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Eco Xpo

admin — Tue, 03 May 2011 02:38:43 +0000

The inaugural Eco Xpo is on in Sydney from the 6^th to the 8^th of May. A great chance to peruse whats on offer from the best brands in the industry. Check out the sustainable eats and potter amongst the eco-products. Seminars are being given on each of the days. We love staying at the Lane Cove River Tourist Park and they have now introduced Sydney’s first luxury Eco-tent which will be among one of the initiatives they will be discussing on Saturday. If you go on Sunday Beatrice and her husband who run Hemp Gallery are giving a seminar. We got our hemp curtains from them a couple of years ago and absolutely love them. We’ll be heading down to check it out. See you there!

Eco Baby Expo Low Down

admin — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 04:14:33 +0000

Biodegradable baby rattles were only some of the fabulous eco-friendly baby products that we came across at the Eco Baby Expo in Luna Park Sydney. It was great to see so many inspirational products under one roof. We chatted with many of the stall holders and had a great time testing, sniffing and sampling. Here’s a few of our favourites.

Nature Baby Care – eco friendly disposable nappies and baby products. We chatted to Maria about the products which are made from compostable and sustainably harvested materials. These nappies are also available in supermarkets – whats more we have four packs (32 nappies per pack) of Maxi (7-18kg) for you to try out – watch out for our email callout.
Reusable nappies – there were a number of reusable nappy options exhibited at the show. Some we have tried and some not. Bambooty (we can recommend their bamboo nappies and cute tees) was there and is going from strength to strength. Swimbaby which is, you guessed it, reusable nappies for swimming. Cutetooshies which has a selection of colourful reusable nappies.
Natural rubber soothers/dummies and teethers made out of 100% sustainable natural rubber. Free from parabens, PVC and pthalates, these one piece dummies are easy to clean and of course BPA free.
There were several Eco baby shops such as Sustainababy. IttyBittyGreenie were particularly chatty and helpful. Eco-friendly toys, bottles, clothes and skincare were on show. We couldn’t resist picking up one of their Greentogrow baby bottles.
Eco-friendly baby toys. Decomposing in as little as 5 weeks once buried in the ground, the range of rattles, teethers and other baby items from Kiki Eco are cute, colourful and made from corn.
Eco-friendly and chemical free cleaning. We loved Naturedirect’s Enviroair revitaliser which helps reduce bacteria, pollutants and odour from the air in your home – great for asthma or allergy sufferers.
Baby skincare products were on show. There was a great range from naturewithin, great for itchy, dry or excema prone baby skin.
There were also stands with more information on a range of birthing and baby topics, including naturopaths, calm birth courses and doulas. One for the fellas, a beerandbubs evening – a one night session down the pub where dads can learn techniques for supporting their partner through the birth. Including essential tips on what you should never say to a woman in labour.

The Eco Baby Expo was organised by Bonjour Baby and this expo was their first. A fantastic resource for those interested in getting to grips with how to go green when having a baby.

Eco Friendly Halloween

admin — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 04:01:14 +0000

Halloween as a kid was very exciting. Dressing up in scary costumes, staying up late, making lanterns, and gorging on the haul of treats collected. Living in a neighbourhood full of kids its obligatory to get involved again. The shops are full of cheap plastic masks, costumes and accessories at this time of year. But there are great ways of creating a truly green halloween (and also staying on track with the Salvos ‘Buy Nothing New Month’).

We’ve been putting our heads together to come up with ideas on how to have an eco-friendly halloween and to finish off October having bought nothing new. Here’s the summary.

Forget plastic lanterns, go for the real deal and carve up a pumpkin lantern or if you can find a big enough one use a more traditional swede or turnip. Use the pumpkin to make pumpkin pie or pumpkin soup and the lamp can go in the compost bin afterwards.
For costumes rent them or get creative with stitching or scissoring. Use an old sheet or reassign some old clothes.
The parents will love you for it but the kids might not – giving fruit as the treat instead of chocolate and sweets. This will avoid wrappers and waste. Or make some ghoulish cup cakes, or toffee apples to hand out when the hoards come trick or treating.
Put some candles on the porch or verandah instead of leaving the outside lights on.
Give the kids recyclable bags to carry their haul.

