Alota Baloney

I was recently pleasantly surprised to be ironically inspired by a rather spirited yet somewhat evil lady named Alota Baloney.

This was during the Fish Detectives sea lion show at Sea World on the Gold Coast. Having been told upon enquiry at the front desk that a big fat zero of my $90 (yes $90!) entry fee was going towards marine conservation projects, I took a little bit of comfort in knowing that hundreds of families per day are being exposed to the environmental message of the sea lion show.

Please stop reading now if you are about to visit Sea World on the Gold Coast and don't want the Fish Detectives story spoilt! Alota Baloney is a sneaky mafia-style business woman who is found to be overfishing the local harbour in order to make more and more money for her fish business. In summary, upon capture by the Fish Detectives, Alota Baloney is offered an ultimatum: go to jail, or shut down her business and set up a fish sanctuary in the harbour to replenish the now dwindling fish stocks. Happily and obviously she chooses the latter.

Thankfully Sea World does have a Research and Rescue Foundation, which focuses upon scientific research. I just spoke to a representative who said that the Foundation funding does actually come from Sea World corporation- whose funds come through the gate entry fees. The only other ways to donate are by sending a cheque or by dropping cash into several boxes around the Sea World park.

Whilst the sea lion show represents a fun way to become aware about the problem of overfishing, it does carry with it a hugely important message because overfishing is a global phenomenon that can be stopped. If you would like to learn Alota more (sorry) about overfishing, please see Greenpeace and overfishing.org who can explain it Alota more (sorry again) eloquently than I.

Undress Brisbane

My UB bow seeing the sites- the Brisbane wheel.

Undress Brisbane is a very sexy sustainable fashion show that takes place in- you've guessed it- Brisbane, Australia. Now in its third year, on 13 October 2013 the city will be awash with all things excellent and ethical from hot-right-now designers such as Rachael Cassar and Holloway Eyewear. This year the spectacle promises to be even more marvellous and magical.

The concept behind Undress is that if you don't know where your clothes or accessories were made or what they are made from, you should take them off! Check out some of the beautiful videos on their website.

I was recently lucky enough to meet with Edda and Anna from the hardworking UB team and following our meeting they kindly gave me an iconic UB bow! This bow can be worn as a bow tie (as in #bowtieforbranson- check it out!) or a hair clip. It is made from pre-loved materials, natch. Thank you Edda and Anna!

My UB bow came with me to Banana Lounge for an organic lunch.

My UB bow having a sunbathe.

More to come re UB soon...

Reef Brief

Having very recently dived the beautiful Great Barrier Reef, I feel compelled to let you know that you can help stop harmful dredging in the area by taking 30 seconds to sign this Greenpeace petition.

Thank you for your support!

Happy Wed-day

No I haven't got a cold and yes it is a Wednesday but I am talking about WED: World Environment Day!

WED has a pretty funky and informative website which I would urge you to take a look at- especially the activities to do.

Reconciliation

One of my 'must do's during my time here in Australia was to learn more about the indigenous population; their fascinating history as well as what the current situation is.

Thank you to Jacqueline Minney for helping me achieve this. I interviewed Jacqueline, a Yamatji Malgana woman from Western Australia and Director of consultancy Opportunities Without Boundaries, to help produce my most recent article for Ethical Corporation on indigenous talent.

The work that is being done is great, but many improvements can still be made and it is events like National Reconciliation Week (this week!) highlight that.

If you enjoy reading the above article, then rest assured there is a 'part 2', including input from another indigenous employment expert, to be published on Ethical Corp trés soon.

Image above from Australian Geographic.

Sassy & Bide

Australian label Sass & Bide are sassy today. They are engaging in inclusive business activities in Nairobi, having joined the International Trade Centre’s Ethical Fashion Initiative.  The Initiative seeks to provide fashion supply chain workers with fair wages, training and ultimately sustainable employment enabling an enhancement of quality of life.

For luxury fashion brands, ethical production is certainly achievable. In the wake of disastrously fatal factory fires/collapses in Bangladesh, the hope is that more of the high street fashion labels will take action and not only the likes of Stella McCartney and Sass & Bide. 

Making good use of the things that we find

(/are given)...

Whilst wombling around the place t'other day my neighbour bestowed on me a ripe ol' bundle of limes fresh from his tree- he simply had too many!

"Well, we can't let those go to waste", said I. And thus it began...would you believe that those very limes became lime marmalade and a lime and pistachio cake?

Oh and of course a few slices went very nicely with Coronas/white wine sangria. Living like the wonderful people at #growitlocal who fed TEDx Sydney yesterday.

I once came up with a new idea for a We Are What We Do Action, and I think this illustrates it beautifully: 'make too much of something'. In this case it is 'grow too much of something'- that way, you will have to share your fruitful delights! I did in the end make 'too much' lime and pistachio cake, which enabled the feeding of many, many hungry bellies.

That is the end of this short tale.