It all sounds very idealistic, but research recently conducted by Ikea has found that householders in UK and Ireland (where the research was done) not only ‘want a kitchen with built in energy efficiency, but they are looking for an inherently green space in which the garden and kitchen merge, allowing food to be grown in both areas’.

I love the idea of having a green kitchen, with fresh herbs, maybe even the odd strawberry or tomato on tap. But the reality for me is that I can’t keep plants alive. It seems I am not alone. Rigging up a system of hydroponics could be the answer, with inventions like the nano-garden taking low maintenance to a new level. However, I get the feeling the low tech option will require much less energy and material and will also do positive things for our internal air quality. So to incorporate living features into our green kitchen we need to consider a few things:

• close to the sink so that water used to wash vegetables can be reused to water plants

• easy access to a surface or outside for potting activities/or to put them outside to enjoy the sunshine/rain

• over an easy wipe area to mop up overenthusiastic watering

• may need to place the pots in a plate of water to prevent ants

• direct access to sunlight

• in an area that is easy to get to, but out of reach of toddlers

With the kitchen capable of generating up to a quarter of domestic greenhouse gases through cooking and refrigeration, I’ve already got the energy efficient appliances. I’ve got my waste separation area in my future kitchen all I’ve got to do now is persuade the bank manager, oh and get someone to design it for me.

The small vertical access turbine ‘eddy’ which has been created for home or office use, starts turning in 8 mile per hour winds. It is 4′6” wide by 5′3” tall. Unlike horizontal axis wind turbines no mechanism is needed to turn the wind turbine towards the wind meaning better performance in areas where a tall tower isn’t feasible, obstacles are nearby or the wind is more turbulent. Therefore they are better suited for harvesting air flow found around buildings and other obstacles, situations more common in areas where people live. They are also quiet.

Urban Green Energy are expanding into Australia and will be installing vertical axis wind turbines in Australia in the coming months. We’ll be heading over to check them out when they are up and running.

For more information check out the Urban Green Energy website.

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/.

]]> http://greenbeings.com.au/greenroom/index.php/2010/07/02/carbon-offset-t-shirts/feed/ 0 http://greenbeings.com.au/greenroom/index.php/2010/06/03/evohe-sustainable-luxury-testin/ http://greenbeings.com.au/greenroom/index.php/2010/06/03/evohe-sustainable-luxury-testin/#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:01:35 +0000 admin http://greenbeings.com.au/greenroom/?p=593 Ethical, sustainable business practices, certified organic, fair trade ingredients, 100% Australian made and owned. Eco-product credentials don't come much better than that. Evohe represents a new generation of independent businesses that are serious about sustainable life and business practices. Headed by Meg and Baz Forrester, this couple has created a range of eco-beauty products that provide true sustainable luxury. Products are free of palm oil and we've got a range of their products for you to try. ]]> Ethical, sustainable business practices, certified organic, fair trade ingredients, 100% Australian made and owned. Eco-product credentials don’t come much better than that. Evohe represents a new generation of independent businesses that are serious about sustainable life and business practices. Headed by Meg and Baz Forrester, this couple has created a range of eco-beauty products that provide true sustainable luxury. Products are free of palm oil, synthetics and glycerine, include Australian bushflower essences and truly luxurious ingredients such as Arctic cloudberry, Amaranth, Wild Rosella, Lotus and more. Evohe adheres to the NIRC truth labelling pledge and state specifically the percent of certified organic ingredients that are used. The packaging is recyclable and biodegradable.

Their ‘minimised comprehensive range’ means that the products are potent so that they can be used sparingly and are suitable for many skin types and conditions. That way you don’t need to buy different sets of products for yourself, your partner and your kids.

The range of products is extensive and includes daily skincare, Evohe essence, body-hair care, treatments, eco tools and accessories (think recycled steel and bamboo) as well as the Evohe colours range or mineral makeup. What’s more they will soon be offering a spa range.

We have a bit of mutual love going on here, we love their products and business philosophy, and we want to share the love around. So we’ve got half a dozen Evohe trial packs to put out to our testing panel as we are keen to find out what you think.

