What kind of chocolate will you be buying this Easter?

Easter means different things to different people. However, at this time of year one thing that remains constant is the desire to get stuck into chocolate eggs.

It doesn’t matter if you buy milk, white or dark, but there are a few things you should know about chocolate before you hit the shops for your fix.

Palm oil:  This oil has many negative environmental consequences, including deforestation. During 1998 and 1999, loss of orangutans reached a rate of about 1,000 per year. A whopping 80 per cent of orangutan habitat has been altered or lost and it's forecast that at the current rate of deforestation, they could be extinct in the wild in as little as 20 years.

Easter Bilbies:  The bilby used to be a common animal across Australia, numbering in the millions. Due to the introduction of pests, such as rabbits, these days their numbers have dwindled to hundreds and they desperately need our help if they are to avoid extinction. The Easter Bilby campaign began in the early 1990s in an effort to raise conservation funds. Two iconic Australian chocolate firms (Haigh’s Chocolates and Darrel Lea) now produce Easter Bilbies and donate percentages of the sales to saving these native animals.

Fair Trade:  Approximately 70 per cent of the world’s cocoa crop comes from West Africa, with Brazil and some Asian countries contributing the balance. A study completed in 2005 showed that in the Ivory Coast alone more than 200,000 children were entrenched in slave labour conditions in the farming of cocoa.

Fair Trade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. By requiring companies to pay sustainable prices, Fair Trade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers. It enables them to improve their position and have more control over their lives.

Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate now uses Fair Trade cocoa that has no palm oil in it and they have also released a Fair Trade Easter Egg.

So what’s the best way to get your chocolate fix but avoid supporting deforestation and slave labour while aiding conservation efforts? Start with anything that is palm oil-free or Fair Trade chocolate. In an ideal world you would be going for an Easter bilby that was palm-oil free and paid the cocoa farmers a fair price!

From Anthony Ogilvie, Mission Australia’s Sustainability Manager

Further reading:

• 'Have an ethical Easter' - SMH
• 'Aussies urged to play fair this Easter' - ABC
• The best of Fair Trade - The Age
• Mission Australia's Sustainability Action Plan

Earth Hour 2011: Beyond the hour

At 8:30pm on Saturday, lights will switch off around Australia for Earth Hour. This year’s theme, ‘Beyond the hour’, aims to encourage people who are turning off their lights to think about an area of their daily life they can make lasting changes to.

This commitment to change has already been made by Mission Australia as we strive to be not only socially responsible, but also environmentally responsible.

We know we won’t turn ourselves into a “green machine” overnight, but each small step we make takes us further along the path and builds a groundswell of support that drives further improvements.

For many people, Earth Hour is a great opportunity to get re-acquainted with the charm of candles. What is probably not as widely known is your choice of candle can also have an impact on the environment - so here is a quick guide:

There are four main types of candles: paraffin, soy, palm and beeswax. Although paraffin accounts for approximately 90% of the world’s candle sales, it is the worst of the four options from an environmental perspective. It’s made from crude oil, releases soot and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) into the air and doesn’t burn as long as the other three options.

As agricultural crops, both soy and palm wax have an advantage over paraffin, however increasing amounts of soy and substantial amounts of palm oil come from once-lush rainforests that have been cleared to plant these crops. The destruction of this habitat is a major cause in the decline of orangutans and several other species in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Beeswax is sourced from a natural process, doesn’t encourage deforestation, generates minimal carbon emissions and can improve the air we breathe. It’s an obvious winner followed by soy (as long as you know where it comes from), then palm candles.

Let’s hope that this year’s Earth Hour will spark lasting change both at home and across the globe.

Story from Anthony Ogilvie, Mission Australia’s Sustainability Manager

Official launch of groundbreaking Illawarra job program

Mission Australia’s Soft Landing Mattress Recycling – a groundbreaking approach to tackling a significant environmental problem while also providing training and employment opportunities to long-term unemployed people in the Illawarra – was officially launched yesterday at its headquarters in Bellambi.

Funded by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations’ Jobs Fund, Soft Landing takes discarded mattresses destined for landfill and recycles them – an operation that currently provides jobs for eight trainees and four casual staff.

Special guest at the event was Sharon Bird, Federal MP for Cunningham.

