally friendly alternative to your typical fast food outlet, Bruce and the Pineana team have faced some challenges. One of which has been to find a suitable alternative to the plastic straw. While ultimately Bruce would like to encourage customers to say ‘no’ to the straw or bring their own straw with an incentive based system, for now, they also need to offer an alternative. He put the problem to Pineana's packaging supplier, Kent Paper in Balgowlah.
While straw use is a global issue, we can make the greatest difference by advocating for change in our local communities, encouraging cafes and restaurants to not immediately offer straws, and if requested to provide an alternative to plastic. Local northern beaches mum, Farley MacDonald, has started a petition to the Northern Beach Council to say no to ’single use’ plastic straws on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Farley has always lived on Sydney's Northern Beaches and so feels a very strong connection to the area. “Over recent years I had been fighting, fairly quietly, against single-use plastics,” says Harley. "After having my little boy in March last year however, I decided it was time to get louder. I was spending more time (than in a long time) out and about and the amount of rubbish, in particular single-use convenience items, was staggering. I started picking up as much as I could and one item that stood out amongst the rest, was plastic straws. The more I thought about these convenience items, the more I realised just how unnecessary they are! After taking part in 'Clean Up Australia' this year and finding over 100 plastic straws under a 5x4 metre raised seating area on Narrabeen Beach, I decided enough was enough ... the final straw, so to speak! …And so I launched the petition.” Please show you support for the cause and jump over to change.org to sign the petition.
Pineana (Pine - ana), a plant-based asian inspired salad noodle bar in Avalon, is paving the way for other such food outlets in our local community, to say “no” to the plastic straw. Driving Pineana’s ethos to “eat fresh, feel good, do good” is part-owner, local surfing legend, Bruce Raymond and his partners, long time vegans, Tom Luedecke, his wife Anick and Adam Guthrie. As an ocean devotee, he is passionate about protecting our oceans and creating a business of low-environmental impact. They believe that a plant based diet is the best contribution we can make for a better planet: for your own health, the health of the environment, and to be humane to all species. From the outset, Bruce has been in contact with organisations and passionate locals, such as Living Ocean and Wander Lightly, as he endeavours to establish a sustainable business practice.
In their bid to offer a healthy, more environmentally friendly alternative to your typical fast food outlet, Bruce and the Pineana team have faced some challenges. One of which has been to find a suitable alternative to the plastic straw. While ultimately Bruce would like to encourage customers to say ‘no’ to the straw or bring their own straw with an incentive based system, for now, they also need to offer an alternative. He put the problem to Pineana's packaging supplier, Kent Paper in Balgowlah.
“We requested a straw that is sustainable, practical and economical,” says Bruce. "Kent Paper Balgowlah jumped on board and were more than happy to source merchandise to satisfy the move to sustainable packaging. Kent discovered a solution that ticks all the boxes - the Eco-Straw! The Eco-Straw is a game changer for our beaches, it’s totally biodegradable. It means less waste ending up in the ocean, in the food chain and in landfill. It’s one simple but mighty step local businesses can take to limit our environmental impact on the Northern Beaches – and beyond.” Austraw, the creaters of the Eco-Straw, report that an oxo-biodegradable additive is used at the manufacturing stage of the Eco-Straw which turns the ordinary plastic into a material with a different molecular structure. They advertise that after a period of useful life the product will break down in the presence of oxygen, eventually becoming carbon dioxide, water and biomass without leaving fragments in the environment.
While the Pineana business model is fast food based, they are now offering washable bowls for customers dining in. Bruce says they have been listening to feedback from local customers and environmental organisations about their concerns. “We’re currently using PET 1 lids on our takeaway bowls and corn starch take-away cutlery. While these are not the perfect solution, they are a start. We also offer a 10% discount on our Pineapple Crush or coffees, for customers providing their own re-useable cup or straw (stainless steel, bamboo etc). We think this is being proactive in rewarding people who make the effort, and we will help amortise their cost for purchasing the reusable product in this way.” Bruce also points out that they chose to have plant based salads for the huge environmental benefits this offers and they hope to get that message out also.
The Pineana team have worked hard to create a fresh, healthy menu that has no animal products and that does not compromise on taste. Bruce has always been interested in his health and well being, but became more conscious following a quadruple by-pass surgery at the age of 39. Since then he has consulted with specialists who have advocated the health benefits of a meat free diet. His current business partners have long championed the benefits of a plant based diet. Adam Guthrie, a qualified chef and plant based health coach is living proof that wellness starts with food choices. He went from having a heart attack at age 39, to getting off all medications and completing one of the toughest endurance events in the world, an Ironman Triathlon. Adam now has a certificate in plant based nutrition and in addition to co-founding Pineana, writes for EatWell and Wellbeing Magazines. Following the birth of Bruce's first grandson last year, he felt even more strongly about avoiding meat and fish, not just for the fact that a plant-based diet is healthy and more humane, but also in a bid to be more mindful of our environment for the benefit of future generations.
While the Pineana business model is fast food based, they are now offering washable bowls for customers dining in. Bruce says they have been listening to feedback from local customers and environmental organisations about their concerns. “We’re currently using PET 1 lids on our takeaway bowls and corn starch take-away cutlery. While these are not the perfect solution, they are a start. We also offer a 10% discount on our Pineapple Crush or coffees, for customers providing their own re-useable cup or straw (stainless steel, bamboo etc). We think this is being proactive in rewarding people who make the effort, and we will help amortise their cost for purchasing the reusable product in this way.” Bruce also points out that they chose to have plant based salads for the huge environmental benefits this offers and they hope to get that message out also.
The Pineana team have worked hard to create a fresh, healthy menu that has no animal products and that does not compromise on taste. Bruce has always been interested in his health and well being, but became more conscious following a quadruple by-pass surgery at the age of 39. Since then he has consulted with specialists who have advocated the health benefits of a meat free diet. His current business partners have long championed the benefits of a plant based diet. Adam Guthrie, a qualified chef and plant based health coach is living proof that wellness starts with food choices. He went from having a heart attack at age 39, to getting off all medications and completing one of the toughest endurance events in the world, an Ironman Triathlon. Adam now has a certificate in plant based nutrition and in addition to co-founding Pineana, writes for EatWell and Wellbeing Magazines. Following the birth of Bruce's first grandson last year, he felt even more strongly about avoiding meat and fish, not just for the fact that a plant-based diet is healthy and more humane, but also in a bid to be more mindful of our environment for the benefit of future generations.
Running your own business is no mean feat and doing it with a bub in tow is a whole ‘nother kettle of fish. So I can’t help but be in total awe of local mum and entrepreneur Anne, who not only started her cold pressed juicing business Prodjuice shortly after the arrival of her daughter, but managed to do this with an environmentally conscious stance. It’s inspiring to see a business all about nourishing the body and soul making greener choices to nurture our environment. That Anne’s own daughter Edie is also the sweetest ray of sunshine speaks volumes for the caring atmosphere she is being raised in.
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MEET ANNE
How did the idea to start a juice company all begin?
I was home with a brand new baby & looking for something to work on to keep me occupied during all the down time. I had heard of this thing called “cold pressed juice” & started following its growing popularity in the States. I took the idea to my Mum (now my business partner) of a premium cold pressed juice brand for Sydney. There wasn’t much else on the Sydney market at the time, but none the less I wanted to make our product different. I knew the branding, packaging & flavour combination had to be unpredictable. I also knew if we were to begin a start up company, it was our responsibility to do it in the most eco-friendly way.
What is cold pressed juice and why is it good for you?
The method of cold pressed juice extraction is very different from your average Breville home juicer. To put it simply, the cold press process is extremely gentle on fruit & vegetables allowing for a much greater portion of plant cells to remain intact. This creates a very stable, highly nutritious juice. Whereas your standard juicer generates a lot of heat in the cutting process which oxidises the juice & results in a loss of nutrients.
What do you believe sets Prodjuice apart from the other juices on the market?
From the outset we have made a conscious effort to be sustainable. We want to promote a healthy lifestyle, not just by what you put in, but by what you put out. We are 150% committed to using glass bottles. There are way too many plastic bottles still being manufactured out there – it makes me feel ill to think about it. Switching to glass bottles is the simplest step any beverage company can take to reduce it’s environmental footprint. We also take the time to compost all our juice pulp & at present we donate it to the Avalon community garden who are doing a wonderful job of putting it back in the land. We are also always growing and evolving our product line in accordance with the market. We now have soups & broths to give a “ warm” element to the business, & our tonic line is our answer to “ food as medicine”. In short, it’s through our iconic product line & commitment to sustainability that we have been able to set Prodjuice apart from the pack.
What inspires you to make more conscious choices for your growing business?
It’s our responsibility as a generation. Our parents didn’t grow up knowing the effects their consumerism would have on the planet, but we do. Now it has become our responsibility to use that knowledge to make conscious choices in every aspect of our lives, as well as in the education & example we set for future generations. Plus the fact that we are surrounded by an incredible community of people that have the knowledge and drive to execute what they know to make significant changes certainly makes it easier to sustain these movements – especially when your friends & family believe in it too!
Have you managed to embed sustainable thinking within your company?
Yes absolutely. Striving to create a more sustainable business practice through regular review of our processes has generated a more green focus within the company as a whole and also (unintentionally) within the individual staff members. Simple changes we have made are now considered the norm, such as accepting glass bottle returns for reuse, composting & packing only in cardboard. We are even working on a new 100% compostable insulated packaging. Overall there is now greater staff awareness and individually I have noticed changes with our own behaviours. For example our manager Maddy can be caught on any given afternoon lugging a box of plastic Chinese takeaway containers to her car to recycle at home (we receive frozen berries in these & sadly can’t get them delivered any other way). Maddy’s commitment to dispose of them correctly is so pleasing to witness. A beautiful example of how we can still do our best, even if the situation isn’t exactly perfect.
What is the biggest challenge you face professionally?
Growth & expansion… doing it all in the most ethical, responsible way, whilst keeping a smile on your face and still having time for your family & friends (oh &yourself)! It’s a lot, but I’ve learnt (it took a long while) to delegate & spread the load. If you’re not an expert at a certain area, get someone else to do it. It seems like a big outlay initially but it’ll pay you back ten fold in the long run.
Is there any advice you would offer to other small businesses seeking to create change?
Have a look at your business model. Choose 3 main things that stand out as damaging (either ethically or environmentally) then set about to rework these areas so they create less damage or even better no damage! Go slowly, there is no rush. It can be tricky to implement large changes quickly, so go easy & give the process time & commitment. Once these three areas have been addressed, start working on some more!
It’s also really nice to look at the business model & see how & where you can give back to the community as well. For example, this is what we’re up to in the community at the moment: as mentioned all our compost goes to Avalon community garden, we’re loving working alongside organisations like Living Ocean & Av green Team at their events, 5% of all our online sales during March are being donated to The Melanoma Institute, we regularly support Avalon Montessori School at their fundraising events and we’ll be speaking in May at a beautiful event for inspiring professional women run by Lets Connect Women in Palm Beach. All these little things are not only great for the brand, but they’re also great for networking & giving back. For everything positive you give out, something good always comes back to you.
