Here at YFC, we are serious about sustainability. And with Earth Day this Thursday 22nd April, we’re in the mood to honour, celebrate and give a loving hug to this amazing planet! As this year’s Earth Day theme is ‘Together, we can restore our Earth’, we figure now is the perfect time to highlight the Earth-loving sustainability efforts of some of our favourite local businesses. Read on to discover what these guys are doing to nurture the planet and help secure our future - it’s pretty cool.
1. Bee the Change : Amber Drop Honey
Ana and Sven from Amber Drop Honey are not your typical beekeepers. After learning about the global decline of bee populations and the devastating impact this could have on our food supply chain they sprang into action. Bees are arguably the most invaluable species to life on earth. Most of us admire bees for the honey they produce. But bees play one of the most important roles in our world today. Bees are considered as the pillars of agriculture for the important work they do in pollination. If you’ve ever enjoyed most fruit, vegetables and other crops you should generally thank the bees! 
Earth fact: 84% of the crops grown for human consumption need bees to pollinate to increase yield and quality
Along with producing amazing honey, Ana and Sven also rescue hives that would otherwise be exterminated and give the bees a new home and nurture them. Plus, they give a small portion of sales to Save Our Bees Australiato help raise awareness.
2. Soil Stars: Australian Organic Food Co
The crew at Australian Organic Food Co are passionate about helping us make a difference to this world by creating yummy foods that have been grown locally and farmed sustainably - and it starts with the soil.
Earth fact: 95% of our food comes from the soil, yet industrial and chemical-heavy farming (pesticides, herbicides, and other fossil-fuel based fertilisers) has depleted over 1/3 of the world’s fertile soil.
With this in mind Australian Organic Food Co choose to work with farmers and producers who are 100% on board with soil health and use regenerative farming practices. The team says ‘change starts with your plate - so get eating!’, and we have to agree.
3. Re-use Rockstars: Community Refill
Not only do Will and Gabby from Community Refill create cleaning products without toxic nasties that actually work, their products come in packaging (mostly glass) that can be reused, refilled and/or recycled with ease.
Earth fact: Glass produced from recycled glass reduces related air pollution by 20% and related water pollution by 50%.
We love Community Refill’s business mission to leave a positive mark on the world while keeping us clean and healthy!
4. Dedicated Do-Gooders: Dharma Bums
Would you practice yoga wearing nothing but plastic bottles?? Sydney-based Dharma Bums make amazing activewear with sustainability top of mind, making recycled, durable fabric out of post-consumer PET bottles. These fabrics reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators – while using 85% less energy and producing 50% less CO2 emissions. For every 16-18 PET bottles recycled, Dharma Bums can make one pair of leggings!
Earth fact: A staggering half a trillion PET bottles are produced around the world, each and every year. Around 80 per cent of these end up in landfill where they take almost 500 years to break down.
5. Eyes to the Future: Dresden Vision
The folk at Dresden Vision are on a mission to bring high-quality, sustainably made prescription glasses to anyone in the world, no matter where they live and how much money they have.
Their funky frames are made from recycled plastic, including plastic from discarded fishing nets!
Plus, in order to meet their zero-waste mandate, Dresden reuses excess dye-coloured plastic waste from their eyewear moulds to create one-of-a-kind transitional frames with blended colours - nice!
6. Future Lovers: Love Food Hate Waste
In NSW, more than a third of the waste we send to landfill is food. That adds up to about $10 billion worth of good food that’s being thrown away every year by NSW households! Love Food Hate Waste is all about helping households and businesses tackle the problem, for the Earth’s sake. Oh, and think of the money you could save when food isn't wasted!
6. Packing a Punch: Grounded Packaging
We’d normally say it’s what’s on the inside that matters, but when it comes to packaging and sustainability, the wrapper is just as important! Grounded Packaging is all over it, promoting a shift away from society's current ‘single-use’ mentality by creating a circular economy system aimed at eliminating waste and promoting continual use of resources. They do this by
- Removing unnecessary packaging and/or plastics
- Looking to reduce the amount of materials used in existing packaging formats
- Moving to fully recyclable materials
- Introducing recycled or bio-based content into the current materials in order to move away from virgin petrochemical resins
- Moving into more interesting and innovative solutions like home compostable films and/or laminates where appropriate
7. Little Things Matter: Mama P
The friendly team at Mama P are conscious about their impact on the earth and strive to do better and be better everyday. The Mama P philosophy aims to:
- Reduce - by calculating every item that comes into the cafe and finding ways to reduce wastage - especially food packaging and food mileage - for a lower carbon footprint. They also favour LED lighting and water saving appliances.
- Re-use - In the cafe, BYO cups and containers are welcome and you’ll find reusable straws. Unused table water gets poured into the plants, and single use plastic is a no-no.
- Recycle - All food scraps are whisked away and commercially composted to be used on local council gardens, all cardboard either reused or recycled, other waste separated for recycling.
8. Yippee for YOU!
Yep, we reckon YOU are an Earth Day legend too! Thank you for showing up, supporting local and continuing to care - every effort, big or small makes a difference. Give yourself, and the Earth, a big celebratory hug today.