Inside each pack you’ve got:

• Cleanse
• Mist
• Moisture 24/7
• Omega 369
• Silica mask
• Exfoliate
• Body mist
• Repair intensive
• Omega body
• Body polish
• And finally a trial size sample of their mineral make up.

So if you fancy a bit of sustainable luxury, email us back when you see our product panel call out email.

The fuel pellets can be created from various biomass sources, including compacted sawdust, agricultural waste, in particular sugar cane, but also wood chips, waste paper and other organic materials.  The pelletising process involves breaking up the source material, drying it so the final product has a moisture content below 10%, then applying pressure to force it through a screen. This produces uniform pellets with a much higher density than the original materials. The final pellets have a density four times greater than traditional wood products and due to their small uniform size, can be more efficiently transported in bulk.

According to the Water, Materials, Energy, Strategy magazine (February 2010) there is a rapidly growing customer base. The president of Global NRG, a private company specialising in waste to energy projects, has even considered the use of the Northern Territory’s woody weeds as a fuel source. The government spends millions trying to eradicate and control these, and harvesting them for commercial purposes would reduce the environmental damage and fire risks they pose, and the pellets could be exported or used to fire power plants for remote mine sites.

You can buy pellet heaters for the home. Although these look the same as wood stoves, pellet stoves have a hopper full of extra fuel that sits above the flames.  The pellets are gravity fed into the stove at a constant rate. Most have a feeding mechanism that ensures the right amount of fuels is added to the fire. Pellets burn more efficiently than wood and pellet stoves are credited with providing even heat that spreads from the stove. You can apparently burn pellets in a traditional wood stove by getting a wood stove insert.

So this is another thing to think about when planning the eco renovation.

Its not news to Etiko, their founder Nick Savaidis was acutely aware of the positive impact that a company can have on people and communities – if it wanted to. Etiko’s ethically produced sportswear is the first non food range to receive Fairtrade certification and it is Savaidis’s hope that his range will triumph over the big brands such as Nike.

The competition is on as the big brands have cottoned on to the fact that today’s customers are looking more critically at products. Nike’s CEO Mark Parker realises that doing the right thing in terms of waste reduction, renewable energy and factory conditions is good for business.  In  Nike’s 2007-2009 sustainability report the CEO admits past mistakes with respect to labour conditions. Their new focus is on transparency and innovation to, in their words, ‘prototype the future rather than retro fit the past’. Eco-design is the new buzz word and when developing products, consideration is now given to everything involved with bringing a product to market, from raw materials sourcing to transportation. They have also sought to reduce the impacts of their manufacturing activities through the use of renewables such as solar and wind power on some of their facilities.

When big companies move into the sustainability arena, they bring money, resources and power, and can have a significant sway in terms of the performance of their supply chain which can only be a good thing. But where does that leave companies like Etiko?

Without the big marketing budgets of the big competitors, their success comes about through word of mouth, and whilst performance of products is key to their success, it seems they have a no compromise approach. While for Nike, sustainability is an add on, for Etiko it truly is core to the business and many consumers will go to great lengths to buy into that.

Etiko is a niche brand, and like other ethical brands, these products have a personality and a story which brands like Nike will have trouble matching.

Etiko’s awards

The 2008 Premier’s Sustainability Award – Small Business (Victoria),

2008 Banksia Environmental Foundation Award – Business Sustainability,

2008 Telstra Business Award – Social Responsibility (Victoria)

Winner of the 2008 FSC Responsible Forest Management Awards – Small Chain of Custody Operator of the Year.

Of course increasing energy efficiency and reducing energy demands in the home through solar hot water and insulation and investing in energy efficient appliances are the first steps to take, but here’s what you can do to generate power:

Photovoltaics

There are several different types of panel available and photovoltaic panels can either be grid connected or off-grid. Most connect into the grid as you get credited for any excess electricity produced, and when not producing electricity, for example, at night, the electricity is supplied by the usual mains power grid.