What one thing have you done at Prodjuice to drive sustainability that others could replicate?
Packaging – this drives me crazy! If you are planning a start up & you have to package your product (and lets face it most “things” arrive packaged), take some time in the planning stages to research eco-friendly options. There are so many great & beautiful sustainable packaging concepts out there these days, why all new companies aren’t implementing them is beyond me. Hopefully one day this will become part of legislation.
What is you biggest concern about our ability to tread gently and create a more sustainable world?
Consumerism & the global corporate giants, they’ll be tough to beat. The best thing we can do is be small, shop small, act small. In the last 2 years I have given up all shopping at Woolworths (which used to be my daily go to). I think the only thing I buy there now is deodorant. I am currently looking for a good product to switch to so I don’t have to shop there at all, but I don’t beat myself up about that. It’s been a long process of slowly replacing each product with a more conscious alternative.
All my produce comes from the local farmers market or local organic shop (or work, I realise I am very lucky to always have a cool room full of organic produce). Dry goods like nuts, pasta & rice come from bulk stores like Scoop or The Source. I take along my big glass jars, fill them up & pop them straight in the pantry when I get home. The sense of leaving those stores with not one ounce of packaging is so fulfilling – my favourite shopping experience.
I buy toilet paper, paper towel & tissues online from Who Gives A Crap. Plus I buy all my cleaning products in bulk from Honest To Goodness.
We recently had my daughters 4th birthday party. Having been to a few parties recently I had noticed these events are an absolute land-mine for consumerism & single use goodies So when we came to planning ours, we went simple, no plastic & very low sugar. Each child had a glass jar to fill from our juice or water dispensers with a colourful paper straw. Pass the parcel was wrapped all in newspaper with no tape, & the prizes were little wooden beaded bracelets made by Edie herself or eco-wooden spinning tops. Instead of party bags at the end, each child took home a tiny compostable pot with a little tiny paper packet of seeds & a wooden paddle pop stick to stick in the pot which were labelled sunflower, sweet pea or marigold. We had no balloons or decorations, & do you know what, not a single child cared! All they cared about was running around with their friends & having a ball. Presents are always a tricky one… we have very few plastic toys in our house and I always try to keep it that way. So politely on the invitation I let everyone know that Edie has more than enough & gifts were not necessary. After all, do our children really need more? If they really wanted to give something, I simply asked for no plastic please & offered the idea of a second hand book or toy. Most parents were happy enough to oblige & hopefully this little request was enough to spark some thought in some of the other parents & children’s minds.
What changes have your family made outside of your work to tread more gently on this earth?
Obviously the way we shop, but also the more aware you become the more you want to help. We can’t walk anywhere now without Edie picking up a scrap of plastic and yelling ‘Mum…plastic”. So we’re always picking up rubbish & having our own little beach cleans.
How have you managed being a mum whilst also being the head of a start up?
This has been a really difficult one, & not necessarily something I would recommend to a new mum, or do again! In the beginning I was in an extremely difficult phase of my life & I think I used the business as a way to distract myself from everything that I was going through personally. Like most new businesses we battled through the first couple of years, determined to make it past the two year mark. I found that running the business began to feel much easier & flow took place once my own personal life had settled and healed. Things have really just gotten better and better since then, both at home & in business. I am absolutely sure both facets of life need to work in conjunction with one another for growth. The business has only gotten to this point with the love and support of my family & friends.
How has Prodjuice grown as a company already and what are your ongoing dreams for the business?
Wow to think about this is crazy. We started out so small. We’d make juice on three tiny little machines in Mum’s garage, pop them in the back of the car and drive straight to our local stockist. We now have a full scale commercial production facility & a team of over 12 staff running the show, plus stockists all over Sydney & a thriving online store. There are big plans for the next 12 months, some really really exciting things! But that’s all I can say about that for now…
How has your product been received by the public?
So well, we are so lucky to live in a community like this that embraces good health, good food & supports small enterprises.
Favourite Prodjuice flavour?
Turmeric Tonic
Favourite use of a Prodjuice flavour?
Turmeric tonic again. It’s such an incredible mix. I take it for all kind of reasons from skin or eye inflammation to gut health or fighting a cold & flu.
What is one thing you wish people knew about juice that most don’t?
The properties that raw natural foods hold is incredibly underestimated by the greater part of society. Good quality organic juice can be so potent & helpful. We have customers who come to us weekly for their immune shots to keep them healthy, they swear by this potent little antimicrobial mix to prevent illness, especially through winter.
We know that you are conscious of your own health and well being, what regular practices do you have for maintaining this?
Vedic meditation is my biggest practice. I aim to meditate twice daily (although I don’t beat myself up if it doesn’t happen). I learnt to meditate just after I had Edie & just before Prodjuice was thought up. In fact the name Prodjuice came to me in one of my very early meditations. It just appeared so clearly out of nowhere. There is no way I would have been able to manage a new baby & a start up simultaneously as a single mum without my meditative practice & as the business grows it continues to help keep me balanced.
🐋 🐋 🐋
Prodjuice want to promote healthy living, not just by what you take in, but also what you put out, making the planet a better place for all. Visitprodjuice.com.au to shop their range of delicious broths, soups, tonics, juices and cleanses. Find inspiration on their Journal (an online blog) to be conscious about your own health, wellbeing and the environment.
Photo credit
Samuel Vincent | whitelanestudio.com
How did the idea to start a juice company all begin?
I was home with a brand new baby & looking for something to work on to keep me occupied during all the down time. I had heard of this thing called “cold pressed juice” & started following its growing popularity in the States. I took the idea to my Mum (now my business partner) of a premium cold pressed juice brand for Sydney. There wasn’t much else on the Sydney market at the time, but none the less I wanted to make our product different. I knew the branding, packaging & flavour combination had to be unpredictable. I also knew if we were to begin a start up company, it was our responsibility to do it in the most eco-friendly way.
What is cold pressed juice and why is it good for you?
The method of cold pressed juice extraction is very different from your average Breville home juicer. To put it simply, the cold press process is extremely gentle on fruit & vegetables allowing for a much greater portion of plant cells to remain intact. This creates a very stable, highly nutritious juice. Whereas your standard juicer generates a lot of heat in the cutting process which oxidises the juice & results in a loss of nutrients.
What do you believe sets Prodjuice apart from the other juices on the market?
From the outset we have made a conscious effort to be sustainable. We want to promote a healthy lifestyle, not just by what you put in, but by what you put out. We are 150% committed to using glass bottles. There are way too many plastic bottles still being manufactured out there – it makes me feel ill to think about it. Switching to glass bottles is the simplest step any beverage company can take to reduce it’s environmental footprint. We also take the time to compost all our juice pulp & at present we donate it to the Avalon community garden who are doing a wonderful job of putting it back in the land. We are also always growing and evolving our product line in accordance with the market. We now have soups & broths to give a “ warm” element to the business, & our tonic line is our answer to “ food as medicine”. In short, it’s through our iconic product line & commitment to sustainability that we have been able to set Prodjuice apart from the pack.
What inspires you to make more conscious choices for your growing business?
It’s our responsibility as a generation. Our parents didn’t grow up knowing the effects their consumerism would have on the planet, but we do. Now it has become our responsibility to use that knowledge to make conscious choices in every aspect of our lives, as well as in the education & example we set for future generations. Plus the fact that we are surrounded by an incredible community of people that have the knowledge and drive to execute what they know to make significant changes certainly makes it easier to sustain these movements – especially when your friends & family believe in it too!
Have you managed to embed sustainable thinking within your company?
Yes absolutely. Striving to create a more sustainable business practice through regular review of our processes has generated a more green focus within the company as a whole and also (unintentionally) within the individual staff members. Simple changes we have made are now considered the norm, such as accepting glass bottle returns for reuse, composting & packing only in cardboard. We are even working on a new 100% compostable insulated packaging. Overall there is now greater staff awareness and individually I have noticed changes with our own behaviours. For example our manager Maddy can be caught on any given afternoon lugging a box of plastic Chinese takeaway containers to her car to recycle at home (we receive frozen berries in these & sadly can’t get them delivered any other way). Maddy’s commitment to dispose of them correctly is so pleasing to witness. A beautiful example of how we can still do our best, even if the situation isn’t exactly perfect.
What is the biggest challenge you face professionally?
Growth & expansion… doing it all in the most ethical, responsible way, whilst keeping a smile on your face and still having time for your family & friends (oh &yourself)! It’s a lot, but I’ve learnt (it took a long while) to delegate & spread the load. If you’re not an expert at a certain area, get someone else to do it. It seems like a big outlay initially but it’ll pay you back ten fold in the long run.
Is there any advice you would offer to other small businesses seeking to create change?
Have a look at your business model. Choose 3 main things that stand out as damaging (either ethically or environmentally) then set about to rework these areas so they create less damage or even better no damage! Go slowly, there is no rush. It can be tricky to implement large changes quickly, so go easy & give the process time & commitment. Once these three areas have been addressed, start working on some more!
It’s also really nice to look at the business model & see how & where you can give back to the community as well. For example, this is what we’re up to in the community at the moment: as mentioned all our compost goes to Avalon community garden, we’re loving working alongside organisations like Living Ocean & Av green Team at their events, 5% of all our online sales during March are being donated to The Melanoma Institute, we regularly support Avalon Montessori School at their fundraising events and we’ll be speaking in May at a beautiful event for inspiring professional women run by Lets Connect Women in Palm Beach. All these little things are not only great for the brand, but they’re also great for networking & giving back. For everything positive you give out, something good always comes back to you.
What one thing have you done at Prodjuice to drive sustainability that others could replicate?
Packaging – this drives me crazy! If you are planning a start up & you have to package your product (and lets face it most “things” arrive packaged), take some time in the planning stages to research eco-friendly options. There are so many great & beautiful sustainable packaging concepts out there these days, why all new companies aren’t implementing them is beyond me. Hopefully one day this will become part of legislation.
What is you biggest concern about our ability to tread gently and create a more sustainable world?
Consumerism & the global corporate giants, they’ll be tough to beat. The best thing we can do is be small, shop small, act small. In the last 2 years I have given up all shopping at Woolworths (which used to be my daily go to). I think the only thing I buy there now is deodorant. I am currently looking for a good product to switch to so I don’t have to shop there at all, but I don’t beat myself up about that. It’s been a long process of slowly replacing each product with a more conscious alternative.
All my produce comes from the local farmers market or local organic shop (or work, I realise I am very lucky to always have a cool room full of organic produce). Dry goods like nuts, pasta & rice come from bulk stores like Scoop or The Source. I take along my big glass jars, fill them up & pop them straight in the pantry when I get home. The sense of leaving those stores with not one ounce of packaging is so fulfilling – my favourite shopping experience.