Great halloween games for the kids:

As well as the typical party games, limbo, pass the parcel, hula hoop, musical statues etc try these.

Ghastly lucky dip. Put potato peel or something similar in a bucket along with some items/prizes and get the kids to delve their hands into it to find them.

Apple bobbing. A bowl full of water with apples bobbing around in them. Kids have to try and take bites out of the apples without using their hands. Or apples hanging on a string, again you have to try and eat the apples which are dangled in front of you without using your hands.

Want Free Time and Money This October? Buy Nothing New

admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 01:00:48 +0000

Old is the New New this October, with Salvos Stores’ first ever Buy Nothing New Month. Get on board for more money in your pockets, time on your hands and a lighter carbon footprint.

Instead of a short‐term, throwaway attitude to ‘stuff’, Salvos Stores Buy Nothing New Month extends the life cycle of goods, maximises the embedded cost and resources in the stuff we buy and gives an introduction to the re‐cycled, free‐ cycled, upcycled , secondhand, ‘swishing’ and sustainable alternatives that are better for you, your wallet and the planet.

Salvos Stores Sustainability Manager, Donald Munro says, “Buy Nothing New is about seeing the value in existing stuff and reflects a growing movement of people switching off from shopping and tuning into life.”

But Buying Nothing New doesn’t mean going without. Make a Buy Nothing New pledge and you can beg, buy, barter and swap for whatever you need, as long as it is pre‐loved, but with the exceptions of necessities (including food, drink, medications and hygiene products) you can’t buy anything new.

Salvos Stores Buy Nothing New Month also shows going green doesn’t have to be expensive, but that by adapting our attitudes and approach, can be a money saving path to socially responsible consumption.

According to Affluenza author and Buy Nothing New Month supporter Clive Hamilton, “Consumption today often involves buying things we don’t need, with money we don’t have, to impress people we don’t like! Buy Nothing New Month is about spending our time and money more thoughtfully.”

In October, selected Salvos Stores featuring plasma screens sponsored by Radio Rentals/Rentlo will show the viral phenomenon ‘The Story of Stuff’, an animation on the lifecycle and impact of the goods we buy.

Shane Wakelin, Clive Hamilton (Affluenza, Requiem for A Species) Sarah Wilson (Sunday Life columnist & LifeStyle YOU presenter), Chrissie Swan, Gorgi Coghlan (The Circle), James Tobin (Cleo Batchelor of the Year, Ch 7 Sunrise), Monique Wright(Ch7 Sunrise), Damian Walshe Howling and Caroline Craig (Underbelly) are on board. Are you?

This October, think about where stuff comes from, where it’s going, its embedded costs and what are the alternatives. Get into Salvos Stores, markets, swap parties and online second‐hand selling sites to experience the joys of a life less wasteful. Plus there’s a prize for the most creative Buy Nothing New pledge. Logon to www.nothingnew.com.au when the site goes live on September 1^st for entry details.

Glossary

Swishing	Swapping clothes shoes or accessories with friends or acquaintances. It’s ethical, eco‐fabulous, social and fun. Marie Claire magazine on swishing “Welcome to the future of fashion.”
Up‐Cycling	Converting waste materials or use less products in to new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value.
Re‐Cycling	Processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials while reducing the consumption of fresh raw materials
Free‐Cycling	Process of giving away rather than throwing away unwanted items to others instead of disposing of them in landfills. Check out freecycle.com
*’LOHAS’	Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability. ‘Lohasian’ describes people whose purchases are driven by values and attitudes about their health, the health and wellbeing of the community and the health and sustainability of the environment.