Soft Landing’s manager, Lyn Watkins, said the initiative was a first for the area and it had big plans for the future.

“All the beds delivered to us get pulled down and broken into four key areas. The springs go to scrap metal recyclers, the foam is used as carpet underlay, the pulp fibre is used by a sporting goods manufacturer for punching bags and the timber frames are used for timber mulch or donated to a local men’s shed program where they are turned into kids toys,” Ms Watkins said.

“Over the next three years our plan is for Soft Landing to divert more than 78,000 mattresses from landfill – that’s 2,739 semi trailer loads!

“But Soft Landing is not just about sustainability. Over the same period we aim to create 20 ‘green’ jobs for the Illawarra. This includes 14 traineeships for Aboriginal and long-term unemployed job seekers.”

“Australia – and our own region – faces unprecedented environmental challenges that demand our urgent action. Australia sends 1.25 million mattresses to landfill each year. Each individual mattress consists of 12.5kgs of steel, 2kgs of wood and 1.5kgs of foam.

“We also have some serious issues in the Illawarra with unemployment. Despite the overall health of Australia’s economy, Illawarra’s unemployment rate is 6.6 per cent while the unemployment rate for 15-19 year olds looking for full-time work is 22 per cent.

“So Soft Landing is a unique approach to both these issues. We not only want to make a difference locally to our environment, we also want to help transform the lives of people who need our help,” said Ms Watkins.

You can find out more about the project at www.softlanding.com.au or for the warehouse location visit this link

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A new video has been released about the program, which can be viewed below or at our Youtube channel

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Landing a second chance in life

In the year it has been operating, Mission Australia’s Soft Landing mattress recycling program has provided 15 jobs for people in the Illawarra region of New South Wales.

Among them is Graeme, who works full-time at the Soft Landing warehouse in Bellambi. He uses pliers and an angle-grinder to strip old mattresses down to their raw materials, which are then put to good use rather than going into landfill.

For Graeme, the job is not just about earning a wage and helping the environment – it represents a second chance at life after many years of struggling with a drinking problem, unemployment and isolation.

“Twenty years ago I was injured in an underground mining accident and broke several bones in my back,” he said. “My marriage broke up and I was left to raise two kids. Then I was caring for my dad, who had bowel cancer. When he passed away I hit the grog badly – I was drinking four litres of wine a day.”

“Due to the drinking, the way I was feeling about myself, I wouldn’t even collect my mail unless I was drunk. I was drinking myself to death…

“To improve my life I did a warehousing course at the Mission Australia warehouse and haven’t looked back since.”

In 2009, Graeme was offered a casual position within the mattress recycling project pilot, which tested the viability of the business model. This year he was offered a full-time traineeship in waste management at Soft Landing, and has been passing his knowledge onto his new colleagues.

The bed springs he removes from the mattresses go to scrap-metal recyclers. The foam is used as carpet underlay. The pulp fibre is used by a sporting goods manufacturer for punching bags, and the timber frames are used for timber mulch or donated to a men’s shed program where they are turned into toys. The coconut husk used in some mattresses is currently being tested as weed matting.

“There’s much more to this than just cutting mattresses up,” Graeme said. “It’s good to help people in the community who are down on their luck. It keeps you connected with different types of people and you realise that people aren’t all bad. You’re happy to come into work every day.

“I’ve got my life back,” he added. “Life is improving day by day. I’ll be here until retirement – if they can put up with me!”

This week, with the help of the Soft Landing team, Graeme regained his car licence. “I have dreamed about this day for years. I am very grateful. This is a big deal for me.”

The participants working at Soft Landing were selected as they had multiple barriers preventing them from entering the labour market. Ninety per cent of the trainees are Indigenous, three have disabilities and all are long-term unemployed. The program will also offer 20 work experience positions for job seekers looking to gain skills in asset maintenance or waste management.

Over three years, the Soft Landing program will divert 78,260 mattresses – or 2,739 semi-trailer loads – from landfill. It is one of several social enterprises being housed in the new Mission Australia Bellambi warehouse.

You can find out more about the project at www.softlanding.com.au or for the warehouse location visit this link

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A new video has been released today featuring the program, which can be viewed below or at our Youtube channel

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