There’s no such thing as waste in the natural world. Anything ‘leftover’ is simply eaten up, broken down, and recirculated. Clever Mother Nature is all over closed loop systems.
But for the last 100 years or so, super durable materials like plastic have become ubiquitous, lingering in the environment like some kind of bad joke.
A plastic bottle can take 450 years to decompose.
A disposable nappy can take 550 years.
And a plastic bag can take up to 1000 years!
Is it any wonder that, somewhere between California and Japan, there’s a floating island of rubbish three times bigger than France? It’s known as The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Nobody goes there on holiday.
The good news is that with a little individual responsibility, a lot of corporate accountability, and a cultural shift away from single-use everything (most commonly made from petrochemicals), we can turn towards the elegantly sustainable systems as showcased by Mother Nature. Here’s how we’re doing it at MMMORE.
How is MMMORE minimising waste?
With home compostable packaging
For a long time all MMMORE products were proudly naked, rocking their birthday suits in cafes, health food stores, and kitchen tables around Sydney. But when it came to creating our Power Cubes, we realised that wrappers were essential. How else could we send our cubies safely to hungry folks further afield or have them ready-to-grab in store? Luckily for us, some innovative Aussies had already solved this problem.
Home compostable packaging is made from renewable natural resources -- like eucalypt fiber -- and breaks down in your backyard compost heap in just 26 weeks. (Yep, we’ve done it and it works!)
Rather than ‘biodegradable’ (which means diddly squat ‘cos technically plastic is biodegradable), ‘recyclable’ (which is great, but still demands energy) or ‘compostable’ (usually relying on high heat and/or industrial composting methods), our home compostable Cube wrappers are designed for the average backyard composting setup. Simply chuck ‘em in your compost pile and start building better soil.
With planet friendly wool packaging
Think of the last time you received a big, heavy box of perishable goodies. Was it filled with bubble wrap and ice packs? Did hundreds of those weird puffy noodles (real name: Foam Peanuts) explode onto the floor? How did it get to you? A refrigerated truck? Was the box brand new or made from recycled materials?
If you’re anything like us, you lament the amount of ‘stuff’ involved in getting products from A to B. It’s even sadder when healthy products are shipped in energy-intensive, packaging-laden ways -- quite the double standard for Mother Earth.
The good news is, there’s an alternative that says “baaaa!” to excess waste.
Our brand new planet-friendly packaging taps into the power of wool to send parcels sustainably. Waste from the Australian and New Zealand wool industry (which would have otherwise gone to landfill) is used to create a soft, insulating padding around our fragile goodies that can be reused again and again, or composted.
Because wool is so brilliant at keeping things chilled, it cuts down on the energy required to ship items in refrigerated trucks, too. Win! Oh, and it looks and feels dreamy. We swoon every time we pack another (recycled) box of cubies.
We now also ship with next-level thoughtful chiller packs filled with non-toxic gel that can be flushed down the loo before recycling the bag -- no more freezers full of ice packs you don’t know what to do with, and eventually end up in the trash.
By keeping things small
At MMMORE HQ, we order smaller quantities of our ingredients so that nothing goes stale or has to be thrown away. Thanks to our size and hands-on approach, we stay connected to our processes and minimise unnecessary wastage simply by refusing to ‘scale up’ to a point where waste becomes inevitable. Small is beautiful and less is MMMORE!
By planning carefully
Anyone who’s ever baked a cake will agree that licking the bowl is the best bit. And while we don’t ‘lick the bowl’ here at MMMORE -- that would be weird -- we do make sure to use up every last ingredient. By planning and measuring our recipes very carefully, and incorporating any spare ingredients into the next batch or taking them home, we ensure that the fruits of our growers’ and farmers’ labour never end up in landfill.
By building changemaking relationships with low-waste suppliers
We form solid relationships with big-hearted local suppliers who send our ingredients to us in recycled/recyclable packaging. By shopping local we also minimise upstream packaging, energy-intensive handling and vote with our dollar for Aussie producers.
As a subtle side-benefit, these working friendships can lead to changemaking conversations. If we think there’s a better way of doing something, we’ll gently suggest it. Likewise, we’re always seeking feedback on how we can be a more environmentally responsible company from our suppliers and business community. Everyone has the power to effect change in these simplest, most human of ways -- even when you’re at work!
By reframing how we do business
If we want a healthy and habitable planet for generations to come, we need to rethink our collective priorities. For too long, ‘profit’ has been that priority -- especially in business -- but the truth is, money is only one form of wealth. Wealth can also be found in community, creativity, free time, physical health and a thriving environment. You can’t buy these things. And who wants to live in a world without them?
At MMMORE, health, happiness and sustainability are just as important to us as finances -- and are certainly not mutually exclusive. That’s why home compostable wrappers or eco-friendly solutions to shipping, even if it costs us a little more, make perfect sense. They’re an investment in our collective wealth -- our future -- and we hope more and more businesses follow suit.
If you’d like to see our wool packaging in action, you can order your treats online here.