Top Tips to Buying Nothing New

Get into Salvos Stores	Save money, reduce your waste and carbon footprint. Check out your local Salvos Stores at www.salvosstores.com.au
Rent	Check out Radio Rentals for their hot range of rentals and update as needed. It’s cheaper and you lower your footprint by renting rather than buying.
Check IN at Checkout	Ask is it worth the time and the money to pay for it? If you don’t buy it, what can you do with the extra time and money, is there a more valuable way to spend it?
Don’t shop. Swap	Hold your own ‘swapshop’. Everyone brings five things cluttering their home and watch as one man’s trash becomes another man’s treasure!
Repair, don’t replace.	Got holes? Patch them with a gorgeous fabric and get a one off designer item.
Get Fit or Get A Hobby:	Don’t go shopping to alleviate boredom. Get a hobby and get out of the shopping strip.
Get the merry‐go‐round	Get into the old economy. Reuse and recycle, make stuff, alter stuff, buy used, donate quality old stuff, get free stuff, borrow, barter and trade. Have fun with it.

Buyers Checklist

Before handing over your hard earned cash, ask yourself:

Is the product really necessary?
What is its lifecycle and embodied energy?
What are the alternatives?
Where did it come from? How did it get here?
What is its environmental and social impact?
Who benefits from the purchase? What will it do for me?
What is in it? Who made it?

Top Tips for Salvos Stores Shopping

Best buys are gifts, clothes, homewares, kitchenware, books, toys and furniture.
Don’t shop Mondays. Stock gets wiped out over the weekend. Those in the know go Tuesday or Thursday

Watch your gift budget dive!Buy homewares like vases and frames, and store them for when you need a last minute gift.
Keep an open mind. Imagine the item out of the store and in a different setting.
Get over ‘second hand phobia’. Restaurants and hotels serve you from secondhand cutlery and secondhand sheets!
‘Up the hip ante’ of dresses by cutting short and sewing on mismatched patches and buttons.
Look out for jeans; you’ll get great brands, dirt cheap. Cut them into shorts or remake into skirts. It’s easy, cheap and they’re already worn in for you!
A quick test if jeans fit: Wrap the waist around your neck and the ends should touch. If you can’t fit the length of your fist to your elbow inside the waistband, the jeans are too small.
Every store differs if you don’t find what you need, try another. And new stock comes in everyday.
Ignore sizes. Second‐hand clothes may have shrunk, or designers may have changed their sizings so your frame of reference could be off. Try before you buy.

Carbon Offset T-shirts

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 04:30:33 +0000

A T-shirt with a tonne of carbon locked up in it? That must be a pretty big T-shirt right? Not exactly. This new range of T-shirts has been created by Treecreds. Their objective is to save forests from being logged and encourages investment in avoided deforestation offset projects. The T-shirts each contain one tonne of carbon-dioxide equivalent emissions. That is, for every T-shirt purchased, Treecreds retires one carbon credit.

Treecreds assists organisations in calculating, reducing, marketing and offsetting their emissions. Treecreds wants to raise their profile through these T-shirt. In addition to T-shirts, badges have also been created. The badges contain an embedded offset component of 0.2 tonne of carbon.

A bit of background. Treecreds was founded in 2008 and works predominantly in the facilitation of sustainable events ranging from music festivals and performances to corporate meetings. Treecreds also assists with the marketing of sustainable business practices. It does this through a range of innovative measures including carbon neutral tickets and events and the creation of eco-art installations.

Treecreds avoided deforestation offsets are different to forestry offsets which are derived from treeplanting. Avoided deforestation provides an alternative income to clearing and logging and preserves forests that would be destroyed without this mechanism. Avoided deforestation supports living ecosystems, habitat and communities as well as the embodied carbon of the trees. Credits are currently sourced from the ‘Minding the Carbon Store’ project. This project saved 12,000 hectares of forest and woodland in Queensland from clearing for the next 120 years. Treecreds also supports other project groups in Tasmania, Indonesia and Cambodia and more offsets will be available later in 2010.

For more information on Treecreds, or to get yourself a T-shirt or badge visit http://www.treecreds.com/.