I buy toilet paper, paper towel & tissues online from Who Gives A Crap. Plus I buy all my cleaning products in bulk from Honest To Goodness.
We recently had my daughters 4th birthday party. Having been to a few parties recently I had noticed these events are an absolute land-mine for consumerism & single use goodies So when we came to planning ours, we went simple, no plastic & very low sugar. Each child had a glass jar to fill from our juice or water dispensers with a colourful paper straw. Pass the parcel was wrapped all in newspaper with no tape, & the prizes were little wooden beaded bracelets made by Edie herself or eco-wooden spinning tops. Instead of party bags at the end, each child took home a tiny compostable pot with a little tiny paper packet of seeds & a wooden paddle pop stick to stick in the pot which were labelled sunflower, sweet pea or marigold. We had no balloons or decorations, & do you know what, not a single child cared! All they cared about was running around with their friends & having a ball. Presents are always a tricky one… we have very few plastic toys in our house and I always try to keep it that way. So politely on the invitation I let everyone know that Edie has more than enough & gifts were not necessary. After all, do our children really need more? If they really wanted to give something, I simply asked for no plastic please & offered the idea of a second hand book or toy. Most parents were happy enough to oblige & hopefully this little request was enough to spark some thought in some of the other parents & children’s minds.
What changes have your family made outside of your work to tread more gently on this earth?
Obviously the way we shop, but also the more aware you become the more you want to help. We can’t walk anywhere now without Edie picking up a scrap of plastic and yelling ‘Mum…plastic”. So we’re always picking up rubbish & having our own little beach cleans.
How have you managed being a mum whilst also being the head of a start up?
This has been a really difficult one, & not necessarily something I would recommend to a new mum, or do again! In the beginning I was in an extremely difficult phase of my life & I think I used the business as a way to distract myself from everything that I was going through personally. Like most new businesses we battled through the first couple of years, determined to make it past the two year mark. I found that running the business began to feel much easier & flow took place once my own personal life had settled and healed. Things have really just gotten better and better since then, both at home & in business. I am absolutely sure both facets of life need to work in conjunction with one another for growth. The business has only gotten to this point with the love and support of my family & friends.
How has Prodjuice grown as a company already and what are your ongoing dreams for the business?
Wow to think about this is crazy. We started out so small. We’d make juice on three tiny little machines in Mum’s garage, pop them in the back of the car and drive straight to our local stockist. We now have a full scale commercial production facility & a team of over 12 staff running the show, plus stockists all over Sydney & a thriving online store. There are big plans for the next 12 months, some really really exciting things! But that’s all I can say about that for now…
How has your product been received by the public?
So well, we are so lucky to live in a community like this that embraces good health, good food & supports small enterprises.
Favourite Prodjuice flavour?
Turmeric Tonic
Favourite use of a Prodjuice flavour?
Turmeric tonic again. It’s such an incredible mix. I take it for all kind of reasons from skin or eye inflammation to gut health or fighting a cold & flu.
What is one thing you wish people knew about juice that most don’t?
The properties that raw natural foods hold is incredibly underestimated by the greater part of society. Good quality organic juice can be so potent & helpful. We have customers who come to us weekly for their immune shots to keep them healthy, they swear by this potent little antimicrobial mix to prevent illness, especially through winter.
We know that you are conscious of your own health and well being, what regular practices do you have for maintaining this?
Vedic meditation is my biggest practice. I aim to meditate twice daily (although I don’t beat myself up if it doesn’t happen). I learnt to meditate just after I had Edie & just before Prodjuice was thought up. In fact the name Prodjuice came to me in one of my very early meditations. It just appeared so clearly out of nowhere. There is no way I would have been able to manage a new baby & a start up simultaneously as a single mum without my meditative practice & as the business grows it continues to help keep me balanced.
🐋 🐋 🐋
Prodjuice want to promote healthy living, not just by what you take in, but also what you put out, making the planet a better place for all. Visitprodjuice.com.au to shop their range of delicious broths, soups, tonics, juices and cleanses. Find inspiration on their Journal (an online blog) to be conscious about your own health, wellbeing and the environment.
Photo credit
Samuel Vincent | whitelanestudio.com
I am so moved by the recent surge of interest within our local community to not only use less plastic on a day to day basis, but to change our approach to living, making more sustainable lifestyle decisions. When interviewing the lovely Sarah Tait of Wander Lightly, she acknowledged how much harder it can be for mums and families to live a plastic free life. So I thought how fabulous it would be to speak with a local family who are on their own journey to do just this.
Meet the Georgesons. Mavournee (affectionately known as Mav) and her husband, Kano, live with their two beautiful children, Ivy and Beau, in Avalon. They love being outdoors, connected with nature and are passionate about our community and taking care of the beautiful earth we live on. Mav is one of the most kind and generous spirits that I have the pleasure to call a friend. She is calm, collected and seems to take everything in her stride. Despite her busy schedule and having already given me an afternoon of her time, when disaster hit and my toddler took it on himself to give my phone (and our recent taped interview) a soak in the bath, Mav was quick to offer to write up her answers and review any questions I had. Mav is benevolent and big-hearted. She is open to sharing her learning, thoughts and ideas and ready to pass on clothes her kids have outgrown and to lend out books that she has found inspirational. Despite being time poor like all of us – she always makes her self available to catch up with friends and invariably seems to manage to bring enough food with her to share around. She is an organised, interested, passionate and engaged people person, befriending all those who come into her company. Oh and did I mention she is extremely creative? And an amazing cake decorator to boot!
Kano, Mav, Ivy and Beau
MEET MAV
What brings you joy?
I love the simple pleasures of home, beach life, good food and time with family and friends. If I can get an ocean swim and a workout in each day or a few times a week I’m stoked. Getting outside in nature, mountains, countryside, wherever! I love a chat so getting plenty of those in with friends or people in the community always brings me happiness'
What motivated you to start living more sustainably? Was there a specific time/moment where you decided to make a change or has it been more of a gradual process?
I had always considered myself a fairly conscious person, a nature lover, someone in touch with environmental issues. But becoming a mother was a turning point for me.
With my first pregnancy with Ivy we made fairly good eco choices preparing for her arrival, but it was a light hearted, exciting time. It was during my second pregnancy with Beau that things shifted. I was more sensitive and vulnerable and was tuning in to that. I started to really question humanity and modern living and experienced big fear coming from a place of deep love for the children and their future. At times I felt debilitated with worry and thoughts which circled around in my head.
I felt over whelmed by the impact of humanity on the environment and deflated thinking about the world we are bringing our children into. Our society is now so disconnected from our world as a whole. It weighed on me heavily and distracted me from my enjoyment of daily tasks.
There were moments where I found myself frozen staring into our rubbish bin. I felt terrible about our contribution to landfill. This actually become one of my main starting points for change. The more I learnt about landfill the worse I felt about throwing things in the bin.
I started researching sustainability and how to live a more sustainable life. Through this I deepened my wonder and understanding of life’s’ interconnectedness. With time, lots of crying, good discussions and guidance I sat with the phrase ‘I do not know’ for the future and turned fear into peace. I decided to focus on living positively in the present, on educating myself and on gradually making eco changes within our family life. I wanted to continue to deepen my own and my family’s connection to nature by actively making changes within our own family to protect the planet as a whole, re-shaping our habits and decisions accordingly. Living on the beaches I was also particularly motivated to cut back on our plastic waste after learning more about the the masses of garbage in the ocean. I felt compelled to protect our oceans health and Earth’s biodiversity.
More and more we are exposed to images of and information about the worlds general plastic and waste problem. For me there was no other choice but to do something!
What were the first steps that you took to live more sustainably?
We had already been shopping for mostly organic food, using reusable options such as water bottles, coffee cups, shopping bags and purchasing what we thought were more eco-friendly home and life products. But we decided to be even more resolute with avoiding single-use plastic and set ourselves the challenge of reducing our purchase of plastic packaged food products.
Visiting the Boathouse at Palmy with their reusable cups
Instead of going to the supermarket we started buying our fruit and vegetables from the organic store in Avalon, getting our meat directly from butcher with our own glass containers and buying fresh bread from the bakery using fabric storage bags. I started to use scoop in Mona Vale for all our beans, lentils, grains, pasta, rice, flours, sugars, nuts and for snacks such a dried fruit and chocolate. Then eventually I added Manly Food Coop to my list to get our cleaning products.
Many nights when the kids were in bed I started researching on google, Pinterest and Instagram any questions that would pop into my head, like: local recycling guidelines, compost information and other random things such as what to do with human hair or dryer lint… why we should avoid palm oil and is salt a renewable resource? When I wasn’t searching for something specifically I would do general searches for Eco toys, frugal tips, simple or sustainable living and save some ideas to Pinterest. I started following blogs and people on Instagram for inspiration. And since it is important for this to be a positive journey for me, I am careful with who I chose to follow. I want it to be a joy-filled process.
Getting fishy with their plastic collection post-storm clean up on Avalon Beach
Have you continued to make other changes since? What are you and your family now focusing on for your plastic-free sustainable journey?
Well, when we need a new item for the kids or home I do my best to find the more ethical version of that item. We recently got Ivy a single bed and found an awesome secondhand hardwood base and mattress on Northern Beaches Buy Sell Swap – she loves it and its perfect!
I particularly like being resourceful with our food. For example, semi stale bread becomes French toast, really stale bread becomes breadcrumbs for future meals, sad veggies become soup or stock. If I get stuck with beetroot, I bake it into a cake or pickle it in vinegar. I often mix the leftover vinegar with milk to make pink buttermilk for chocolate mud cake. I love making mismatched, experimental meals to achieve zero waste food! It all sounds simple – which it is!
I like getting involved with people in real life so I took the Compost and Worm Farm Workshop and the Introduction to Permaculture Workshop with Peter Rutherford at Eco House and Garden in Kimbriki. I loved doing these FREE workshops and highly recommend them for locals!
In April I signed the family up for Sustainable Table’s Give A Fork Campaign choosing the ‘Drop Dead Grexy’ (Green/Sexy) option where we had to collect all of our trash in a jar for the month. This focused on ethical eating and was super informative as we received a daily email with tips, links, real statistics and recommendations for products and places to eat.
I also signed up for Zero Waste Families hosted via Facebook by the Spiral Garden family. This was a number of families sharing zero waste living information, tips and ideas. Plus, we participated in Plastic Free July and Take 3 Representative Regan Jade Taylor (@reganjade) sent daily emails to help the process.
With each step I realise this journey is a rabbit hole, you learn about something new which connects to something else and leads you further in. Also when you think you are making good choices you often find there are even better choices. For example, buying earth friendly cleaning products and recycling their containers turns into keeping their containers and refilling them at a bulk store or making your own! Now I am even soaking orange skins with white vinegar in old Passata jars to be used for cleaning and then composting the the skin after! But you just need to focus on one step at a time.
