Office & Tech

Green plant love

 

In some moist and Heavenly place
We will set it out to grow.

– Edna St Vincent Millay, from “The Blue-Flag in The Bog”

A place where nothing grows usually means bad news. A toxic environment certainly, if nothing natural can survive. So this should have been a dire warning to me when I moved in to a basement flat three years ago, and none of my house plants survived to the next months rent payment.

Being a lover of nature, I was dismayed not to have any greenery in my living environment. I tried my best with the courtyard garden – a rarity in Central London and the reason for taking the flat in the first place – but with only four hours direct sunlight a day at best, it was only dense, forest plants like ferns that flourished in that garden. Fuschias withered before they had a chance to be popped; a stack of basil plants  produced enough leaves for only a few tablespoons of pesto. It was a garden where plants came to die.

The situation has, thankfully, improved.   Having endured over two years of the basement flat of dodgy wiring, scary neighbours and no sun, we now have a beautiful home in the country with a living room that gets all day sun, ideal for cultivating a little family of house plants.

Me and My Plant is a campaign currently running in the UK to encourage people to consider getting a house plant for the amazing benefits they provide. Here’s just a few of them: Keep reading…

For the love of recycled paper.

An interest of mine treading close to obsession: products made from recycled paper and cardboard. It started in earnest with all things stationery, and is blossoming into general infatuation with the whole design potential of this wonderfully versatile medium. For example, I utterly adore this chair, below, made by designer Sarah Mouchot under her cardboard-loving label Bibi Carton. Anyhow, in trying not to get too carried away, today’s post shares some designs made with this most abundant of post-consumer resources, in the theme of festive gifting.

Ben, cardboard chair by Bibi Carton. What's not to want?

Natural, 100% recycled paper card stock is the all the rage, yo. And right now, I’m pretending to be your loving conscience, prodding you to not leave getting these things ’til the last minute. I’m talking about cards, gift tags, wrapping papers and er, ‘stocking fillers’. (Do people really still do that? let’s collectively call them ‘delightful finishing touches’.) Actually, I’m nagging you to order online now, if you’re thinking about it. Nag nag, do it. Order. Time is of the essence, children. Here are my picks.

Earth Greetings, with Inaluxe.

Earth Greetings have teamed up with designers Kristina Sostarko and Jason Odd, from Inaluxe. But don’t just ask us, State of Green have ALL the info, and are selling them online. They’re also available in-store at Green Collective, or from Earth Greetings‘ online store, direct. Options abound! Cards are $5.95 each or in super-value packs, $14.95 for 10. I’m in looooove with the wrapping paper though, $5.95 per sheet. Never mind the presents, I’d buy this for myself as a wall print. Hmm. Now that’s an idea!

Inaluxe wrapping paper and card design, from Earth Greetings.

If you wanted the actual Christmas themed cards from Earth Greetings, you’d also be sponsoring a tree planted through Trees for Life. $14.95 for a pack of 10. The gift tags come in the same 5 designs, $6.95 for a pack of 10. The safe bet.

Earth Greetings Christmas gift tags and card set.

Velvet Lyric, on Etsy.

These cute gumnut inspired cards come also come with colour coordinated holly & ivy gift tags. Designed by Elizabeth Dansie, an interior designer turned experimental stationer, these cards are just one bright pick from her well-sized range. Cards, $4 each available via Etsy. Gift tags, available from Green Collective.

Velvet Lyric cards & gift tags by Elizabeth Dansie. Doily cards by Kyrie Kohlhagen.

Messagemark, with Kyrie Kohlhagen.

Designed by Adelaide-based artist Kyrie Kohlhagen, Christmas doily message cards are chlorine free, and the whole process adopts a closed loop ethos, where by-products of the papermaking & printing process are reused and recycled. Available via Passionfroot.com at $20 for a pack of 10.

Left: Skye's the limit gift tags and right: Ask alice notebook.

Skye’s the limit gift tags.

Made with heavyweight card and natural string, by Sydney designer Skye Rogers. Packs contain 3 different styles. Available via Notemaker, $9.50 for 12. Simple & classy.

Ask alice

Ask alice also adopt a closed-loop practice, expending as low carbon miles as possible – or should we say kilometres? All materials are sourced within a 5km radius of production in Melbourne. Founder and designer Sass Cocker is quite serious about ethical business and sustainability. This 48 page notebook is a perfectly good value gift at $6.95. The range is available online through NoteMaker or try here for stockists.

–

Cassie.

Some inner-west house hunting on the weekend prompted a wee detour over to Yarraville. Across the road from the train station on Anderson St, I stumbled on Green Collective, the store front for Green Collect:  an amazing social enterprise helping divert reuseable and recoverable waste from contributing to Melbourne’s landfill.

Green Collect has been around for quite a few years now and I’d heard about their CBD collection programs for offices, but it’s always pretty exciting to come across a shop full of amazing, eco and ethical goods that’s also offering recycling services. Especially when I happen to be madly spring cleaning.

These guys can be very useful for you if you’re having a bout of the cleanouts. If you’ve got computer gear past its usable date, you need to dispose of that shit ethically. I know I’ve got a stash of batteries, toner cartridges and scratched to death discs I’ve been accumulating until I could find somewhere safe to dispose of them, and this is where they’re now going.

Green Collective will take used printer and toner cartridges as well as mobile phones, DVDs and other small IT accessories at their Yarraville and Brunswick stores and work their re-use-y magic with them.

Computers, printers and monitors can also be offloaded for around $10, which is a very small price to pay to know your former hardwares will be avoiding local landfill, and/or being shipped to third world countries as toxic waste. Take some comfort in knowing that you’re also supporting a service which is providing training and employment opportunities in some of Melbourne’s more socioeconomically disadvantaged areas.

While you’re there, shop their extensive range of eco cleaning products, gifts and homewares.

www.greencollect.org

Green Collective Store locations:

71 Anderson Street, Yarraville, Victoria 3013, Australia
Open Monday to Friday 9.30am – 5pm; Saturday 10am – 4pm
Phone 9314 4987

318 Victoria Street, Brunswick, Victoria 3056, Australia
Open Monday to Friday 9.30am – 5pm; Saturday 10am – 4pm
Phone 9387 5926

- Cassie.

P.S. Don’t forget that our first giveaway is happening in our newsletter this week. Sign up today to be in the running for a BYO Cup!

 

 

This website is a 100% labour of love. We’re here to bring great quality, passionately reviewed ethical, ecological and sustainable options to intelligent, tasteful and compassionate individuals who want to do the right thing, and live well at the same time.

In the sidebar to the left you can see a snapshot of some of the kinds of products, services and businesses that we will be covering here, introducing you to (and giving away too… ooh!).

Superéthique is Melbourne-based, Australia-wide in scope (we’ll be expanding nationally, soon), and will frequently feature international products and businesses.

We believe it’s easy to be good, and our mission is to make it even easier. To read more about what we do and who we are, click here.

Our first review will be hitting the front page by the weekend of Saturday 6th August, 2011, and we’re phenomenally excited about it!

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Thank you so much for joining us – we’re thrilled to be starting this journey with you.

Ming-Zhu & Cassie. x

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