After years of reviews, reports, and political back-and-forth, the Albanese Government’s Environment Protection Reform Bill is finally expected to pass through Parliament. The goal? To better protect nature and make it easier to get major national projects – like housing and renewable energy – moving faster.

So what does all that actually mean for day-to-day life?

A post shared by Anthony Albanese (@albomp)

1. We’ll be forming our first National Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

One of the biggest shifts is the creation of Australia’s first National Environment Protection Agency (EPA). You can think of it as an environmental watchdog – independent, well-resourced, and focused on making sure rules are followed.

If it works as intended, it should bring more consistency and far less confusion about who’s responsible for enforcing environmental laws.

2. The introduction of stronger, clearer environmental rules across the country

For the first time, Australia will introduce National Environmental Standards. These will act as clear and legally enforceable rules that everyone has to follow, no matter the state or territory. This will include strong guidelines like an “unacceptable impacts” test to rule out significant harm from major projects, but the full suite of rules are yet to be written.

The reforms also bring in tougher penalties for major breaches, plus new “rapid response” powers so authorities can step in quickly when urgent harm is happening.

3. A crackdown on high-risk activities

High-risk land clearing and some regional forest agreements will no longer get special exemptions – they’ll have to meet the same standards as everyone else.

This means large polluting projects (like land clearing, a leading cause of animal endangerment and extinction) will also face more transparency: they’ll need to publicly report their emissions and explain how they plan to cut them.

4. Faster approvals for big projects

A major focus of the reforms is speeding up approval times. A new Streamlined Assessment Pathway will reward companies that provide strong, detailed information upfront, helping them get quicker decisions.

This matters for fast-tracking housing projects, renewable energy developments, and critical mineral operations.

The government also plans to collaborate more closely with states to avoid repeated assessments and create regional plans that clearly map out “go” and “no-go” zones for development.

Why are we doing this?

According to the government, these reforms aim to strike a balance: protecting nature while reducing unnecessary delays, supporting clean energy projects, enabling more housing, and helping future industries grow.

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November saw the commencement of COP30 – the annual meeting of nations to discuss UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. This year, the meeting occurs auspiciously in Brazil, the home of the climate-affected Amazon Rainforest. A meeting from which the USA Government – one of the world’s largest polluters – it noticeably absent. Some of the latest news from the COP30 saw the Alliance of Small Island States demand that the world honour its commitment to 1.5 degree of warming and no higher.

However, on the same day the conference kicked off, The Economist showcased current warming projections. Using data from the Emissions Gap Report of the UN Environment Programme, the publication showed the current global policies mean we’re on track to reach 3 degrees of warming – double 1.5 degree threshold needed to avoid catastrophic consequences.

So what happens if we go over 1.5 degrees? The obvious one is that storms, droughts, floods and fires will become fiercer and more frequent; increasing insurance prices, devastating homes and crippling communities. Disappearing ice packs will reduce access to clean drinking water. Weather conditions will become incompatible with farming and food supplies will not only decline but become more expensive. Some Pacific Islands are at risk of being swallowed up entirely by rising sea levels, creating climate change refugees who no longer have a country to call home.

Some Pacific Islands are at risk of being swallowed up by rising sea levels creating climate change refugees who no longer have a country to call home.

There’s also a huge human health cost. There are already 489,000 heat-related deaths per year and this will increase. The mortality rate from conditions like undernutrition, malaria and diarrhoea will sky-rocket. Even milder conditions like UTIs and middle ear infections will increase.

When hearing news like this, it is so tempting to tune out. To dissociate or to give up entirely. But ignoring uncomfortable truths comes from the privilege of knowing the worst won’t affect you. One could argue it even makes us complicit in intergenerational theft from our future children and their children.

We all need a wake up call. This is real, this is happening. But we also need to understand that individually, we are not powerless in this situation. There is hope, and plenty of it.

We are not powerless in this situation. There is hope, and plenty of it.

Most of us would have heard the statistic that just 100 companies are responsible for 70 per cent of the world emissions. It’s easy to assume that individuals have little say in scale to these corporate giants. But I would argue we have a lot more power than we think: we’re the customers of these big corporations. We are the people who buy from and fund the companies committing this environmental vandalism. We can vote with our wallets and buy from someone else.

