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Plastic can only be recycled 1-2 times in its lifetime, so after that, it ends up in landfill. When in landfill, plastic takes up to 1000 years to breakdown. So think about every plastic water bottle you have used, and know its still sitting in landfill in some shape or form.  It is estimated that each year, people consume at least 50,000 microplastic particles. These microplastics are ingested through things such as seafood and water bottles. Secondly, plastic in general is made up of BPA and phthalates, these are toxic chemicals that can be absorbed through skin contact. These chemicals have been found in things like skincare products and even on receipts. BPA and phthalates have been known to cause endocrine disruption. This means these chemicals have been known to mimic the function of estrogen! If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review or jump onto my Instagram page and let me know @oursustainablelifestylepodcast Thanks for listening, Jo xo

On average, half of what is in your bin at home is food waste. 7.3 million tonnes of food is being thrown away every year in Australia. On average, families could save $3800 per year if you reduce your food waste.  One person alone can waste 300kgs of food per year!  Simples solutions: Meal plan Freeze your meals Compost Use the share waste app  Listen to this episode for more details about the harmful effect food waste has on our environment and more about the solutions we can all start implementing today! If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review or jump onto my Instagram page and let me know @oursustainablelifestylepodcast Thank you for listening, Jo xo

Some of you may not know this, but I LOVE WINE! So I was so excited to interview today's guest, Rahel from Glou Sustainable Wine Dispensary. Rahel is one of the owners of Glou and is originally from Berlin. Her background was enjoying the wonderful world of speciality coffee. What started off to be just a job ended up being a passion and drive to work towards sustainable and ethical approaches to an industry that at times could lead to considerable environmental damage. Fast forward to 2021, Rahel is now living in Melbourne, Australia with her husband exploring the glorious wonders of wine, sustainability and business. Together they created Glou Sustainable Wine Dispensary.   Listen to this episode to find out more about Glou's concept and how they bring you sustainable, delicious and ethical wine. To find out more about Glou, you can find them at: www.glou.com.au 310 Smith Street Collingwood Instagram @glou.melbourne

Hey everyone! Welcome to my first episode of Fun Fact Fridays. Every Friday I will be posting a short episode about an item in our every day life that we use and give you a better solution that is beneficial for you and the planet. Today I am speaking about coffee pods. Did you know that Australians are using at least 3 million coffee pods per day. That is equivalent to an Olympic size pool every fortnight. In 2015 Australians spent $215million on coffee pods. Globally $17 billion dollars were spent on coffee pods in 2015. Crazy right! Listen to this episode for some simple solutions to keep more money in your pocket, and more coffee pods out of landfill. If you liked this episode, let me know! Leave a review or message me on Instagram @oursustainablelifestylepodcast

In this episode I had the pleasure of chatting with Adrian, the founder of Its not plastic. Adrian is full of knowledge about the detrimental effects of plastic to ourselves and our planet.  So what is Its not Plastic all about? Adrian has created a reusable water bottle that is fully compostable! It is made by nature to return to nature, 100% plant based compostable cap, contains sustainably sourced Australian spring water, eco friendly vegetable ink label, 100% plant based compostable bottle, does not contain any harmful chemicals, and uses up to 60% less greenhouse gas emissions produced during production. This is pretty incredible!  If you enjoyed my chat with Adrian as much as I did, let me know. Leave a review or a comment on our Instagram page @oursustainablelifestylepodcast You can find more about this great company at: www.itsnotplastic.co Or on Instagram @itsnotplastic.co