Some things happened more slowly due to nerves and it taking me time to build new habits. Like taking our own container to get meat from the butcher and keeping jars, bags and containers in the car for when we encounter food leftovers eating out. We gave away our leftover roll of cling wrap and garbage bags and now use beeswax wraps or jars/containers instead and newspaper to line the bin.
Do you try to mainly eat organic foods?
We do where possible, but we are also taking into consideration the overall environmental benefit of our choices. For example, organic meat often comes in plastic packaging from the stores. So I would prefer to support our local butcher and buy grass-fed meat where I can take in my own glass containers.
What have been the easiest changes to make on your journey to being more sustainable?
Reusable water bottles, coffee cups and shopping bags are a piece of cake. I just won’t have a take away coffee now if I don’t have my reusable cup on me. I carry reusable cups, straws and bags on me.
Shopping in bulk has taken care of dry goods, oils, nut butters, cleaning products etc. And we buy our bread from La Banette or other bakeries and use linen and cotton bread bags (or you can use a pillow case) to keep the bread in the fridge. I try to remember my bread bag to pop the bread straight in at the bakery.
We now use a wonderful local fruit and vegetable service, The Organic Scarecrow. you can find them online. The veggie box is plastic free, organic, seasonal produce. They also collect the previous week’s box when they drop off the new one – so we don’t waste the cardboard. In the last few weeks we have also added Berkelo bread to our veggie box order.
I find that we can still have our coffees and treats at cafes and get ice cream in cones.
Ivy and Beau digging into the family’s The Organic Scarecrow veggie box delivery
What changes have been hardest to adjust to as a family?
I would probably say letting go of certain food products or brands that are hard to come by plastic free. It hasn’t been as challenging for me, as I don’t really have any attachment to particular food items. But Kano loves cookies and chips and the kids used to have cheese and yoghurt regularly. I now bake cookies for Kano to replace the packaged sort. It does take being organised and a lot of planning and thinking. I notice myself now thinking so much further ahead in my head. Not just for food planning but also for general running of the household. It has become easier as I have formed patterns, like taking my containers with me when I visit my sisters in Manly so that I can swing past the Manly Food Coop to collect my dishwashing detergent. When I am not organised or unexpected things pop up, like the kids or I get sick, it can be hard to keep on top of all my practices.
Polite refusal of children’s gifts, unnecessary/plastic toys, plastic party bags, trinkets and freebies will also take some getting used to.
Oh and nappies. Unfortunately, these are the only thing that we currently send to landfill.
What brands do you choose to purchase?
We use some modern washable cloth nappies and also disposable ‘eco-friendly’ nappies – Ecoriginals or Naty.
I realise that even if a nappy is more eco friendly/biodegradable or even compostable (in a commercial composting facility), we don’t easily have access to proper disposal facilities and even though they are deemed more gentle on the environment, they still require use of resources for production, transportation and disposal in landfill. There is a section on nappies in Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson which covers this topic. She makes suggestions which include ‘elimination communication’ and early toilet training.
We often collect loads of baby wipes during our beach cleans. What do you use for wipes? Any particular products or brands you recommend?
At home we use a washable wipes kit by Cheeky Wipes. It involves soaking cloth wipes in water and essential oils and does require you keep on top of washing. We dry these outside in the sun with any of the cloth nappies used. There are out and about pouches included in the kit, but we tend to use Wot Not biodegradable wipes when we are out or travelling.
You have made such incredible changes to your way of living to date. It is very inspiring. How has your husband Kano responded?
Kano is on board and has been making suggestions for some things that I hadn’t considered. It helps that he is handy, resourceful and a landscaper by trade. He leaves me to take care of the compost, so that’s my baby. Same with any food growing ideas. I try to shine the light on the positive benefits of the things he is hesitant about.
And what about family members and friends. Have they been receptive?
Friends and family members are great. I try to be positive and not forceful or annoying with information. I am passionate but its not all I want to talk about. Lots of our friends share kids’ items and currently we are fortunate enough to use almost all hand me down clothes for Ivy and Beau. We buy shoes and items here and there but haven’t really had to go shopping for seasons worth of clothes. We keep passing these on, they come back to us and then we store them to be handed on to new babies. Our moses basket started with Ivy 3 years ago and since then has had 8 other newborn babies sleep in it.
Do you have any particular ongoing family goals to improve your sustainability?
We are still learning and implementing this lifestyle and it takes planning and practice. We are not perfect, not the most ‘green’ family out there and certainly don’t think we are better than other families! We make mistakes and it takes time to introduce new habits and adapt. We will continue to work our way around the home, our businesses and life applying ‘zero waste’ and sustainable alternatives.
Right now I am keen to grow food and explore alternative energy options like solar / solar battery storage and look forward to advancements in these options.
I hope to take more workshops or courses to learn more about permaculture for our home and beyond.
We have changed lots of things quickly and are enjoying the holistic benefits of those changes but we plan to continue learning and showing the children how to be every day ecologists.
What we are doing isn’t new, or profound and many of these ‘eco’ practices were done by our Grandparents so its really more about unlearning wasteful habits that we never questioned and letting go of some modern ‘conveniences’. We are fortunate to be living comfortably in a beautiful area with access to more than everything we need in life. So we feel it is even more important for us to make good choices for those who can’t.
What do you hope for your children’s future?
I hope for a peaceful, loving, fair, sustainable future for all life. Most people are doing their best within their circumstances but we all need to work really hard now to protect life in the future. I am excited to see the enthusiasm and ideas of the younger generations. I see some little kids doing beach cleans, talking about protecting the dolphins and turtles, and I hope this connection to nature grows.
I like to imagine Ivy and Beau playing in the clean ocean in a healthy, biodiverse world until they are old and grey with their own children and grandchildren.
MAV’S GREEN LIST
It does take a bit of research to find ethical, sustainable, eco friendly items and to tick most/all the boxes. People need to be careful of ‘green washing’ and do a little bit more research into ingredients, resources used, packaging etc. I try to consider transport miles when purchasing, especially ordering online.
Food
I keep this positive, and if something starts taking the joy from my life I try to take a break from it for a while or leave it behind completely. I choose not to watch the news, TV and ads, read the newspaper, or listen to the radio. I know the world needs helps and I choose not to be exposed daily. I feel I stay more positive and motivated as I no longer get fatigued by or desensitised to environmental needs and suffering. I stay informed in other ways. I vote at voting time but I also vote every time I purchase or refuse particular items. I sign petitions via email as they arise for environmental and social causes.
Instagram
@take3forthesea
@livingocean
@cleancoastcollective
@2minutebeachclean
@triciaeco
@milkwoodpermaculture (also offer workshops)
@sustainabilityinstyle
@zerowastehome
(There are heaps of zero waste people on Insti)
@magnesiumblue (holistic, creative, inspirational mother)
@tribedemama (empowering motherhood style)
Stay open minded and thirsty for knowledge. While we may only personally be such a small part of a huge planet, the impacts from our daily decisions ripple out effecting our immediate friends and family, our communities, our countries, our continents and even our world. Focusing on reshaping our individual thoughts, habits and daily decisions can have more of an influence than one might think.
Meet the Georgesons. Mavournee (affectionately known as Mav) and her husband, Kano, live with their two beautiful children, Ivy and Beau, in Avalon. They love being outdoors, connected with nature and are passionate about our community and taking care of the beautiful earth we live on. Mav is one of the most kind and generous spirits that I have the pleasure to call a friend. She is calm, collected and seems to take everything in her stride. Despite her busy schedule and having already given me an afternoon of her time, when disaster hit and my toddler took it on himself to give my phone (and our recent taped interview) a soak in the bath, Mav was quick to offer to write up her answers and review any questions I had. Mav is benevolent and big-hearted. She is open to sharing her learning, thoughts and ideas and ready to pass on clothes her kids have outgrown and to lend out books that she has found inspirational. Despite being time poor like all of us – she always makes her self available to catch up with friends and invariably seems to manage to bring enough food with her to share around. She is an organised, interested, passionate and engaged people person, befriending all those who come into her company. Oh and did I mention she is extremely creative? And an amazing cake decorator to boot!
Kano, Mav, Ivy and Beau
MEET MAV
What brings you joy?
I love the simple pleasures of home, beach life, good food and time with family and friends. If I can get an ocean swim and a workout in each day or a few times a week I’m stoked. Getting outside in nature, mountains, countryside, wherever! I love a chat so getting plenty of those in with friends or people in the community always brings me happiness'
What motivated you to start living more sustainably? Was there a specific time/moment where you decided to make a change or has it been more of a gradual process?
I had always considered myself a fairly conscious person, a nature lover, someone in touch with environmental issues. But becoming a mother was a turning point for me.
With my first pregnancy with Ivy we made fairly good eco choices preparing for her arrival, but it was a light hearted, exciting time. It was during my second pregnancy with Beau that things shifted. I was more sensitive and vulnerable and was tuning in to that. I started to really question humanity and modern living and experienced big fear coming from a place of deep love for the children and their future. At times I felt debilitated with worry and thoughts which circled around in my head.
I felt over whelmed by the impact of humanity on the environment and deflated thinking about the world we are bringing our children into. Our society is now so disconnected from our world as a whole. It weighed on me heavily and distracted me from my enjoyment of daily tasks.
There were moments where I found myself frozen staring into our rubbish bin. I felt terrible about our contribution to landfill. This actually become one of my main starting points for change. The more I learnt about landfill the worse I felt about throwing things in the bin.
I started researching sustainability and how to live a more sustainable life. Through this I deepened my wonder and understanding of life’s’ interconnectedness. With time, lots of crying, good discussions and guidance I sat with the phrase ‘I do not know’ for the future and turned fear into peace. I decided to focus on living positively in the present, on educating myself and on gradually making eco changes within our family life. I wanted to continue to deepen my own and my family’s connection to nature by actively making changes within our own family to protect the planet as a whole, re-shaping our habits and decisions accordingly. Living on the beaches I was also particularly motivated to cut back on our plastic waste after learning more about the the masses of garbage in the ocean. I felt compelled to protect our oceans health and Earth’s biodiversity.
More and more we are exposed to images of and information about the worlds general plastic and waste problem. For me there was no other choice but to do something!
What were the first steps that you took to live more sustainably?
We had already been shopping for mostly organic food, using reusable options such as water bottles, coffee cups, shopping bags and purchasing what we thought were more eco-friendly home and life products. But we decided to be even more resolute with avoiding single-use plastic and set ourselves the challenge of reducing our purchase of plastic packaged food products.
Visiting the Boathouse at Palmy with their reusable cups
Instead of going to the supermarket we started buying our fruit and vegetables from the organic store in Avalon, getting our meat directly from butcher with our own glass containers and buying fresh bread from the bakery using fabric storage bags. I started to use scoop in Mona Vale for all our beans, lentils, grains, pasta, rice, flours, sugars, nuts and for snacks such a dried fruit and chocolate. Then eventually I added Manly Food Coop to my list to get our cleaning products.
