The Loving Earth story begins in rural India not far from Mumbai, where founding director Scott Fry had been working with the local Adivasi people on an organic farming project.  Many local farmers were selling their topsoil to brickmakers, since agriculture was not a viable source of income for them any longer.

Finding a way to support these people meant commercialising their commodities in a manner that both honoured them and allowed them to do what they had been doing for thousands of years.  Scott went on to Mexico, working with an indigenous Mayan co-operative to help them find a market for their coffee and cacao.  It became apparent that the only real asset many of these communities had in the modern world were these crops that their ancestors had domesticated.  It was the Olmecs, the ancestors of the Mayan cooperative that Scott was working with in Izapa, who first domesticated cacao thousands of years ago.

Three years later Scott was back in Melbourne, broke and with a child on the way, but full of inspiration…Loving Earth began in 2007.  Wonderfully, the business took off quickly by finding people who were looking for products which could fulfill these values.  Loving Earth has been trying to keep up with demand ever since!  The current facility in Campbellfield, Victoria is a far cry from the humble beginnings, which saw them using a little bakery at night to make chocolate, operating the business from home, and hand wrapping chocolate bars in the kitchen.

Everything has come full circle for Loving Earth.  They’ve been able to go and work with the Aboriginal community of Nyul Nyul people up in the Kimberleys.  Now doing exactly what Scott envisioned back in India, taking the manufacturing of products back to indigenous communities.

Loving Earth’s range available at Biome includes: organic, raw and fair trade chocolate, Luvju superfood bar, dehydrated Kale Chips and raw organic cacao powder.   Please do visit and browse all the Loving Earth raw awesomeness.

Klean Kanteen insulated water bottles are the best for hot drinks

Choosing the best water bottle for yourself or your family can be tricky.  With millions of disposable plastic water bottles ending up in landfill each year, we encourage you to find the best reusable water bottle for your daily needs so that you are more likely to carry your water bottle with you everywhere.

When choosing the best water bottle these are the key things to consider (generally in order of how we find people priortise the criteria):

size –  A one litre bottle full of water can be very heavy to carry around all day.  Will you be able to fill it up during the day?  Is it just to sit on your desk and help you monitor how much you are drinking?  How much will the child drink during the day?  For children, a large bottle when full can be quite dangerous.

leak-proof lid – most metal bottles and hard plastic bottles (which can not be squeezed to force water out) do not allow a leak proof sports sipper top because there needs to be a very small hole for air to escape and allow a strong flow of water to your mouth).  Will your bottle be tossed around in a bag without any water leaking on to your phone, iPad, text books, or other contents.  Or, will you be able to keep this bottle upright, such as on your desk or in a backpack that has a drink bottle holder or in your bike’s bottle holder.  Note that some water bottle ranges do offer interchangeable lids, so while the original bottle may be sold with a lid that leaks, there may be other options to add on.  With Klean Kanteen, you can simply choose the lid that you prefer: sports top that is not leak proof, but very easy to drink from ; or a screw top lid.

material — Many people already have an idea of whether they prefer glass, metal or BPA free plastic.  Each has its benefits.   Our strong, thick quality plastic is light, robust and does not dent.  Glass is absolutely the safest (no toxins) and best for not tainting the flavour, particularly for smoothies and sports drinks.  Metal is also robust but it can dent and the paint can scratch off.  SIGG bottles are as light as strong plastic, while stainless steel is a little heavier.  However, stainless steel is less likely to dent than a SIGG bottle.  Even though a SIGG bottle may dent, the lining never cracks and they remain taste-free and non-toxic for many, many years.

cost — You do pay for quality and all bottles sold at Biome are great quality and backed up by the guarantee of the manufacturer. Our manufacturers are not nameless or faceless.  They are companies like Klean Kanteen where you can check their website and read all about their track record and approach to manufacturing.  For kids, you might also consider whether the child will be at risk of losing the bottle?

appearance — Does the look of the bottle matter to you?  Will an attractive bottle make you more likely to use it?

