Beyond Carbon Miles

Living with Consciousness, Compassion, and Collaboration

The Green movement has come up with some really great phrases that encourage us to change the way we think and act. The slogans such as “Think globally, act locally” and “Make Peace not War” have had a powerful effect on our psyches. Carbon Miles is the latest catch phrase on everyone’s lips. Like many people we have looked at the Carbon Miles campaign and weighed the pros and cons of locally made products versus overseas products. Although carbon miles are an easy to understand concept it isn’t the only factor that needs to be considered when making environmentally sound decisions.

Through our research to find the most environmentally sustainable products to hand-dye we have found that although Australia is geographically different to most Western countries, our way of producing goods is still often highly mechanised, chemically intensive and energy hungry. In contrast many developing countries can produce comparable products from locally grown resources using traditional skills, sweatshop free labour and less energy/carbon than we are able to achieve in the Australia. Many Non-Government-Organisations (NGO’s) are arguing it is better carbon and community wise to sustain our developing nations.

Earlier this year the UK government launched a new food policy “Food 2030” highlighting some of the negative and unintended consequences of the “Buy Local” food trend that is taking off in the Developed world.  UK research shows that food miles (the distance food travels from grower to consumer) contributes less than 10% of the total carbon emission in production of the food. As consumers we need to look at the total energy consumption a product requires in its creation. We can take it a step further and look at questions such as does its production pollute the water, air or land? Is it a necessity or a luxury?

At Magic Starfish we do all the sustainability research for you. When selecting products to dye we consider where, how and by whom:

We also consider:

Together we can choose our products with consciousness and compassion; we can collaborate with developing communities to help create a fair, just and peaceful world; a world where organic food and clothes are normal and affordable for all. Join with the Magic Starfish team and develop a Green Heart. 

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