Many nights when the kids were in bed I started researching on google, Pinterest and Instagram any questions that would pop into my head, like: local recycling guidelines, compost information and other random things such as what to do with human hair or dryer lint… why we should avoid palm oil and is salt a renewable resource? When I wasn’t searching for something specifically I would do general searches for Eco toys, frugal tips, simple or sustainable living and save some ideas to Pinterest. I started following blogs and people on Instagram for inspiration. And since it is important for this to be a positive journey for me, I am careful with who I chose to follow. I want it to be a joy-filled process.
Getting fishy with their plastic collection post-storm clean up on Avalon Beach
Have you continued to make other changes since? What are you and your family now focusing on for your plastic-free sustainable journey?
Well, when we need a new item for the kids or home I do my best to find the more ethical version of that item. We recently got Ivy a single bed and found an awesome secondhand hardwood base and mattress on Northern Beaches Buy Sell Swap – she loves it and its perfect!
I particularly like being resourceful with our food. For example, semi stale bread becomes French toast, really stale bread becomes breadcrumbs for future meals, sad veggies become soup or stock. If I get stuck with beetroot, I bake it into a cake or pickle it in vinegar. I often mix the leftover vinegar with milk to make pink buttermilk for chocolate mud cake. I love making mismatched, experimental meals to achieve zero waste food! It all sounds simple – which it is!
I like getting involved with people in real life so I took the Compost and Worm Farm Workshop and the Introduction to Permaculture Workshop with Peter Rutherford at Eco House and Garden in Kimbriki. I loved doing these FREE workshops and highly recommend them for locals!
In April I signed the family up for Sustainable Table’s Give A Fork Campaign choosing the ‘Drop Dead Grexy’ (Green/Sexy) option where we had to collect all of our trash in a jar for the month. This focused on ethical eating and was super informative as we received a daily email with tips, links, real statistics and recommendations for products and places to eat.
I also signed up for Zero Waste Families hosted via Facebook by the Spiral Garden family. This was a number of families sharing zero waste living information, tips and ideas. Plus, we participated in Plastic Free July and Take 3 Representative Regan Jade Taylor (@reganjade) sent daily emails to help the process.
With each step I realise this journey is a rabbit hole, you learn about something new which connects to something else and leads you further in. Also when you think you are making good choices you often find there are even better choices. For example, buying earth friendly cleaning products and recycling their containers turns into keeping their containers and refilling them at a bulk store or making your own! Now I am even soaking orange skins with white vinegar in old Passata jars to be used for cleaning and then composting the the skin after! But you just need to focus on one step at a time.
Some things happened more slowly due to nerves and it taking me time to build new habits. Like taking our own container to get meat from the butcher and keeping jars, bags and containers in the car for when we encounter food leftovers eating out. We gave away our leftover roll of cling wrap and garbage bags and now use beeswax wraps or jars/containers instead and newspaper to line the bin.
Do you try to mainly eat organic foods?
We do where possible, but we are also taking into consideration the overall environmental benefit of our choices. For example, organic meat often comes in plastic packaging from the stores. So I would prefer to support our local butcher and buy grass-fed meat where I can take in my own glass containers.
What have been the easiest changes to make on your journey to being more sustainable?
Reusable water bottles, coffee cups and shopping bags are a piece of cake. I just won’t have a take away coffee now if I don’t have my reusable cup on me. I carry reusable cups, straws and bags on me.
Shopping in bulk has taken care of dry goods, oils, nut butters, cleaning products etc. And we buy our bread from La Banette or other bakeries and use linen and cotton bread bags (or you can use a pillow case) to keep the bread in the fridge. I try to remember my bread bag to pop the bread straight in at the bakery.
We now use a wonderful local fruit and vegetable service, The Organic Scarecrow. you can find them online. The veggie box is plastic free, organic, seasonal produce. They also collect the previous week’s box when they drop off the new one – so we don’t waste the cardboard. In the last few weeks we have also added Berkelo bread to our veggie box order.
I find that we can still have our coffees and treats at cafes and get ice cream in cones.
Ivy and Beau digging into the family’s The Organic Scarecrow veggie box delivery
What changes have been hardest to adjust to as a family?
I would probably say letting go of certain food products or brands that are hard to come by plastic free. It hasn’t been as challenging for me, as I don’t really have any attachment to particular food items. But Kano loves cookies and chips and the kids used to have cheese and yoghurt regularly. I now bake cookies for Kano to replace the packaged sort. It does take being organised and a lot of planning and thinking. I notice myself now thinking so much further ahead in my head. Not just for food planning but also for general running of the household. It has become easier as I have formed patterns, like taking my containers with me when I visit my sisters in Manly so that I can swing past the Manly Food Coop to collect my dishwashing detergent. When I am not organised or unexpected things pop up, like the kids or I get sick, it can be hard to keep on top of all my practices.
Polite refusal of children’s gifts, unnecessary/plastic toys, plastic party bags, trinkets and freebies will also take some getting used to.
Oh and nappies. Unfortunately, these are the only thing that we currently send to landfill.
What brands do you choose to purchase?
We use some modern washable cloth nappies and also disposable ‘eco-friendly’ nappies – Ecoriginals or Naty.
I realise that even if a nappy is more eco friendly/biodegradable or even compostable (in a commercial composting facility), we don’t easily have access to proper disposal facilities and even though they are deemed more gentle on the environment, they still require use of resources for production, transportation and disposal in landfill. There is a section on nappies in Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson which covers this topic. She makes suggestions which include ‘elimination communication’ and early toilet training.
We often collect loads of baby wipes during our beach cleans. What do you use for wipes? Any particular products or brands you recommend?
At home we use a washable wipes kit by Cheeky Wipes. It involves soaking cloth wipes in water and essential oils and does require you keep on top of washing. We dry these outside in the sun with any of the cloth nappies used. There are out and about pouches included in the kit, but we tend to use Wot Not biodegradable wipes when we are out or travelling.
You have made such incredible changes to your way of living to date. It is very inspiring. How has your husband Kano responded?
Kano is on board and has been making suggestions for some things that I hadn’t considered. It helps that he is handy, resourceful and a landscaper by trade. He leaves me to take care of the compost, so that’s my baby. Same with any food growing ideas. I try to shine the light on the positive benefits of the things he is hesitant about.
And what about family members and friends. Have they been receptive?
Friends and family members are great. I try to be positive and not forceful or annoying with information. I am passionate but its not all I want to talk about. Lots of our friends share kids’ items and currently we are fortunate enough to use almost all hand me down clothes for Ivy and Beau. We buy shoes and items here and there but haven’t really had to go shopping for seasons worth of clothes. We keep passing these on, they come back to us and then we store them to be handed on to new babies. Our moses basket started with Ivy 3 years ago and since then has had 8 other newborn babies sleep in it.
Do you have any particular ongoing family goals to improve your sustainability?
We are still learning and implementing this lifestyle and it takes planning and practice. We are not perfect, not the most ‘green’ family out there and certainly don’t think we are better than other families! We make mistakes and it takes time to introduce new habits and adapt. We will continue to work our way around the home, our businesses and life applying ‘zero waste’ and sustainable alternatives.
Right now I am keen to grow food and explore alternative energy options like solar / solar battery storage and look forward to advancements in these options.
I hope to take more workshops or courses to learn more about permaculture for our home and beyond.
We have changed lots of things quickly and are enjoying the holistic benefits of those changes but we plan to continue learning and showing the children how to be every day ecologists.
What we are doing isn’t new, or profound and many of these ‘eco’ practices were done by our Grandparents so its really more about unlearning wasteful habits that we never questioned and letting go of some modern ‘conveniences’. We are fortunate to be living comfortably in a beautiful area with access to more than everything we need in life. So we feel it is even more important for us to make good choices for those who can’t.
What do you hope for your children’s future?
I hope for a peaceful, loving, fair, sustainable future for all life. Most people are doing their best within their circumstances but we all need to work really hard now to protect life in the future. I am excited to see the enthusiasm and ideas of the younger generations. I see some little kids doing beach cleans, talking about protecting the dolphins and turtles, and I hope this connection to nature grows.
I like to imagine Ivy and Beau playing in the clean ocean in a healthy, biodiverse world until they are old and grey with their own children and grandchildren.
MAV’S GREEN LIST
It does take a bit of research to find ethical, sustainable, eco friendly items and to tick most/all the boxes. People need to be careful of ‘green washing’ and do a little bit more research into ingredients, resources used, packaging etc. I try to consider transport miles when purchasing, especially ordering online.
Food
- The Organic Scarecrow for their plastic free, organic, seasonal veggie box and bread. They provide pre-set couples and family-size boxes with free delivery to the Northern Beaches and have a nice monthly newsletter for organic lifestyle inspiration.
- Avalon Organics for loose produce not plastic wrapped and eggs
- Scoop Wholefoods for dry goods, oils etc.
- Manly Co-op for dishwashing soap. I have two squeeze bottles on the go, so I either fill up one at a time or both if they are empty.
- Ecoriginals nappies
- Naty nappies
- Wot Not wipes
- Cheeky Wipes (washable wipes)
- Hippybottomus modern cloth nappies
- Who Gives a Crap toilet paper (can be purchased online or Rainbow Alley in Newport sells it too)
- Facebook group Northern Beaches Buy Sell Swap for second hand items
- ecotoys.com.au
- honeybeetoys.com.au
- spiralgarden.com.au
- Taninakasan for wraps and bedding @taninakasan these are creative friends who have a nice environmental focus
- Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson
- Thrive by Kamea Chayne. She captured so much of what I had been thinking about during my pregnancy with Beau. She speaks about how we are all one interconnected world and that we cannot view ourselves outside of nature. We are an amazing, but yes impactful, part of nature. She comments “the same laws that govern our planets health are the same laws that govern ours.” So just like our planet – we need clear air, water, sunlight and nutritious food to thrive. Our well being is intrinsically linked to the health of our natural world. She concludes that as humans we therefore must be environmentalists.
- Honeycomb Kids by Honeycomb Valley Farm. We also visited here for a farm tour at Christmas time, they do booked tours and farm stays.
- Eco House and Garden at Kimbriki (website has links to handouts given during workshops)
- New Leaf Nursery
- Circles of Learning – Garden Circles (Wednesday mornings 9:30-11am for mums and kids to explore gardening and nature appreciation)
- Recycle Smart (Recycling Near You)
- Good on You
- Good Guide
I keep this positive, and if something starts taking the joy from my life I try to take a break from it for a while or leave it behind completely. I choose not to watch the news, TV and ads, read the newspaper, or listen to the radio. I know the world needs helps and I choose not to be exposed daily. I feel I stay more positive and motivated as I no longer get fatigued by or desensitised to environmental needs and suffering. I stay informed in other ways. I vote at voting time but I also vote every time I purchase or refuse particular items. I sign petitions via email as they arise for environmental and social causes.