mouth size — Do you wish to put ice cubes inside your bottle?  In that case, you will need a wide mouth bottle (not a SIGG bottle).  A standard Klean Kanteen and Nathan are big enough for ice.   Mouth size is also important for the ease of cleaning.  If you are just putting water in the bottle, you only need to rinse out the bottle and occasionally use a long handle bottle brush on the inside.  However, if you are carrying milk drinks or smoothies, you want to have good access to scrub the inside.  In that case, you want a Lifefactory glass bottle or a Klean Kanteen wide mouth insulated bottle.

insulated or not – If you wish to use your water bottle for hot drinks, you must have a double walled insulated bottle.  Plastic mouth pieces such as straws and sports tops are also not suitable for hot drinks.  Never choose plastic for hot drinks – only ever choose stainless steel for hot drinks.

Check out our ideas on how to choose the best water bottle.

1. More From The Accidental Vegetarian. Building on the success of his highly acclaimed book The Accidental Vegetarian, Simon Rimmer returns with another helping of innovative, mouth-watering and flavour-packed vegetarian food.  2. U Konserve’s bamboo spork with pouch is reusable and perfect for your lunch bag for heated up leftovers and soups.  3. Our bamboo wraps or scarves are available in a multitude of colours & are made from 100% sustainable bamboo (‘camel’ colour pictured).  4. JOCO glass coffee cups make a sturdy, ergonomic glass reusable coffee cup with a thermal silicone sleeve and splash safe lid.  5. Kids Konserve’s stainless steel thermos will keep food and liquids warm or cool for hours. BPA free, lead free, PVC free and phthalate free.  6.  Tightology tights (pictured here in ‘marla stripe’) are made in Australia using organic cotton, bamboo or Merino wool.  7. Our fast selling organic wool or knitter’s yarn is back in stock in some beautiful colours

See our full collection of Winter eco wonder products.

Local Harvest allows you add your post code and find what local food is near you.  You can take their one week challenge where you can take on the goal of intentionally reclaiming your food choices and decreasing the degrees of separation between you and your food.  They’ve just had their official annual Local Harvest challenge in April, but you can take their challenge anytime!

The Downtown Honey Co. was established by three passionate urban beekeepers who believe in bringing the bee back to downtown Brisbane and its surrounds.  With ever expanding urbanisation bees numbers are in decline.  Bees are essential for a healthy eco system and play a vital role in the pollination of plants and flowers.  On their site you can learn about hosting a hive  & what these beekeepers are getting up to around Brisbane!

Brisbane Local Food focusses on food gardens in public and private spaces, as well as services and products for locally produced food and food gardening.  It’s a great forum for gardening and beyond with lots of helpful tips and resources.

The Little Veggie Patch Co. is comprised of Fabian Capomolla and Mat Pember who run a successful business in Melbourne installing edible gardens: in polystyrene boxes on balconies, in crates you can put anywhere in your backyard, or by creating no-dig, raised garden beds. After years of helping clients set up spaces to grow their own fruit and vegetables they believe anyone can create their own little edible garden, anywhere! We stock their beautiful book which shows you how simple it is!

And last, and certainly not least…

Food Connect Brisbane and Food Connect Sydney provide local seasonal food boxes & groceries that have been grown using organic, bio-dynamic, permaculture & petrochemical free farming methods.  Their seasonal produce is grown within a 5-hour radius of either Brisbane or as close as possible to Sydney.  There are a variety of Food Connect boxes and extra groceries sure to suit you.  Picked fresh the weekend before, these are delivered to communities in the metropolitan region via a unique ‘City Cousin’ distribution system.

Our Biome City store (215 Adelaide Street, Brisbane CBD) is now a Food Connect City Cousin.

You can order by Sunday midnight to pick up your weekly box on a Wednesday anytime from 10:30am to store close at 6pm. Set up ongoing orders for extra ease. You’ll keep your weekends free from fruit & veg shopping & support local farmers! 