As there are no moving parts the solar panel modules can be expected to last several decades. As well as the solar panel, other components of a household solar power system include an inverter, which converts the direct current from the cells to alternating current used in homes. Also a two way electricity meter is required to allow surplus power from the solar cells to be directed to the electricity grid. Solar panels should face north in Australia to take full advantage of the sun. The systems come in various sizes. We found the Energy Matters site extremely useful. It suggests a 4kW system will cover 100% of the energy consumption of a medium energy use household. A 1kW system is currently the ‘entry point’ for grid connect and attracts the most rebate per watt, and will cover up to 25% of the energy consumption of a medium household.

The time it takes to pay back the costs of the PV system depends on the size of system installed. Many countries have a feed-in tariff (premium rate paid for electricity fed back into the electricity grid from designated renewable electricity generation source). Unfortunately Australia currently has no nationalised feed in tariff and the rates paid vary from state to state (click here for more info).

Wind

To find out if installing a wind turbine is going to be worthwhile you need to know whether your average wind speed is above 5m/s.  Ideal places are in the country, on farms or on the coast and away from built up areas. So this is not as suitable for urban areas as solar. If you want to find out more, again Energy Matters has some great information on their site to help work out if windpower is suitable for you.  

Natural gas

Australia homeowners will shortly be able to product their own electricity on site from natural gas. BlueGen is a gas to electric generation unit about the size of a small dishwasher, which contains a stack of ceramic fuel cells. It is currently being trialled at a sustainable home in the Melbourne suburb of Epping. According to the literature producing electricity on site through this means can reduce a home’s carbon footprint by five times as much as is possible from a solar PV system. In the home the BlueGen unit connects to the existing gas inlet and the hot water system. Air and gas is fed into the unit and a chemical reaction takes place, producing both electricity and heat, which can produce 200 litres of hot water each day. Over the course of a year each BlueGen unit can produce about 17,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, more than twice the power needed for an average Australian home. Surplus electricity can be sold back to the power grid. It is claimed electricity created through BlueGen can save more than $1,000 off the annual energy bill of the average Australian home. Through the combined production of electricity and heat gives an efficiency of 85% making it the most efficient power generation system of its kind in the world. In contrast electricity derived from brown coal is about 25% efficient, with 75% of the energy produced is lost as heat at the power station or in the transmission and distribution of electricity.

BlueGen units will be available to Australian consumers in the next few months, via green retailer Neco.

The slabs are designed to be prominent in order to encourage pedestrians to step on them. Five percent of the sustainable energy created from each step is expended on lighting up the slabs LED — which also serves to demonstrate the energy transfer was successful.

Among the various applications for the remaining energy are ideas around powering traffic lights, safety signs and other outdoor ambient items that require electricity. Pavegen’s slabs have already been trialled in East London, with the developers now seeking investment.

This eco innovation is being taken a step further. Pavegen systems is working with one of the leading recycled rubber slab manufacturers to offer tactile paving slabs that generates energy at pedestrian crossings. Often lighting is used in these areas to make pedestrians more visible, busy crossings can now be self sufficient increasing the safety of users with a retro fitted Pavegen slab that requires no grid connection. The rubber is produced from 100% recycled car tyres.

Designs are currently being finalised for a stair based unit that is currently producing 25% of the total energy for a London tube station, Pavegen believe the next model will produce nearer 40%.

For more information visit http://www.pavegensystems.com/about.php

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.

1. Australia’s Earth Hour initiative has now gone global.
2. Establishment of carbon credits and offsetting.
3. Eco rating labelling on buildings (NABERs etc) and appliances.
4. Release of the Toyota Prius and a new generation of hybrid cars.
5. Government support for green initiatives including waste separation and collection as well as rebates for water tanks, solar panels, roof insulation etc.
6. 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.
7. Emergence of eco directories such as Green Pages and the Eco Directory.
8. Towns take the initiative banning plastic bags and plastic water bottles.
9. The internet has made it easier to recycle through sites such as eBay or Gumtree.
10. Organic produce is easier and cheaper to obtain and farmers markets have seen a resurgence.