We are Michael Burns and Simon Clark, founders of Sustainable Homes Melbourne. We’re both self-confessed timber nerds and we’ve come a long way from the days of swinging a hammer as carpenters. In another life (the early noughties) we each operated our own respective building companies. Honestly, all those years ago we never thought twice about the environmental impact construction has on the environment and we certainly weren’t aware of how thermal mass can help keep a home comfy. After 5-6 years of running our own businesses as young men we were feeling stale and unmotivated and thought there must be more to life! So, in 2012 we packed up our businesses and left for the trip of a lifetime overseas. We travelled together for the best part of a year through the USA, Canada, the UK and Europe. Being the timber nerds we are, we couldn’t help but observe the construction industry in each country we travelled. Returning home nearly 18months after we’d left, we decided to see if we could build better so we formed Sustainable Homes Melbourne with the intention to build homes we can all be proud of, Owner, Architect, Builder and most importantly our Children. Their Charity In recent years, civil war and genocide have left Cambodia as one of the poorest countries in the world. This has seen many Cambodians on the brink of starvation and homelessness. People affected by poverty in Cambodia have a very low, or no income at all. This leaves children malnourished and families with little food, clean water or sanitation. Build Cambodia aims to assist in breaking this cycle of poverty. Build Cambodia raises money to fund the building of homes, sanitation facilities and school books and uniforms for children. We encourage you to support Build Cambodia in anyway you can. To find out more you can find information at: www.sustainablehomesmelbourne.com.au Or on Instagram @sustainablehomesmelbourne If you enjoyed this episode, let me know! You can leave a review or email me at [email protected] Or follow us on Instagram @oursustainablelifestylepodcast

Kristy founded gen blue AU a little over a year ago. She has always been drawn to the ocean and wanted to be a Marine Biologist since she was a kid. She was obsessed with the sea! This lead her to do her undergraduate in Marine Biology and a Masters in Environment Science/Conservation. It was when she was studying her Masters Degree that she discovered that she wanted to talk to and educate people about marine conservation. While she believes in research and how it is important, she wanted to become the gap between science and conservation and help educate people using the science to aid marine conservation. Kristy was born in Queensland and grew up in Melbourne. She loves marine life no matter where she travels or lives. Australia's diversity and natural world never stops amazing her, and is something she has always been extremely passionate about. Kristy founded Gen Blue because she wanted to help inspire the next generation to care about nature and the marine world. The health of our natural world is ultimately going to depend on their actions. She also simply just loves talking to kids about the ocean and their favourite things about the sea. To find out more about Gen Blue, you can follow Kristy on Instagram at @GENBLUEAU If you enjoyed this episode, let me know. You can leave a review or email me at [email protected] or follow us on Instagram @oursustainablelifestylepodcast

Sarah is a primary school teacher and Sustainability Coordinator at her school. Her page is about providing people with tips and tricks to live a more sustainable life. Her goal has always been to inspire others to take small actions that can make a difference to our world and be conscious of their environmental footprint. When Sarah took on her position as Sustainability Coordinator in 2018, she realised the importance of teaching children about the impact we’re having on the world around us and has made it her goal to teach children, families and teachers the importance of protecting our environment.  Sarah has seen her school through a recertification and continues to lead her school as a 5-star Sustainable School, receiving stars in the areas of waste, water, energy, core and curriculum. You can find Sarah on Instagram @sustainable_substitutes

Meet Ami and Sian, the founders of Pleasant State. Ami, coming from a big corporate background, and Sian, from a lifestyle of activism banded together to create Pleasant State. They have created a sustainable solution when we need it most. Pleasant State is changing the way we clean our homes. Cleaning products are no longer a necessary evil that's hidden under the kitchen sink. Instead they're beautiful, waste-free and non-toxic products that you can proudly display in your home. Listen to the journey of how these two strangers met through a mutual friend, bonded over a strong passion of making a difference for people and planet, and created a purposeful brand that is a world of good for our planet, and every living creature on it.  To find out more, you can visit their website, www.pleasantstate.com, or you can follow them on social media at @pleasantstate If you loved this episode, let me know! Leave a review or you can message me on Instagram, @oursustainablelifestylepodcast