How to join:

1. Visit Food Connect’s sign up page, enter your details.

If you are wanting to pick up from our City store, choose “Biome CBD” from the drop down box of pick up locations. Then follow the online instructions. You’ll be able to choose the boxes you want, add extra groceries, and fruit & veg, and to set up ongoing orders.

If you would like extra assistance, or to change your Food Connect order to now come to our store, you can call Food Connect on (07) 3216 7777.

How to pick up:

Visit our Biome City store (215 Adelaide Street, Brisbane CBD) anytime between 10:30am – 6pm each Wednesday.

Handy hint: Bring your own reusable bag(s) to pack your fruit, veg and groceries into (this will save you returning the Food Connect box the next week!)

1. Take Mum to a nearby park or forest she might not have been to before and pack a picnic.  Or keep it really local and simple by walking to your closest park to save on carbon miles!  Pack reusable plates or keep your picnic basket (and eco footprint) light with our catering and picnic ware.  Here’s a list of parks and forests around Queensland or can google similar lists for other States.

2. Venture out to a local organic market.  If in Brisbane, try the Northey Street City Farm Sunday Organic Farmer’s Markets every Sunday morning from 6:00am to 10:30am.  You can also enjoy free workshops, art activities for the kids (plus space to play), and breakfast at their Chai Cafe.

We very much related to this post by Australian blogger The Eco Mum,  100 things I do that are not eco!  The author highlights that while eco mum’s can aim to do their best for Mother Nature, it’s ok to make concessions for the sake of sanity and reality.  We are all learning from each other every day and it’s a step by step process.  Be kind to yourself first, kind to others and kind to the planet.

Image source: © Kweenc | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

See our updated 2013 Mothers Day gifts selection.

WIN a double pass to the Gwinganna wellness seminar

in Brisbane on Tuesday, 16 April from 6pm – 7.45pm.

Competition has now closed – winner S Adams.

Heide Hackworth (creator and creative director of the Earth Greetings range) is constantly introducing new, nature-inspired cards & wraps to keep the range fresh.

Above: Earth Greetings range in 1. cuckoo 2. monsoon forest 3. gang gangs cockatoo 4. of botany and birds (wrap) 5. sugar gliders 6. desert spring 7. argyle cockatoo

Heidi shares her research on paper, printing and the environment for the benefit of everyone through her website (see link below).  As a resource for other businesses, she lists the printers she feels have made sustainability a real priority across the whole of their business.  Heide’s genuine, long-standing passion for the environment is one of the reasons we stock the Earth Greetings range.

Earth Greetings was established in Adelaide in 2003.  When Heide embarked on her idea for nature-inspired greeting cards she wanted to use environmentally friendly paper and non-toxic printing.

She thought it would be simple to find some 100% recycled or alternative fibre paper and a printer who could answer all of her questions (as she’d had experience within the publishing industry).  Her simple request very quickly turned into an epic quest.  Heide asked the hard questions and the deeper she got in her search the more shocked she was about the scale of environmental destruction that can be caused by the paper making and printing process.

“Dense, diverse forest which took years to establish is destroyed, wildlife loses its home or is confined to smaller areas, to the carbon-emitting transportation of the wood, the pulping process using vast amounts of water, and pollution created in paper bleaching and printers ink ending up in our air, water and food.”  Heide Hackworth

She found that 100% recycled or alternative fibre for offset print was not even available in Australia (in 2003, the highest recycled content card stock she could locate here was just 50% recycled, 50% plantation forest fibre).  The printer and paper supplier were full of reassurance, telling her that this is “the most environmentally friendly stock available”, after all it was produced at a mill with numerous environmental accreditations.

Eventually, Heide found a couple of printers who use vegetable inks exclusively (avoiding mineral oil which releases volatile organic compounds and hazardous heavy metals into the atmosphere) and at the very least lent an ear to her environmental concerns.

Thankfully, increased consumer concern about the environment is driving a change for the greener in many industries.  There are now imported 100% post-consumer waste papers available in Australia.

According to Heidi, there have been some small changes to production practices here to keep within Environmental Protection Authority limits, but the Australian paper industry has a long way to go to catch up with European practices.