EthicalJobs.com.au is a new job-search site for people looking for a meaningful job or career, and for employers who see their organisations as contributing to a more equitable, more just or more sustainable world.

Increasingly we’re finding people who see their work as part of who they are, not just something to make a living from.  More and more people want the work they do to contribute to a more just or more sustainable world.  Unfortunately, though many people would love a job where they feel they’re contributing to a better world, they’re often unable to find one.

That’s why we’ve launched EthicalJobs.com.au – to bring together people and organisations with a passion for sustainability and justice, and to provide resources to help people find a great job or career.

Jobseekers can use the website to find jobs, access resources on how to find an ethical job, subscribe to our free weekly e-newsletter, or contribute to our Ethical Jobs Blog.

What challenges have you faced?

Getting the technology for the site up and running was a pretty big feat – it ended up taking about 9 months to design and build the site – much longer than the 3 month’s I’d originally hoped for.

But our biggest challenge has been distinguishing ourself in a crowded market – there are apparently over 120 job-search sites in Australia!  We think we’re really unique in the market though – no-one else is advertising ethical jobs -  so it’s really been a case of trying to reach as many people as we can on a really tight budget, which is certainly not easy.

Early on I decided that rather than giving lots of money to advertising companies, we’d use our marketing funds to support community organisations that are doing great work on social and environmental issues, in return for their help in publicising the site to their members.  This seems to be working pretty well, and it’s also a real pleasure to be able to support so many fantastic small community organisations!

What advice could you give others starting out?

• Everything takes 2-3 times longer than you think it will – everything!
• Find a great office environment to work from – we share a funky open-plan office in Collingwood with a few other small businesses, and the support and camaraderie we get is invaluable.
• You can’t plan for most things, so don’t wait until everything is perfect before launching – just get started and work the problems out as you go.

Where, if anywhere, did you find support?

I get daily support from the other organisations that share our office, which is fantastic, even if it’s just a quick “how are you going?”.  Reading books and listening to podcasts from people who’ve done it before also provides heaps of new ideas and moral support that other have been through this before.  And of course being able to count on friends and family to chat about what I’m doing and the inevitable frustrations is invaluable.

Do you feel the government is doing enough to support the industry?

I don’t think we really need government support.  But obviously with the federal stimulus helping to create lots of new green and community jobs, we’re very appreciative!

Michael Cebon www.ethicaljobs.com.au

Chilli Promotions is a Melbourne based promotions company that is now proudly 100% carbon neutral. We are the first promotions company in Australia to go carbon neutral. All carbon emissions involved in both promotional output and day to day running of our business have been calculated and offset through the purchase of carbon credits.  Carbon credits selected are those from the Kamataka Renewable Energy Project in India where renewable energy is created from the collection and clean burning of waste agricultural products, such as rice husks, purchased from local farmers. By preventing the crops from rotting methane emissions are avoided. The Project also feeds electricity into the grid and replaces electricity generation from fossil fuels. The farmers are paid for their waste, providing a new source of income for the local community.

What challenges have you faced?

We’ve found the transition into being a carbon neutral business and selling carbon neutral products a slightly formidable task, due to the product and decoration variables within this industry.

The Carbon Reduction Institute assists in the auditing and calculation and therefore endorses us and our products as being 100% Carbon Offset.

Educating our clients about our move to carbon neutral has proven to be a challenge, especially due to the amount of eco-confusion that is out there. We have found that many consumers were wary of our claims, and it was upon us to ensure that our motives were justified. Working with a reputable institution helped instil a greater level of confidence.

Essentially our major challenge has been reinforcing to our clients that we are absorbing the cost of their products being carbon offset. Many thought it would cost extra and, with this tight economic climate, we had to be careful to reassure our clients that this is a significant benefit for them.

What advice could you give others starting out?

Research Research!