Eco Renovation – Tentative First Steps

admin — Fri, 21 May 2010 03:52:26 +0000

It has long been a dream to get stuck into an eco-renovation. In reality it’s a bit mind boggling especially when you have no experience of design, building or architecture.

A key concern is the cost of going green. Everyone knows that creating a sustainable home will lead to long term cost savings (we are talking pocket here as well as environment). But this has to be weighed up against how long you will live in the house and how much the bank manager will lend you. I’ve been doodling some ideas for weeks now, and its time to get serious. So I took myself off to the Sydney Home Show for some eco-renovation inspiration.

Skipping past the spas and saunas I headed for the Green Building section. I’ve got a vague idea of what I need to be thinking about so after an initial sweep I honed in on the double glazing, solar hot water, photovoltaics, water tanks and heating.

I had been keen to find out more about eco-friendly flooring. There were a few stalls with bamboo and jute carpets, but no cork tiles. Everything you read says cork tiles are a very eco friendly flooring option, but I wanted to see them first hand, not least to see whether they have moved on from the shiny 80s style bathroom floors I remember from my childhood.

The home show was certainly a good way to see lots of different green building ideas in one place. I had a chat to someone about insulated awnings. I worked out the size of the water tank I need and got some great advice in relation to energy efficiency in the home. It also got me thinking about ‘future proofing’ the home by incorporating ’smart wiring’, particularly as I will be working a fair bit from home.

However, one of the most important things that wasn’t covered a great deal in the home show was passive design to make the most of the environment for heating, cooling and shading. The Australian government’s passive design technical manual provides an excellent resource, but as we are going to be extending an existing building we are going to be a bit constrained by what’s already there.

So, the next stage is to take my ideas to an architect who knows a thing or two about environmental design, and thats what we’ll be doing in the coming months.

If you have any advice, you know of some eco friendly products/services you just can’t do without or if you have tales of your own eco renovation efforts we’d love to hear them. We found a great blog http://greentasreno.wordpress.com/ written by a couple doing an eco renovation in Tasmania, and there are a few case studies on the government site listed above that we’ll be studying for ideas.

It looks like its going to be an interesting journey. Any advice welcomed!!

We’ll keep you posted.

Earth Hour 2010

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:15:50 +0000

Earth Hour is upon us again and this year the organisers are asking people to go beyond turning off lights and instead make an Earth Hour resolution to start something bigger. Greg Bourne, WWF-Australia’s CEO said ‘switching off lights is a great first step, but your true environmental impact is much bigger than just your energy bill. Each individual’s environmental impact – or environmental footprint – is made up of things such as the food you eat, the transport and housing you choose, and the goods and services you buy’. We can’t agree more. It’s the careful consideration of these goods and services, and selection of those which have lesser environmental impacts which can make a significant difference not only to your environmental footprint but also to the wellbeing of those involved in the growing and manufacturing of those products.

We know this, and we know how time consuming it can be, that’s why we aim to do the hard work for you by product testing, investigating green alternatives, researching eco innovations and bringing you more details on genuine eco products and services to help you become a greener human being.

We know that Australians have a pretty large environmental footprint but research undertaken by WWF indicates it is getting worse. Australians have the fifth largest ecological footprint per capita in the world. Up from sixth worst in 2006.

But our behaviour is changing and there are simple things that can be done to reduce your footprint such as:

Ditch the take away coffee cup to reduce landfill and amount of resources used to produce your daily pick-me-up. How about getting hold of a recyclable keepcup.
Go meat free for a day or two a week. Hundreds of litres of water are needed to produce one kilogram of beef!
Double the efficiency of your car by putting another person in it.
Cut one flight per year or take fewer, longer holidays, or holidays closer to home.
Recycle your electronic gadgets, old mobiles, iPods, TVs, computers and radios contain lots of material that can be recycled such as gold, copper and coltan. None of this needs to end up as landfill.
Every night turn items on standby off at the wall.