@take3forthesea
@livingocean
@cleancoastcollective
@2minutebeachclean
@triciaeco
@milkwoodpermaculture (also offer workshops)
@sustainabilityinstyle
@zerowastehome
(There are heaps of zero waste people on Insti)
@magnesiumblue (holistic, creative, inspirational mother)
@tribedemama (empowering motherhood style)
Stay open minded and thirsty for knowledge. While we may only personally be such a small part of a huge planet, the impacts from our daily decisions ripple out effecting our immediate friends and family, our communities, our countries, our continents and even our world. Focusing on reshaping our individual thoughts, habits and daily decisions can have more of an influence than one might think.
Sarah Tait is one of those wonderful people who just have a glow about them. She is a beacon of health, is always smiling and just generally radiates warmth. Overall there is this sense that she has got it together. So it should come as no surprise that not only has she embarked on a plastic free life, but that she is thriving in one. As someone who is taking baby steps along the path of living with less plastic, Sarah is a huge inspiration for me and my family.
So who is Sarah? She is an ocean loving, yoga enthusiast, who loves to hug trees, eat nourishing foods and ultimately connect to this wondrous earth we live on. She is originally from New Zealand but is now a resident of our wonderful Northern Beaches. Sarah started her blog Wander Lightly to share her journey of reducing her plastic use and ultimately through her musings she hopes to educate and inspire others to wander just a little bit more lightly on this planet.
It is easy to read blogs on living plastic free and shut down at the thought that its just too impossible. Our lives are too busy, our commitments too great. Between family, work and staying healthy we have enough to think about. And what about those occasions when your pantry is bare and with huge effort you bundle your kids into the car, herd them around the supermarket, only to get to the checkout and realise you forgot your reusable bags. The sacrifices to live totally plastic free might just seem unrealistic. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by stories of eco-achievers and get that crushing feeling that you are never doing enough. But lets not get disheartened. As Sarah puts it “we all want to make a difference on this planet, however small; every little step counts to the bigger picture.” So instead let’s chose to be inspired to make small changes, to start somewhere. Over on her blog, Sarah makes this so much easier for us.
Sarah is quick to point out small swaps you can make in your daily life to cut back on your plastic usage. Plus, she puts together stats and information on what items contribute greatest to waste to help you make informed decisions. She has great plastic free tips and is starting a library of recipes for your body and home so that we have access to alternative beauty and cleaning product options. Her online shop sells self-made products to help promote plastic free living, including home-made deodorant, cutlery holders and snack sacks. Sarah herself works full-time, goes to to the gym, attends yoga classes, prepares her own weekly meals and has an active social life. Her lifestyle and plastic free ethos just might be more attainable than most of us think. While living completely plastic free might be setting the bar too high for most of us, don’t let that stop us from trying to reduce our plastic footprint.
So who is Sarah? She is an ocean loving, yoga enthusiast, who loves to hug trees, eat nourishing foods and ultimately connect to this wondrous earth we live on. She is originally from New Zealand but is now a resident of our wonderful Northern Beaches. Sarah started her blog Wander Lightly to share her journey of reducing her plastic use and ultimately through her musings she hopes to educate and inspire others to wander just a little bit more lightly on this planet.
It is easy to read blogs on living plastic free and shut down at the thought that its just too impossible. Our lives are too busy, our commitments too great. Between family, work and staying healthy we have enough to think about. And what about those occasions when your pantry is bare and with huge effort you bundle your kids into the car, herd them around the supermarket, only to get to the checkout and realise you forgot your reusable bags. The sacrifices to live totally plastic free might just seem unrealistic. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by stories of eco-achievers and get that crushing feeling that you are never doing enough. But lets not get disheartened. As Sarah puts it “we all want to make a difference on this planet, however small; every little step counts to the bigger picture.” So instead let’s chose to be inspired to make small changes, to start somewhere. Over on her blog, Sarah makes this so much easier for us.
Sarah is quick to point out small swaps you can make in your daily life to cut back on your plastic usage. Plus, she puts together stats and information on what items contribute greatest to waste to help you make informed decisions. She has great plastic free tips and is starting a library of recipes for your body and home so that we have access to alternative beauty and cleaning product options. Her online shop sells self-made products to help promote plastic free living, including home-made deodorant, cutlery holders and snack sacks. Sarah herself works full-time, goes to to the gym, attends yoga classes, prepares her own weekly meals and has an active social life. Her lifestyle and plastic free ethos just might be more attainable than most of us think. While living completely plastic free might be setting the bar too high for most of us, don’t let that stop us from trying to reduce our plastic footprint.
Living Ocean interview local eco-warrior Sarah Tait on her inspirational journey to wander more lightly on our earth
Living plastic free is quite an undertaking, what inspired your decision to follow this path? Was there a defining moment or event that triggered your passion?
I went on the first Living Ocean Yoga Retreat held in Tonga in 2014… how I ended up going, and the trip itself, was all quite serendipitous. When I first heard of the trip it was already fully booked and I was disappointed to have missed out. Just by chance I received a mail out from Breathing Space Yoga [who jointly host the yoga trip with Living Ocean] saying that a space on the trip had at the last minute become available. It meant flying in to Tonga to start the retreat on my birthday and I just thought – it doesn’t get more perfect than this! It was during this week in Tonga that my eyes were opened. We went on this boat trip with this group called Whale Discoveries who spoke a lot about plastic pollution and the huge environmental toll it is having on our oceans. I guess I knew about it, but I hadn’t really ever thought about my own impact that much. I used to just think I ticked the box by recycling my things. But it wasn’t until this moment on the boat that I thought, wow, I am still really contributing to this problem in a massive way. I woke up at 4am the next day and there was literally no sound but the voice in my head that said “you have to stop using plastic for a year.” And I went okay. I got up that morning and said to the group, “I’m going to stop using plastic for a year.” I knew that was what I was going to do
.
Did you go cold turkey from that moment, or was the transition more gradual?
So the Living Ocean yoga trip was in October and I thought I would start fresh from the new year and give myself two months to prepare for a full year without plastic.
I imagine you had two busy months sourcing plastic-free products and reading up on things?
I did read a number of blogs on other peoples’ plastic free journeys, like American Beth Terry’s My Plastic Free Life, but I also realised that I wanted to go on my own individual journey and discover the challenges for myself. I worked out where I could buy things and regularly source products, so that on the first day of January I could start. I also set up my blog Wander Lightly to share my journey.
Sarah took stock of her plastic use in the two months before going plastic free
And once you started, how were those first few months, did you have to make any exceptions for plastic?
My goal was to buy no new plastic unless I really needed it. I did give myself some exceptions from the outset which included: if my cat needed anything, if I needed anything medical and my dietary supplements. This year I am actually really trying to focus on getting all my requirements from food. Though there are some things that I need like Evening Primrose oil that I will just have to take supplements for. I did discover in those first few months that living a plastic free life can be very time consuming and requires a good level of organisation. I had to make a lot of stuff from scratch and as a result I didn’t blog as much as I had planned. And even with all my effort, I was still getting plastic.
I can well believe that. I have found that even when I am buying takeaway from a place that serve the food in a paper box, I always have to double check. I have been caught before where they have run out of boxes or happen to serve the particular portion size I ordered in a plastic container.
Yes, plastic is tricky to escape. I found plastic would come in the mail, sometimes in the packaging of a product – things that you just wouldn’t have thought of and planned for. So I challenged myself to investigate any occurrences such as this and seek out alternatives wherever possible. When there wasn’t a solution I would ask myself – do I really need it? I am still doing this now. The biggest thing I have really stuck to is food. Like I love, love potato chips and I used to consume a big bag a week. And now I just don’t buy them anymore. Sometimes I must admit that I do look at them and think mmm I would like to have a bag of you!
What about if a friend has a bag of chips?
I will share them! There are some people who say no I wont eat any of that stuff. But I think, well they have already bought them, so I will just have a sample. Especially when I am out somewhere and people put out those kind of things… The other thing is people say all the time to me, “oh I wanted to buy you a present but it was plastic.” And I think, well it is me that is doing this – not you, so don’t think that you have to completely avoid plastic for my sake. But at the same time, it does challenge the people around me to think about the plastic issue themselves and maybe it encourages them to avoid it where they can. For my birthday I have started giving friends and family ideas for plastic free items that I would like or that I need, like a certain wooden brush for example.
Have you found your family and friends to be supportive of your decision to live plastic free?
Yes, I have felt quite supported. Most people kind of understand it. The present thing was a little bit tricky. People often just don’t notice plastic. They might buy me flowers wrapped in brown paper, not realising that there is plastic packaging underneath it.
Do you broach it with your friends?
With the presents I feel it is different and you don’t want to tarnish someone’s gift and generosity. But it is much easier to pull my family up on it.
And socially, has it been challenging?
Not really actually. If we are going on a picnic for example, I will ask if they mind if I bring dips because I can make that at home relatively easily, rather than bringing the crackers that are a lot more difficult to make. Which means I guess in a sense there is still plastic involved in the setting, but I can control my contribution more readily.
Have you found living plastic free to be more expensive?
No I have actually found it cheaper. I tend to buy all my fresh food at the Frenchs Forest organic food market because I like to go there. I don’t really buy anything processed as it is generally plastic packaged and because I very rarely go to the supermarket I avoid impulsive buying. I definitely save money by the fact that I am making so much from scratch. Since I also shop in stores like Scoop where I can use my own containers, I find that I buy less and have less wastage as I purchase items in the quantities that I need.
I have also saved money on other things like razors and sanitary items. I have just started using a metal razor recently and have for a while now been using a sanitary cup. I must admit I hesitated over the cup for a long time, but its actually great! I am currently writing a post on it – which as you can imagine is a work in progress!
Many people, including myself, would love to be completely plastic free, but just worry that we won’t have time between work and family commitments… Do you believe anyone can live a plastic free life?
Look I would be interested to know how people with children can do it. I know my sister and her family try to live a simple life and make a lot of their own things, but it is not completely free from plastic. People have to do what works for them. Its not going to suit everyone. And with a child, or even yourself, you may need to be able to grab a quick packaged snack here or there. But I guess I believe that most individuals and families can do some of the really key things like using reusable water bottles and coffee cups and not using plastic shopping bags.
There are some plastic items which we do rely upon daily, such as household appliances, that you do just have to replace if they stop working. I try where possible to replace these items with second hand purchases. But this can’t always be the case. Recently my hairdryer died and I searched for a second hand one, but ended up having to buy a new one. I figured this wasn’t too bad as you use them for such extended periods of time. I also do use an electric toothbrush – though I rarely change the head.
I really feel what is most important is that individuals and families make steps where they can and I hope to inspire people to challenge themselves over time to step up what they can manage.
Any other tip for people wanting to start small?
Carry a kit in your car with cutlery, a reusable coffee cup, a few glass containers in a couple of sizes and a jar. So when you are out and suddenly think of something you might need or want, you have containers on hand. Like this afternoon I thought that I would like to pick up some fish for tonight – so now I know I have a container to take to the store.