Jess, originally an Instagram model has turned one conversation she had with a girlfriend, into a meaningful and purpose driven business. Listen to her journey from transforming her life from caring about how many likes she got on a post, to collecting plastics from beaches across Australia. This episode was more than sustainability. We touched on self worth, views and perceptions of the world, and being in the right head space to make a great impact. In 2019, Jess spent 60 days cleaning beaches in Western Australia. She drove a van from Esperance to Broome. The trip was just over 2000kms. Every day she pulled up to a beach and didn't know what to expect. Western Australia in summer is insanely beautiful but the environment is unpredictable and harsh.    This tested and pushed her limits, working in 40-degree heat, storms, wind and flies that would drive her insane. She would repeat to herself one sentence:    ​‘One piece of plastic can kill or injure a thousand animals in its lifetime.’    This helped her pick up 2,780 pieces of plastic over two months, potentially sparing the lives of over 2 million animals. On the grand scale of things, this number would never put a dent in the actual problem but every single person she met, she would tell them about the journey and they would connect with it one way or another. She is still in touch with some of them and each of them have changed a habit around plastic after meeting her. This is why she called her jewellery line ‘Ripple’.    She believes one small action can have a ripple effect, and she is stoked to be a part of the waves of change we make as a collective. She can’t save the entire world, she can only tend to the garden she can reach. She is so happy that she get to dedicate the rest of her life to the best job in the world: cleaning beaches, saving animals and spreading awareness on the devastating effect plastic has on the environment and us. You can find ripple by Jess at: www.ripplebyjess.com Instagram: @ripple.by.jess If you enjoyed this episode, let me know! You can leave a review or contact me at [email protected] or on Instagram @oursustainablelifestylepodcast

Today's guest is Rebecca from SolCups. She is an extremely intelligent, passionate and vibrant woman successfully making a positive impact on the planet we live on. Rebecca preciously worked in the fitness industry. She was incredibly passionate about helping and supporting people through her work,  until she suddenly became ill with an autoimmune condition. Due to her condition, she was bed bound for almost 2 years! During this time, SolCups was born. Her most current venture Sol Products aims to reach out and share her knowledge of health to as many people as possible. Sol Products are sustainable, environmentally friendly and healthy, they are chemical free, hand blown glass reusable coffee cups! For optimistic drinkers and half full thinkers. She has also recently created a new business, more of a passion project, coaching clients ,specifically in product based businesses, to educate and inspire others on their journey of small business success. With mentoring available, she assist you on your journey from start up to global expansion. She is now the co-founder of her latest Company, Beauty by Australia, where they source vegan, natural, ethical, sustainable and cruelty free beauty products, curated to perfection. In hope to produce their own incredible range soon! You can find SolCups at: www.solcups.com Instagram: @solcups If you enjoyed this episode, let me know! You can leave a review or contact me at [email protected] or on Instagram @oursustainablelifestylepodcast

Welcome to episode 1 of season 3!  In the first episode I was privileged enough to speak to Heidi, the founder of Earth Greetings. Back in 2003, inspired by her joy for nature, she wondered if we could find more enlightened ways to live, work and create. Where businesses could operate as a model for good, to help heal the Earth and restore these precious wild places. She had a few years experience working in the publishing industry in her early 20's, witnessing wasteful print practices first hand. The books and stationery were not made from recycled paper, and she would hold her nose when she visited the printing press because it smelled so toxic. She also noticed that there were very few greeting cards produced using recycled paper, so she thought that producing recycled paper products sustainably would be a good place to start! So she quit my dreary office job, to start an Earth friendly greeting card and stationery business. Earth Greetings collaborate with talented artists inspired by Australian native flora and fauna, to create beautiful cards and gifts with the lightest possible planetary footprint. Sales of our products enable us to donate to organisations that help native wildlife survive habitat loss and climate change. You can find all the beautiful creations of Earth Greetings at www.earthgreetings.com.au or on Instagram @earthgreetings