This year the world’s three tallest buildings, the new Burj Khalifa in Dubai, CN Tower in Toronto and Taipei 101 in Taiwan are going dark for this global event. These join world famous sites, such as the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Buckingham Palace, the Great Pyramids, Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building, Golden Gate Bridge and even the lights of Las Vegas in a decisive display of climate action.

Although perhaps not up there with the likes of Buckingham Palace, turning off the lights in your cottage, apartment or house will help to make a difference. So at 8.30pm on Saturday 27 March 2010 get ready by the light switch to give it the flick. Don’t forget to sign up on the Earth Hour website to show your support, so that your efforts appear in their stats!

http://www.keepcup.com.au/home

Carrotmobbing – people power and procotting; is this the new face of environmental activism?

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:01:17 +0000

A couple of years ago, a bright spark in San Francisco came up with a unique way to encourage companies to reduce their impact on the environment. He reasoned that they would only ever change if they could see a potential upside in their revenue. Rather than take the ‘stick’ approach and threaten action, he looked for a way to provide the ‘carrot’.

“The problem is that businesses will do anything for money,” says 27-year-old US environmentalist Brent Schulkin. “But what if that’s also the solution?”

Schulkin approached 23 liquor and grocery stores in his San Francisco neighbourhood and asked what percentage of a day’s takings each would be prepared to invest (in energy-efficiency improvements) in return for him organising a “mob” of shoppers to visit their store. The winning store committed 23% and Schulkin got busy publicising the event on the internet.

The power of Schulkin’s scheme relies on the number of shoppers who join the mob. Schulkin’s nervous wait at that first event was rewarded with a huge turnout who spent between them over $9000 in just a couple of hours. Success!

Since that first Carrotmob in early 2008, there have been countless other mobs in the United States as well as mobs in England, Canada, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland and Australia. Surry Hills in Sydney was the scene of the first Australian Carrotmob in October last year. The winning bidder, the MFC Supermarket in Surry Hills, pledged 20% of profits from the mob (subsequently increased to 80%) and has committed to a program of significant energy reduction in the store.

We love the carrotmobbing concept and we will be keeping our readers posted of any further developments in Australia.

For more information, visit the Carrotmob website: http://carrotmob.org/

“The problem is that businesses will do anything for money,” says 27-year-old US environmentalist Brent Schulkin. “But what if that’s also the solution?”

We love the carrotmobbing concept and we will be keeping our readers posted of any further developments in Australia.

For more information, visit the Carrotmob website:

The Noughties Roundup and the Decade Ahead

admin — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 06:34:19 +0000

To us it doesn’t seem like a lot has changed in the last ten years. Despite overwhelming evidence, some remain unconvinced about global warming. Coal remains Australia’s major energy source and a significant export and we continue to see more traffic on the roads, extreme weather seems to hit more frequently and there is continuing habitat loss.

But there have been some significant changes that ought to be celebrated. One major one that has been seen over the last decade is the massive increase in global awareness, of community concern and best of all, action. The next decade from 2010-2020 is being heralded as ‘The Transition Decade’ or T10. The T10 vision is a mass community movement set to launch on Valentines Day with the aim of engaging the widest audience possible to provide governments with clear direction to enable structural transition and roll back the policies which will cause further impact. The overall aim is to drive greenhouse gas emissions to (net) zero in an effort to create a safe climate future.

So with exciting times ahead, Green Beings, and sites like ours, will have an increasing role to play in promoting this grass roots movement. So as we close off the noughties here are a few eco efforts from this last decade that are worth celebrating.

Australia’s Earth Hour initiative has now gone global.
Establishment of carbon credits and offsetting.
Eco rating labelling on buildings (NABERs etc) and appliances.
Release of the Toyota Prius and a new generation of hybrid cars.
Government support for green initiatives including waste separation and collection as well as rebates for water tanks, solar panels, roof insulation etc.
Retail sales of Fairtrade labeled products in Australia and New Zealand passed $70 million since the introduction of Fairtrade in Australia and New Zealand in 2003.
Emergence of eco directories such as Green Pages and the Eco Directory.
Towns take the initiative banning plastic bags and plastic water bottles.
The internet has made it easier to recycle through sites such as eBay or Gumtree.
Organic produce is easier and cheaper to obtain and farmers markets have seen a resurgence.