We cannot stress enough the importance of exploring all avenues. With ‘greenwashing’ so prevalent in the marketplace, a strong environmental message must have credibility. If all aspects aren’t carefully thought out and researched, launching a project of this proportion could be a PR nightmare.

We strongly advise liaising with different companies that offer services – you really need to do the due diligence.

Where, if anywhere, did you find support?

We first met the Carbon Reduction Institute (CRI) at the Sydney Retail Expo in 2008, and we also read about them in Choice Magazine.  We made the decision to make our business and all of our promotional products carbon neutral after extensive discussions with the CRI.  The CRI were very knowledgeable and explained clearly all the steps necessary to make this transition, and they also explained in detail the type of carbon reduction program we were to support.  Since becoming carbon neutral on July 1st this year, we receive continual and weekly support from the CRI when calculating each product’s offset at the end of every month. We purchased a carbon calculator to aid in our costings for the products and the environmental damage.

Do you feel the government is doing enough to support the industry?

We feel the Government are keen to see Australian businesses go green and carbon neutral, but we have not had any direct support from the Government.  However, we have had a very positive response from all of our Government clients whom we produce promotional products for.  We are finding that most of our Government clients are working towards being green aware and reducing their carbon footprint which makes for a great partnership with us as their promotional products supplier.  Our customers have the use of a logo we produced: ‘This product is 100 % Carbon Offset’, in conjunction with theirs to get the message out there.

Andy Galbally, Director of Chilli Promotions, www.chillipromotions.com.au

This is the first company in our Eco Innovators feature. Here we find out where the idea for CackleberryKids came from and how the initial vision became a reality.

What is your product / service and why did you create it?

Cackleberry Kids is a clothing company that has designed a range specifically for little boys aged 3 months to 6 years of age.  Our garments are designed and made in Australia using Australian made fabrics as often as possible, with the use of 100% cotton, wools and natural fibres at all times.  Our manufacturing is carried out in an accredited “No Sweat Shop Label” production facility.  Our newly released KIAMBU Collection incorporates a range of Certified Organic cotton tees  and our nursery linen incorporates the use of bamboo for the wadding for our comforters.
We started our label to cater for a huge gap in the market, boy’s clothing.  We found that there was a huge lack of choice in the market place here in Australia and also internationally.

What challenges have you faced?
We have found it extremely hard to keep everything here in Australia and know that if we were to move our operations overseas, then our cost would be significantly reduced.  However our philosophy is to stay true to our core, which is to have a successful, high quality clothing label for little boys here in Australia.  Sourcing fabrics has also been a challenge and we have waited ever so patiently for our Australian Fabric suppliers to grow their organic range so that we could move in that direction.  We are hoping to increase our organic range as we grow our business.  It’s interesting in terms of people’s perceptions; some think that ‘organic’ is some weird hippy thing whilst others assume it means that you are extremely expensive. At times though some praise you for being Australian made however baulk at the pricing as they still expect you to be in the “China” pricing brackets.

Also because of the demise in our Australian textile industry, sourcing companies here in Australia that are able to produce in the volumes that we sometimes require is difficult.  We have sourced some fabulous organic fabrics, however because they don’t have the structures in place to support them and allow them to grow, they are not able to produce their materials as quickly as they would like – it can be frustrating for all.

What advice could you give others starting out?
Do your research and find out as much as you can about the companies that you are working with.  Stay true to your vision and don’t allow yourself to be swayed by others.  Keep learning about different processes, materials and new ideas coming onto the market.  Ask lots of questions!

Where, if anywhere, did you find support?
Our support came from those we work with.  For example, our printer is an accredited Green printer, our photos are taken by an award winning photographer who is Green and has an environmental focus.  Many of our clients support us because they too want to leave our planet in a far better way for our children than what we have to date.

Do you feel the government is doing enough to support the industry?
No, unfortunately not really.  There is much talk about “Going Green” however the back end doesn’t necessarily support the working model.  I know that there are a few grants on offer, however, they are extremely hard to win and then are mainly focused on those that use Technology that is ‘Green’ rather than supporting Design in general to take on a Green approach.