Do you find that people are receptive of you bringing your own container into the store?
I was really nervous about taking my own containers when I first started doing it. People have said no for health and safety reasons or because they can’t weigh the item so easily. I have never had any issue with butchers or fish shops. In terms of take away I tend to now make the effort to sit down and eat in at a restaurant. But there are those occasions where you just want to hit the couch. So I have sussed out those take away store which are cool about me bringing my containers, like my local Indian. You still have to remember to ask for any condiments or extras to be popped in with the meal as I have been caught out with this.
What alternatives to plastic products do you recommend?
I make a great toothpaste with baking soda, coconut oil and spearmint or peppermint oil. You can find the recipe on my blog. I actually prefer how it cleans my teeth to regular toothpaste. I buy blocks of shampoo bars for my hair as after a lot or trial and error I found this to work best. I finish with an apple cider conditioning rinse, for which the recipe is also on my blog. I also highly recommend Scoop, Manly Food Corp and The Source Bulk Foods (in Willoughby) for shopping. I get my liquids in bulk from Manly Food Corp and The Source. They have shampoo and conditioner too. From them I get my dishwashing liquid, olive oil, coconut oil, sesame oil etc. You just take in your own containers and weigh them in store first. Oh and the little Onya produce bags are fabulous. I just attach them to my market basket and reuse them, it makes it super easy.
Do you feel that the living plastic free movement is growing?
More people are interested in it. My family and my friends have been exposed to the idea and information through myself and therefore have grown much more conscious of it. My friend for example watched a film on plastics that I lent her called Bag It, which is kind of old now, but still very relevant and speaks a lot about the health risks associated with BPA. After watching it she messaged me the next day to tell me she had bought a Keep Cup. I think for people who have a lot of plastic pieces at home the easiest way is to wait till it breaks and then where possible buy alternatives to the plastic. You don’t have to go out and initially spend a lot of money on it. You can collect glass storage containers and jars over time.
I loved your January blog post on your intentions for 2016. You speak about David Bowie and what an inspiration he has been for you. His death seemed to make you really focus on your passion and your desire to live with true authenticity and to further challenge yourself on your plastic free journey. You quote him saying “I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring”. What have you done so far this year to challenge yourself and follow your passion?
I guess my first year doing the plastic free was more about me and my adjustment to living plastic free. I did do a few blog posts here and there hoping to inspire someone, but overall my focus was more inward. This year I wanted to be a bit more public with my message and broaden my platform to challenge peoples set ideas – like that coffee take away cups are deemed cool. I have done a couple of talks already, one at Breathing Space yoga studio in Avalon, and I plan to do more over the year. And initiating the joint Wander Lightly/Living Ocean beach clean ups has been a big thing and a great way to get my message further afield.
What do you dream of for Wander Lightly in the future?
I would like to do something a little bit more corporate like going around to companies to advise them on how to reduce their plastic footprint. It would be great to be able to show these companies what sorts of changes they can make. Not that they have to go completely plastic free – but even small swaps that can make a big difference. Like ensuring access to ceramic mugs and glass cups in the work place and not offering take away coffee cups or plastic water cups. Or going into cafes and restaurants to show them how they can reduce their plastic use by offering affordable alternative solutions for them.
If you could say just one thing to encourage people to do something, what would it be?
Just do one thing. Start with one thing. Establish that habit for yourself and then try a new thing. Don’t think that because someone else is doing all these other things that you have to manage this as well. Not comparing yourself to others is important. You have to do what you feel good with.
Sarah’s Take home tips:
You can follow Sarah’s journey on her blog at wanderlightly.com and get regular updates and living plastic free tips by following her facebook page and her instagram feed @wanderlightly
Please come on down and get involved in our joint Wander Lightly/Living Ocean beach clean ups. You can check our facebook pages for regular updates. The next planned beach clean will be held at Palm Beach on Sunday the 21st of August. We will be meeting at 10am in the park directly opposite the Boathouse Kiosk.
I went on the first Living Ocean Yoga Retreat held in Tonga in 2014… how I ended up going, and the trip itself, was all quite serendipitous. When I first heard of the trip it was already fully booked and I was disappointed to have missed out. Just by chance I received a mail out from Breathing Space Yoga [who jointly host the yoga trip with Living Ocean] saying that a space on the trip had at the last minute become available. It meant flying in to Tonga to start the retreat on my birthday and I just thought – it doesn’t get more perfect than this! It was during this week in Tonga that my eyes were opened. We went on this boat trip with this group called Whale Discoveries who spoke a lot about plastic pollution and the huge environmental toll it is having on our oceans. I guess I knew about it, but I hadn’t really ever thought about my own impact that much. I used to just think I ticked the box by recycling my things. But it wasn’t until this moment on the boat that I thought, wow, I am still really contributing to this problem in a massive way. I woke up at 4am the next day and there was literally no sound but the voice in my head that said “you have to stop using plastic for a year.” And I went okay. I got up that morning and said to the group, “I’m going to stop using plastic for a year.” I knew that was what I was going to do
.
Did you go cold turkey from that moment, or was the transition more gradual?
So the Living Ocean yoga trip was in October and I thought I would start fresh from the new year and give myself two months to prepare for a full year without plastic.
I imagine you had two busy months sourcing plastic-free products and reading up on things?
I did read a number of blogs on other peoples’ plastic free journeys, like American Beth Terry’s My Plastic Free Life, but I also realised that I wanted to go on my own individual journey and discover the challenges for myself. I worked out where I could buy things and regularly source products, so that on the first day of January I could start. I also set up my blog Wander Lightly to share my journey.
Sarah took stock of her plastic use in the two months before going plastic free
And once you started, how were those first few months, did you have to make any exceptions for plastic?
My goal was to buy no new plastic unless I really needed it. I did give myself some exceptions from the outset which included: if my cat needed anything, if I needed anything medical and my dietary supplements. This year I am actually really trying to focus on getting all my requirements from food. Though there are some things that I need like Evening Primrose oil that I will just have to take supplements for. I did discover in those first few months that living a plastic free life can be very time consuming and requires a good level of organisation. I had to make a lot of stuff from scratch and as a result I didn’t blog as much as I had planned. And even with all my effort, I was still getting plastic.
I can well believe that. I have found that even when I am buying takeaway from a place that serve the food in a paper box, I always have to double check. I have been caught before where they have run out of boxes or happen to serve the particular portion size I ordered in a plastic container.
Yes, plastic is tricky to escape. I found plastic would come in the mail, sometimes in the packaging of a product – things that you just wouldn’t have thought of and planned for. So I challenged myself to investigate any occurrences such as this and seek out alternatives wherever possible. When there wasn’t a solution I would ask myself – do I really need it? I am still doing this now. The biggest thing I have really stuck to is food. Like I love, love potato chips and I used to consume a big bag a week. And now I just don’t buy them anymore. Sometimes I must admit that I do look at them and think mmm I would like to have a bag of you!
What about if a friend has a bag of chips?
I will share them! There are some people who say no I wont eat any of that stuff. But I think, well they have already bought them, so I will just have a sample. Especially when I am out somewhere and people put out those kind of things… The other thing is people say all the time to me, “oh I wanted to buy you a present but it was plastic.” And I think, well it is me that is doing this – not you, so don’t think that you have to completely avoid plastic for my sake. But at the same time, it does challenge the people around me to think about the plastic issue themselves and maybe it encourages them to avoid it where they can. For my birthday I have started giving friends and family ideas for plastic free items that I would like or that I need, like a certain wooden brush for example.
Have you found your family and friends to be supportive of your decision to live plastic free?
Yes, I have felt quite supported. Most people kind of understand it. The present thing was a little bit tricky. People often just don’t notice plastic. They might buy me flowers wrapped in brown paper, not realising that there is plastic packaging underneath it.
Do you broach it with your friends?
With the presents I feel it is different and you don’t want to tarnish someone’s gift and generosity. But it is much easier to pull my family up on it.
And socially, has it been challenging?
Not really actually. If we are going on a picnic for example, I will ask if they mind if I bring dips because I can make that at home relatively easily, rather than bringing the crackers that are a lot more difficult to make. Which means I guess in a sense there is still plastic involved in the setting, but I can control my contribution more readily.
Have you found living plastic free to be more expensive?
No I have actually found it cheaper. I tend to buy all my fresh food at the Frenchs Forest organic food market because I like to go there. I don’t really buy anything processed as it is generally plastic packaged and because I very rarely go to the supermarket I avoid impulsive buying. I definitely save money by the fact that I am making so much from scratch. Since I also shop in stores like Scoop where I can use my own containers, I find that I buy less and have less wastage as I purchase items in the quantities that I need.
I have also saved money on other things like razors and sanitary items. I have just started using a metal razor recently and have for a while now been using a sanitary cup. I must admit I hesitated over the cup for a long time, but its actually great! I am currently writing a post on it – which as you can imagine is a work in progress!
Many people, including myself, would love to be completely plastic free, but just worry that we won’t have time between work and family commitments… Do you believe anyone can live a plastic free life?
Look I would be interested to know how people with children can do it. I know my sister and her family try to live a simple life and make a lot of their own things, but it is not completely free from plastic. People have to do what works for them. Its not going to suit everyone. And with a child, or even yourself, you may need to be able to grab a quick packaged snack here or there. But I guess I believe that most individuals and families can do some of the really key things like using reusable water bottles and coffee cups and not using plastic shopping bags.
There are some plastic items which we do rely upon daily, such as household appliances, that you do just have to replace if they stop working. I try where possible to replace these items with second hand purchases. But this can’t always be the case. Recently my hairdryer died and I searched for a second hand one, but ended up having to buy a new one. I figured this wasn’t too bad as you use them for such extended periods of time. I also do use an electric toothbrush – though I rarely change the head.
I really feel what is most important is that individuals and families make steps where they can and I hope to inspire people to challenge themselves over time to step up what they can manage.
Any other tip for people wanting to start small?
Carry a kit in your car with cutlery, a reusable coffee cup, a few glass containers in a couple of sizes and a jar. So when you are out and suddenly think of something you might need or want, you have containers on hand. Like this afternoon I thought that I would like to pick up some fish for tonight – so now I know I have a container to take to the store.
Do you find that people are receptive of you bringing your own container into the store?
I was really nervous about taking my own containers when I first started doing it. People have said no for health and safety reasons or because they can’t weigh the item so easily. I have never had any issue with butchers or fish shops. In terms of take away I tend to now make the effort to sit down and eat in at a restaurant. But there are those occasions where you just want to hit the couch. So I have sussed out those take away store which are cool about me bringing my containers, like my local Indian. You still have to remember to ask for any condiments or extras to be popped in with the meal as I have been caught out with this.
What alternatives to plastic products do you recommend?
