Proudly 100% Made In Australia
We believe in sustainably made products
There is only one earth and since we don't want our products to harm the planet we love, we utilize regenerative methodology to design and make what we create.
Our products and business are sustainable for the following reasons:
-Use of materials
-Source of materials including renewability
-Source of labor
-Social responsibility
We’ve been plastic-free since we started our business in 2016 and proudly make our products right here in Australia using only natural or recyclable materials. Sourcing materials in Australia and working with Australian vendors and manufacturers means we know people working on our products down the line get a decent wage with safe working conditions. We’re also proud of our manufacturer’s sustainability initiatives.
Ornaments/Tree Toppers: Our wood is cut in Sydney by a small, local business who sources certified materials for our products. The wood we use is poplar plywood, grown in areas across NSW, a great tree to cultivate as poplar cultivation is among the most advanced in the world and an above all environmentally friendly choice for us as it: purifies air, purifies water, improves biodiversity and conserves the environment and cultivations are managed through strict environmental standards. We complete our ornaments and tree toppers by hand-painting them at our studio in Sydney and packaging them with natural jute twine, recycled paper and reusable calico bags.
Greeting Cards: Our cards are printed by a vendor in Melbourne who bundles orders together to eliminate waste and uses non-toxic veggie inks. Our cards are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper and paired with brown kraft envelopes that are made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper. There is no plastic sleeve.
Keychains: For our printed wooden products, we work with a manufacturer in Melbourne who prints on hoop pine with water-based inks which are Greenguard GOLD certified. Hoop pine is cultivated on plantations within Australia unlike comparable wood such as birch which is imported from overseas. Cultivation within Australia purifies air, purifies water, stores carbon, improves biodiversity and conserves the environment. Our manufacturer is also part of a plant a tree initiative and utilizes sustainability practices within their manufacturing.
Lifecycle Analysis/Ornaments
A lifecycle analysis is a way to measure your products environmental impact. We did a lifecycle analysis of our hand-painted wooden ornaments and here’s what we found:
Our ornaments are made from poplar plywood and their story starts with the poplar tree, a great tree to cultivate as poplar cultivation is among the most advanced in the world. Poplar itself has an excellent capacity to purify air and is grown in Australia in areas across New South Wales. Originally grown here to supply the matchstick industry, it is now used in a variety of commercial applications. Poplar is above all an environmentally friendly choice for us as it: purifies air, purifies water, improves biodiversity and conserves the environment and cultivations are managed through strict environmental standards. They are also often located next to their production sites which reduce emissions from transport exhaust. Poplar is also an excellent biofuel, so the entire tree is used in the process, meaning there is no production waste.
Poplar itself is a great and environmentally friendly choice for us to use, but when we did our analysis, we discovered the process of creating the plywood does emit some air pollution from the glue used in the production process. Overall, we feel the benefits of using poplar plywood outweigh the negative, especially as the plywood manufacturing process in general achieves a more complete utilization of the log than most other lumber manufacturing and the wood stores carbon along the way.
“ When we design & create our products we think about how it will impact the environment, from its birth to production, assembly & through its use & disposal. ”
Locally Cut in Sydney | Manufacturers
Our local cutting manufacturer uses lasers to cut the poplar plywood and score the wood creating the basis for our ornaments. There is some hazardous waste produced from this process into the air, but our manufacturer offsets their waste by having signed a Carbon Neutral scheme, meaning they donate the amount of hazard they create to plant trees as a part of a Plant-A-Tree initiative within Australia. Located in Sydney, we collect the cut wood from them and reuse the brown paper packaging they provide all year long to transport our ornaments.
How we prep our ornaments | Our process
Once in the studio, our raw ornaments get stained with a water-based paint, then sealed with a non-toxic PVA glue. We smooth the surface through sanding and then the ornaments are ready to paint. We use heavy metal free water-based acrylic paints and once painted, we seal the surface with a spray that protects it. Here’s where things get tricky for us. The spray that we use adds to the durability and life or our product, but there are some unknowns surrounding it. What we do know is that the spray vaporises almost immediately in the atmosphere - it consists of hydrocarbons that photo chemically decompose under atmospheric conditions. Its persistence and degradability, bioaccumulative potential, mobility in soil and other adverse affects are not known, however. It concerns us that this information is not known, however our research shows the impact is minimal and it extends the life of our product significantly. On the plus side, we recycle the can when we’re done with it and after spraying our ornaments use only recycled or natural materials for packaging.
weak points | social responsibility
Through our analysis we discovered our weakest points are the gluing of the plywood, the spray at the end and our driving to and from the laser cutting company to collect our order. To offset some of our impact, we donate a percentage from select products to corresponding not-for-profits within Australia working within the environmental sector. This is BirdLife Australia, Foundation and Friends of the Botanic Gardens and the Australian Marine Conservation Society. To date we have donated thousands of dollars to help them have an impact with the incredible work that they do.
Complete Cycle | Bring the magic
To complete our life cycle analysis, we looked at the end stage of our ornaments. Our products are made to last a lifetime, so in looking at this we not only look ahead, but back. We remember growing up and decorating the tree each year with our parents and grandparents ornaments. In a world of fast disposable everything, we choose to slow down and take the time to make something that will last. It is our hope that people hold onto our ornaments for generations to come. At the end of their useful life for our customers, we hope they are exchanged or given as small tokens to one another in the future. If not, they are made from natural materials and will decompose into the earth. More than that, though, we hope the plants, animals and habitats that we depict on them are still going strong when their useful lives do end. It has always been our mission to raise awareness through our products by bringing Australian native plants, animals and habitats into your home. If we can connect, we can protect.