National Vegetarian Week – Ness’s Diary

admin — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:49:07 +0000

Author: Ness

Pre-vego week excesses
Ok, so I’m feeling slightly guilty about re-scheduling my vego week… all for an unrestricted dining and shopping spree with visiting li’l sis.
All that wining and dining has actually worked to my advantage, as I began this week seriously craving veggies!
It’s all about preparation!

I spent a significant amount of time trawling through my cookbooks for veggie-inspirations and to plan our week of meals. One of my favs – Nigella Express has a total of 2 vego mains – let’s just say, I had post-it notes in all of them!
While very conscious of keeping a balanced diet and substituting the protein we usually get from meat, it was harder than I thought!

Next, the shopping… OMG, my bags were heavy, and expensive! Alright, I admit to splurging on healthy gourmet & justifying it as I went – due to my hardship, obviously? Oh, boo hoo! Hardly! We’re in for loads of tasty treats, and my hubby even looked excited at the mountain of food I bought, and the prospect of a week of new dishes. Hmmm, I didn’t actually ask him to do this challenge with me…

Reformed carnivores…!?
So, this may turn out to be a diary of 2 reformed carnivores…. Although, perhaps I speak too soon…

SECOND INSTALLMENT – THE VEGGIE WEEK VERDICT
Menu successes… and failures…
Mexican scrambled eggs were a definite winner! Hubby liked them so much he requested them for breakfast as well as dinner. Although it does appear that Nigella Lawson has got her quantities wrong – served as dinner there was not enough, and as breakfast too much. I wasn’t as keen on chili in my breaky, nor onions for that matter but hey, made a good vego meal either way.
Busy week meant I was needing Jon to start dinner… let’s just say, I saved very little time, while on the phone explaining the new and not pre-prepared meals (he’s great with a curry paste in hand, to be fair!).
Oooops! BBQ blunder
Day 6, all well so far, and then, just on the home stretch I slip up, big time! Chatting away at a BBQ, as I am inclined to do, I lean in for the nibbles plate and pop something in my mouth… Literally, minutes later I gasp “ohhhhh, I just ate Prosciutto! And I’m supposed to be vegetarian!!! ”.
Day 7’s hangover was a lot to bear without bacon and eggs, I must say!
Aside for the little slip up (how much energy went into that highly cured meat?), I am feeling good that we must have reduced our footprint at least for this week. Not sure about the outlandish “reformed carnivore” claim, although I have discovered new recipes, which will help incorporate at least 1-2 nights vego each week I think.

Reusable Nappy Week

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:41:19 +0000

Reusable Nappy Week is on from the 12th to the 18th of October. This national event has been running now for four years and is aimed at increasing awareness of reusable nappy options. During this week various displays, information sessions, gatherings and activities are being held in cities all over Australia to give parents the chance to see a large selection of modern variations on reusable nappies and to talk to parents who use cloth on their children. To find out what is on in your area visit http://www.reusablenappyweek.com.au/events.htm .

Research has shown that using cloth nappies is seven times better for the environment and can save two tonnes of landfill per baby*. Nappies take centuries to decompose and research has also shown that cloth nappies are better for baby and the washing/hanging out/putting away nappies for a baby in cloth full time takes 7 minutes a day – less time than it takes to go to the store and return home with a box of disposable nappies.

In the UK there has been considerable support for the use of reusable nappies with some councils providing cash incentives to encourage parents to switch. Significant research has been conducted by the UK’s Environment Agency on the comparative impacts of cloth versus disposable nappies.