I make a great toothpaste with baking soda, coconut oil and spearmint or peppermint oil. You can find the recipe on my blog. I actually prefer how it cleans my teeth to regular toothpaste. I buy blocks of shampoo bars for my hair as after a lot or trial and error I found this to work best. I finish with an apple cider conditioning rinse, for which the recipe is also on my blog. I also highly recommend Scoop, Manly Food Corp and The Source Bulk Foods (in Willoughby) for shopping. I get my liquids in bulk from Manly Food Corp and The Source. They have shampoo and conditioner too. From them I get my dishwashing liquid, olive oil, coconut oil, sesame oil etc. You just take in your own containers and weigh them in store first. Oh and the little Onya produce bags are fabulous. I just attach them to my market basket and reuse them, it makes it super easy.
Do you feel that the living plastic free movement is growing?
More people are interested in it. My family and my friends have been exposed to the idea and information through myself and therefore have grown much more conscious of it. My friend for example watched a film on plastics that I lent her called Bag It, which is kind of old now, but still very relevant and speaks a lot about the health risks associated with BPA. After watching it she messaged me the next day to tell me she had bought a Keep Cup. I think for people who have a lot of plastic pieces at home the easiest way is to wait till it breaks and then where possible buy alternatives to the plastic. You don’t have to go out and initially spend a lot of money on it. You can collect glass storage containers and jars over time.
I loved your January blog post on your intentions for 2016. You speak about David Bowie and what an inspiration he has been for you. His death seemed to make you really focus on your passion and your desire to live with true authenticity and to further challenge yourself on your plastic free journey. You quote him saying “I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring”. What have you done so far this year to challenge yourself and follow your passion?
I guess my first year doing the plastic free was more about me and my adjustment to living plastic free. I did do a few blog posts here and there hoping to inspire someone, but overall my focus was more inward. This year I wanted to be a bit more public with my message and broaden my platform to challenge peoples set ideas – like that coffee take away cups are deemed cool. I have done a couple of talks already, one at Breathing Space yoga studio in Avalon, and I plan to do more over the year. And initiating the joint Wander Lightly/Living Ocean beach clean ups has been a big thing and a great way to get my message further afield.
What do you dream of for Wander Lightly in the future?
I would like to do something a little bit more corporate like going around to companies to advise them on how to reduce their plastic footprint. It would be great to be able to show these companies what sorts of changes they can make. Not that they have to go completely plastic free – but even small swaps that can make a big difference. Like ensuring access to ceramic mugs and glass cups in the work place and not offering take away coffee cups or plastic water cups. Or going into cafes and restaurants to show them how they can reduce their plastic use by offering affordable alternative solutions for them.
If you could say just one thing to encourage people to do something, what would it be?
Just do one thing. Start with one thing. Establish that habit for yourself and then try a new thing. Don’t think that because someone else is doing all these other things that you have to manage this as well. Not comparing yourself to others is important. You have to do what you feel good with.
Sarah’s Take home tips:
- Carry a little fold up reusable bag in your handbag so that you are always equipped
- Buy reusable produce bags like the awesome 8 pack from Onya that come in their own little pouch.
- Keep a kit in your car so you don’t get caught out. Stock it with cutlery, a selection of glass containers, a jar and a reusable coffee cup.
- Have a number of reusable cups so that there is always one on hand. Keep one at work, one at home, one in your pram or your bag.
- Always have your own reusable water bottle.
- Make steps where you can. Even do one thing, make that a habit then try another. Over time, as you can manage it, see if you can challenge yourself to make more plastic swaps.
- Take note that plastic bags from the supermarkets can only be down cycled and only once. They can’t be made back into plastics bags, but have to be used for other recycled plastic things such as furniture.
You can follow Sarah’s journey on her blog at wanderlightly.com and get regular updates and living plastic free tips by following her facebook page and her instagram feed @wanderlightly
Please come on down and get involved in our joint Wander Lightly/Living Ocean beach clean ups. You can check our facebook pages for regular updates. The next planned beach clean will be held at Palm Beach on Sunday the 21st of August. We will be meeting at 10am in the park directly opposite the Boathouse Kiosk.
I visited these two on a warm Saturday afternoon in August at the home of their beehives in Warriewood on Boondah Rd. We had so much to chat about that I will post an additional interview with Alex on her endeavour to promote op shopping and the reuse of clothing.
Meet the couple behind Careel Bay Honey Company, Joel Seaton and Alex van Os. In between Joel completing his Masters in primary school teaching and Alex working as a fashion stylist, this awesome duo has turned their bee keeping hobby into a business.
If you are unfamiliar with this local honey company waste no time in checking out their delicious produce. Not only does their honey taste ridiculously good, but they run their business with as light a footprint as possible. Moreover, how can we not support a business that is contributing to our local food security!
Northern beaches born and bred, Joel and Alex are passionate about sustainability and preserving the environment that they have grown up in. This passion extends to their lifestyle and career decisions. Interviewing them has further inspired me to make small impactful changes in my daily living. They definitely live what they preach and it doesn’t hurt that they look so cool while doing it!
I visited these two on a warm Saturday afternoon in August at the home of their beehives in Warriewood on Boondah Rd. We had so much to chat about that I will post an additional interview with Alex on her endeavour to promote op shopping and the reuse of clothing.
If you are unfamiliar with this local honey company waste no time in checking out their delicious produce. Not only does their honey taste ridiculously good, but they run their business with as light a footprint as possible. Moreover, how can we not support a business that is contributing to our local food security!
Northern beaches born and bred, Joel and Alex are passionate about sustainability and preserving the environment that they have grown up in. This passion extends to their lifestyle and career decisions. Interviewing them has further inspired me to make small impactful changes in my daily living. They definitely live what they preach and it doesn’t hurt that they look so cool while doing it!
I visited these two on a warm Saturday afternoon in August at the home of their beehives in Warriewood on Boondah Rd. We had so much to chat about that I will post an additional interview with Alex on her endeavour to promote op shopping and the reuse of clothing.
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How did you first get into bee-keeping?
I was flying for regional express and I was down at Aubrey and visited Beechworth Honey. They have an amazing setup, with hives and a museum and by chance I met the owner who chatted with me about bee-keeping. Since childhood I’ve always been interested in bees and during the visit I just thought, I can do this. So I went and joined North Shore Bee Keepers Club with a mate of mine. The guys are in their 70s and 80s and have a wealth of knowledge. I have learnt so much from them. So bee keeping started as an interest and went from there. We’ve got a couple of hives up at Careel Bay at my parent’s place and then we set up here at Warriewood.
How has sustainability come about with your business, was it a conscious decision?
It’s an ethos. It’s not all about the honey. For us it’s the educational side of it. Bees are such a crucial part to agriculture. If all our bees are wiped out a third of our agriculture disappears; things like, apples, almonds, blueberries, watermelons, cherries, pumpkins, cucumbers… all these different fruit and vegetables would not exist. People need to realise that. When I read up on the science of it and saw what has already happened overseas, I was inspired to promote awareness of how crucial bees are. Australia is believed to be one of the only Varroa mite free zones left in the world. This is pretty significant given that this parasite is one of the main contributors to the worldwide decline of the bee population.
Selling the honey is one side of it. But the educational side is really important too. So we take groups through [the hives] and I am going to start doing educational sessions this year with school children, so taking bees into the classroom, teaching students about them and how crucial they are to our livelihood.
Local nurseries, flowering gardens and backyard fruit and vegetable patches, benefit from our bees. It is so evident you need the pollinators for plants to prosper. Even with all these other techniques, such as hand pollinating, nothing compares to natural pollination by insects
What are your thoughts on the new flow hives set to be released soon?
It is all plastic based. Traditional bee Keepers are wondering if bees will take to the frames as much. Our frames are all wax as you saw, but the flow hive frames are plastic, it’s a foreign body and not natural. It’s divided the bee keeping world. The modernists think its going make things easy; but there is so much more to maintaining a hive then just turning on the tap. The same pollen would be coming in, but it’s a different hive environment. If you look at the hives with a thermal camera at night, you can see a ball of heat being emitted from the hives. The bees keep the hives at 34 degrees. Flow Hives are arriving in November, and there are already cheap spinoffs that don’t necessarily use food safe plastic.
Do you think the local consumers are responding to your effort to make your business and product more sustainable?
Yes, definitely. We have tried to connect with people through markets, rather than trying to expand and sell bulk honey. It’s a seasonal thing, it happens from Spring through to Autumn and when people understand this and are educated about it and see the little initiatives we are doing, they appreciate it more. We welcome people to come down and have a look at the hives and check them out. By connecting with it in that way they realise, wow, this is pretty cool. The honey comb you are eating is made from the environment around you, you are chewing on the pollen and nectar from local plants! There is a massive trend where people now want to know where their food comes from and have a greater connection with their food. People support the fact that we are thinking bigger picture. As I said before, its not just about selling honey, it’s about realising what an important insect bees are for life on earth
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Being in this business, has it changed the way you think about sustainability within your own lifestyle.
Most definitely, especially Alex, I have opened a can of worms with her. We are a lot more in touch with the seasons and the environment and we now think about things a lot more. We don’t shop that much at Woolworths or Coles anymore. We try and go to farmers’ markets. We appreciate stuff more, we are more prepared to pay because we know the effort and time it takes to do stuff. We would rather spend more money and get a good product that you know people have put actual effort into and who are making effort to run their business more sustainably.
We are also trying to be more conscious about our plastic usage. I lived in Adelaide for a year, and down there they are plastic bag free. Initially I found it inconvenient, but then it becomes habitual. We now have our bags permanently in the back of the car and we make sure put them back after use so we always have them on hand.
In addition to supporting local producers and using reusable shopping bags, how else do you think Northern Beaches residents can commit to sustaining our local environment?
Not overdeveloping is a big one. If you go down the street here you will find a Meriton block of apartments, the only place in Pittwater with a four storey residential development. Slowly bit by bit the council is selling off the land and the developers are creeping further down the road.
This land here that we keep the bees on, the owners were being told that it would be re-classified as unused. When they develop an area, they have to off set it with playing fields. So if they can turn this block that we are on into a playing field, then they can build a large residential development next door. The owners have a real connection with the land and the place. They don’t want the developers to win. So we have a mutually beneficial agreement with them, as they needed some form of private produce to show that they are using the land. You look at Google Earth, that whole area up the back of Warriewood was swamp and natural wetlands, and it’s all being carved up.
On the flip side of high-density living, there is a sense of privilege in this area, where we all want to live in massive houses that have massive carbon footprints, and drive a big car (that can transport way more people in them than we actually do) and have the latest greatest fashion and technology. The amount of energy we use to heat and light up these houses is ridiculous and we could all get better with carpooling and using public transport. We get so caught up in the need to constantly update things unnecessarily, our phones, cars, technology. It is so ingrained into us. We are causing so much wastage. I was like that, constantly moving on to and purchasing the next thing. I stop myself now and think, do I actually NEED it. Do I NEED the next updated version? And more often than not, the true answer is no. So I don’t buy into it. 🐋
For more information on Careel Bay Honey and for purchasing enquiries, visit www.careelbayhoney.com.au
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