Almost there...

Alchemy by Tanya Stubbles
For ever I've wanted to open a store. somewhere that's part lounge room, part store, part office, part workshop. A welcome space, where you can be free to wander and have a good look at the goodies.

Well, it's almost there!! We'll be upstairs at 409 Princes Highway, Woonona in conjunction with Manic Organic wholefood store. The space is generous, airy and we'll be sharing with Supertrash (mid 20th century design furniture and treats), with works by Tanya Stubbles (awesome artist) gracing the walls.

Only 7 sleeps to go.....

Lifestyle before Landfill

Ever cruised by one of those enormous roadside billboards and wonder what happens to them at the end of the advertising campaign? Me either. I've since found out from Scott @ Haul, those billboards are actually UV treated (which means their colours stay true outdoors and don't fade away) PVC.

Printing on this plastic makes it impossible to recycle at the end of the campaign. That means tonnes and tonnes and tonnes of the stuff is destined for landfill EACH YEAR. (Approximately 850 tonnes to be slightly more precise) Lucky for us, Scott - founder of Australian street culture brand Haul, saw the potential. Each year Haul divert approximately 35 tonnes of these PVC banners from being buried as landfill. The creative talents of the Haul team scrub, stitch and breathe fresh life into this discarded material, reincarnating plastic into innovative, hard-wearing gear.

Drop your satchel at the door, unload the shopping (swim gear/ laundry...) and then lounge around on your beanbag blob, in the warm glow of knowing you've done something good for us all ! (supporting locally made, innovative business, kept materials in the loop, investing in stuff that won't fall apart next week - just in case you were wondering)

Good on you Scott!

(Haul's gear is also certifiable - so says Good Environmental Choice Australia, the national crew who've audited Haul and passed them with flying colours!)

Plastic detritus never looked so good

Remarkable - what a trained artist can construct with up to 3 000 pieces of discarded plastic toys (and no doubt a ridiculous amount of time!) Hats off to Robert Bradford for having the patience, training and aptitude to capture a moment of contemporary culture sourcing materials from local salvage stores, his kids toybox and numerous other locations, whilst keeping the plastic out of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. (Check out David de Rothschild's adventure aboard the Plastiki, raising awareness about this issue.) It's certainly no mean feat to build a pony life size or larger from such tiny itty bits we wish would just all go away.
Thanks to The Cool Hunter, for keeping us up to speed.

Things are going swimmingly (finds from NZ)

Martin Adlington ("Gone Fishing, Back after lunch")

from recycled, found on the local beach & repurposed materials

constructed with a little lateral thinking and a sense of humour. More please!

Salvaged stuff

We love clever folk. On one of our expeditions, we stumbled across these fantastic bowls welded from sheet metal scrap. One talented welder + scrap metal = beautiful heavy duty objects for everyday use.

Eco Kids Festival

Busy weekend! After riding my trusty steed (read: bike) to Wollongong towing my little cargo trailer of market delights on Friday, it was all social fun on Saturday with my little family & set the alarm for 5am to hike up to Luna Park on Sunday. Big day inside the Big Top, glad to be out of the midday sun! Fantastic entertainment for the kids, although I don't know if everyone knew about the eco Market stalls upstairs on the mezzanine deck. Not the largest crowds I've ever experienced, but I did meet some lovely people. Check out Vikki & Jackie's store The Flying Penguin for sustainable toys and visit Nick at Etiko for fantastic sweatshop free, fairtrade footwear & sportsgear. Great to see we've got more & more informed choices available!

Eco Depot delivery system

My pushie my not look too flash, but I stand by Eco Depot's credo -

If you've already got one, use it 'til it breaks

This one has been in for a service or 2 in it's life, has towed the kids around in their little trailer and helped me clear my head on countless occasions. And it's fun to ride.

Well now I'm doing the homework on turning it into my market vehicle. Tracking down a trailer, which will fit on trains is my first hurdle. Not all markets and expos are within my fitness range, so I think between public transport and human power, I should be right. A little cargo trailer will fit the bulk of the market stock in, it'll just test my tetris skills.

Stock has been rolling in for our adventure to the Eco Kids Fest which should be a great day out. As soon as the rain eases, the camera will be out for show and tell.