Figures (from www.reusablenappyweek.com.au website)

1.375 Billion disposable nappies used annually in Australia and New Zealand¹.
3.75 Million disposable nappies dumped every single day in these 2 nations alone¹.
3 Million trees felled every year to make disposable nappies for Australia / New Zealand¹.
100 intestinal viruses leach from untreated human waste at rubbish dumps, contaminating ground water at land fill and creating risks to sanitation workers.
50% of total household waste will be disposable nappies, in a household with 1 baby using disposable nappies full time¹.
7 times better for the environment, reusable nappies compared to one use nappies³.
2 Tonnes of landfill created by each baby in disposable nappies full time¹.
1 degree hotter the average temperature of a boy’s testicles in a disposable nappy – possibly related to increases in infertility and testicular cancer of the last 25 years².

1. Zero Waste New Zealand website.
2. BMA Press Office
3. Milieu Centraal in Utrecht, Holland, 2007

* from http://www.reusablenappyweek.com.au/default.htm

The Best Sustainable Restaurants

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:37:44 +0000

The Sydney Morning Herald recently ran an article on sustainable restaurants in NSW. The top ten restaurants listed used seasonal local, organic and free range ingredients and many of the restaurants went a step further by composting food waste, using waterless woks and even recycling water from the loos through reed beds.

Travelling long distances to frequent a sustainable restaurant is probably not the best bet, but checking out the credentials of local eateries and identifying the more sustainable options is a great idea. But what constitutes a sustainable eatery? A restaurant, cafe or takeaway will have reduced environmental impacts if it does the following (the more the better).

uses predominantly local, seasonal food
uses organic and free range produce
uses fairtrade or similar ethical produce
fish from sustainable fisheries, locally caught
waste is composted, packaging is recycled
renewable energy purchased or generated onsite
water use is minimised and water is recycled
tap water not bottled water is offered
packaging is unavoidable for take aways, but recyclable or compostable take away containers are better
plastic bags avoided for take aways, or alternatives such as recycled paper bags used instead
recycled or recyclable paper cups for take away coffee
low emission home delivery vehicles

The Sydney Morning Herald’s top ten were:

Billy Kwong, Surry Hills

Ingredients include organic and biodynamic produce and additive and preservative free sauces. There is no bottled water, only filtered tap water. The owner, Kylie Kwong’s, next plan is for a waterless wok.

Red Lantern, Surry Hills

Luke Nguyen’s Vietnamese restaurant composts and recycles and uses a waterless wok burner. It uses line-caught fish; free-range pork and beef; and organic fruit, vegetables, coffee and poultry.

Courtney’s Brasserie, Parramatta

We’re impressed by the blackboard map that traces a 200-kilometre radius around chef Paul Kuipers, in which he searches for local produce with an emphasis on seasonality and organics.

Eurolounge, Castle Hill

Here’s a great example of thinking globally and acting locally, with the kitchen scraps and coffee grinds going to local gardeners, shredded paper recycled by a pet store and a menu seeking local produce and organic wines.

Becasse, city

Chef Justin North buys straight from the farm gate, forming strong bonds with farmers who share his approach to sustainability. In return, he showcases their work in regular producer lunches.

Sean’s Panaroma, Bondi Beach

Every week for more than a decade, Sean Moran has taken scraps to his Blue Mountains hideaway to nurture the land, returning with the rewards, from fruit and herbs to eggs, chicken and even beef. Order herbal tea and they’ll pick it fresh.

REGIONAL

La Table, Mullumbimby

In the hippie hills near Byron Bay, this French bistro leads the way as a paid-up Slow Food member with a focus on local organic suppliers, including greens and herbs grown in nearby Newrybar.

Hungry Duck, Berry

David Campbell already has the organic runs on the board at The Book Kitchen in Surry Hills but takes it to another level with an organic garden at his Berry weekender, supplying herbs and veggies. He also uses composting and organic meats.

Grazing, Gundaroo

This 19th-century heritage hotel has a large kitchen garden producing heirloom vegetables. Nothing is wasted. Even the loo water is recycled through reed beds, while the chickens supply eggs. Home-brew beer sounds sustainable to us, too.

Neila, Cowra

Chef Anna Wong grows much of the produce — from Chinese dates to olives — with her partner, Jerry Mouzakis, on their farm. They adhere to the “100-mile” principle of sourcing food locally.