“Every day, the major Australian greeting card manufacturers produce around 100,000 greeting cards. Unfortunately price still remains a barrier to commercial use of recycled stocks, which are often more than twice the price of a virgin fibre or mixed source stock. Presumably this is why most commercial greeting cards are still not printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper.” 

She notes that there is still a distinct lack of ‘alternative’ fibre papers such as hemp or kenaf available in Australia that are suitable for offset print (along with questions to be raised over forest-clearing land to grow the alternative crops in the first place).

Heide has concluded that 100% post-consumer recycled paper currently remains the best environmental choice.  She references many studies revealing recycling paper uses much less energy and waste than that from virgin forest fibre (you can see her summary of insightful information here on paper, printing and the environment).

Find Earth Greetings cards throughout our greeting cards section at Biome.

“Despite the growing accessibility of electronic media, giving a greeting card is still valued today as a simple and thoughtful gesture to connect with another.  I want to make this choice easy for people who care about reducing their environmental footprint.  I also hope to inspire others to appreciate nature more and therefore endeavour to protect it.”

Heide Hackworth

1. Lifefactory 650ml glass flip-top water bottle in ‘raspberry’ is responsibly made in the US and France from toughened glass for BPA-free, clean tasting hydration  2. Hemp dribble bib in ‘pink dandelion’ will absorb dribble from your teething child keeping them dry and comfortable  3. Divine Vegan Desserts redeems the reputation of the dessert, proving that it can be beautiful, wholesome and delicious  4. Dharma Door eco book bag in ‘daintree pink’ is handcrafted fairly from jute and cotton to keep your books protected when you are out and about  5. Tightology footless tights in ‘raindrop pink’ are made in Australia using a blend of 70% organic cotton and packaged with 100% recycled paper printed with environmentally responsible inks

See all of our new products!  Would you like to know about our exciting new products as soon as they are posted?  Simply click this link to subscribe to our RSS feed of new products.

Don’t forget our 20% off store wide (except cleaning products) for three day only* – ends 26 March 2013

ONLINE : to receive the 20% discount, please use the code MARCH20

IN STORE: open to everyone who comes in to store (please tell your friends, thank you!)

*More info & conditions >

1.  WeanGreen glass containers, made from tough, inert glass for taint-free tasty food for baby.  2.  Organic cotton & hemp dribble bib, great for dribbling teethers and meal times.  3.  BPA free AdoraBOWLS (available in pinks, blues and greens) are made from silicone with a suction lid, for freezing, serving and warming home-made baby food and more (bacteria resistant, freezer, dishwasher and oven safe!)  4. RePlay recycled spill-proof cups have a one piece, easy-to-clean silicone valve to prevent leaks & spills.  5. Wean Meister freezer pods are made from silicone to provide the ultimate convenience in freezing home-made baby food – and have many more uses from baking mini muffins to storing craft supplies!  6. Food Babies Love is a book filled with tried and true recipes, anecdotes and tips designed to expose your little one to a wide variety of flavours, colours and textures.

For more ideas, see all of our weaning baby products.

Share a tried and true baby food recipe & you could WIN!

We are giving away 2 x weaning wonder packs each containing 1 x Wean Cubes 4-pack (garden) + 1 x Food Babies Love book (each valued at $63.90) to one lucky blog follower* and one Facebook follower.

To be eligible for each draw you need to:

Blog: (1) Follow our blog (if not already) by clicking on the Follow tab hovering in the bottom right of your screen, then; (2) Leave a comment below this post with a baby food recipe!

Facebook: Leave a recipe below the post with this competition on our Facebook!

*You can enter both competitions once only. We’ll draw one comment from a blog follower and one comment from a Facebook follower to win! Competition ends midnight, Thursday, 14 March 2013. Australian residents only.

WINNER ANNOUNCED (blog): Congratulations to Penny who won 1 of our our weaning wonder pack prizes! (Facebook winner to be announced on our Facebook page).

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