If you lack the time and energy to drill into the nitty gritty of which companies to boycott, fortunately there is an easier and even more impactful change you can make. And it starts by understanding exactly where our carbon emissions are coming from.

The vast majority of carbon emissions contributing to man-made global warming come from the burning of fossil fuels. According to the UN, burning fossil fuels account for “68 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions”. So, imagine what could happen if all of us who could switched to renewable energy overnight?

I’m not naive: the switch to renewable energy is not an overnight endeavour. It takes investment, skill retraining and infrastructure. That said, there are currently many Australian energy providers investing heavily in renewables. If you switched to a green energy provider – a task that truly only takes 20 minutes, I’ve done it – that guilt about leaving the lights on or running the dryer starts to fade away. If you are lucky enough to own a freestanding home, you could even use one of the Government subsidies to install solar; a decision that isn’t just about using renewable energy but vastly cheaper electricity bills.

The other most impactful change you can make is possibly easier, and even cheaper than switching to green energy. It is simply the act of buying less. Those innocent, cheap clothes you see on TikTok have had a long journey to transform from mined crude oil into a polyester fabric transported across the globe to be woven into a garment. Bearing this in mind, do you really need that cheap-as-chips cardigan in three colours? Buying nothing is not a feasible solution of course. But looking for quality and buying selectively – fewer but better beauty products, clothes and homewares – is a radical and impactful act.

The goal of confronting the reality and devastating consequences of climate change is not for you to feel despondent and lose all hope. It’s to get you to act, because there is still hope, but only if we work together.

This year with the team at the Great Barrier Reef Foundation have helped develop coral nurseries and replant millions of heat-tolerant coral across The Great Barrier Reef. It is an innovation that will likely save this natural wonder from destruction. There are hundreds of other projects just like this, revolutionising conservation and finding to solutions to the complex reality we live in.

But these projects can only exist if people care enough to do something.

But these projects can only exist if people care enough to do something. The future of our climate comes down to us. To consider the decisions we make in our day-to-day lives and to demand our politicians act in the best interest of ourselves and our future generations.

Ignoring uncomfortable truths is no longer an option. There is hope everywhere you look, but you won’t see it if your head is buried in the sand.

Image: Silas Baisch on Unsplash

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To date, the Sapphire Project has raised over $5 million for ocean conservation, donating it across groups like The Great Southern Reef Foundation, Seadragon Conservation and of course, The Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

It’s hardly a secret that the Great Barrier Reef faces an existential threat. Rising sea temperatures and pollution have damaged the Reef immensely. The threat of losing this natural wonder of the world grows with every passing year. Most recently, in 2024, a marine heatwave caused a mass-coral bleaching event which decimated coral cover by up to 30 per cent in some areas of the Reef. Stack that on top of the litany of other issues facing the Reef and you can see why it requires this sort of an intervention.

These constant threats to the Reef’s survival splashing across global headlines could make one feel despondent. After all, it’s easy to feel nihilistic when you hear reports about its current state and ongoing deterioration. But consistent funding – like that provided by the Sapphire Project – has led to discoveries that are creating genuine hope for the future.

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At the centre of this conversation is Hayley Baillie: Sapphire co-chair and director of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. By her own admission, the Reef is in rough shape. “[It has] suffered terribly over the last number of years of repeated conflict events.” But as both an advocate for and practitioner of Reef conservation, she’s no fatalist.

She explains that there’s cause for hope: the Reef is vast. The Great Barrier Reef is enormous, comparable to the size of Italy, and while parts have indeed been devastated, other areas remain “absolutely mind-blowing”. She says its now her job to ensure the latter doesn’t turn into the former.

Deploying heat-resistant coral to build a ‘tougher’ Reef

One of the most promising breakthroughs the Sapphire Project has supported is the development of heat-resistant corals. It is, Baillie admits, a response to reality rather than wishful thinking. “We have to be realists,” she explains.

Rising sea temperatures are unavoidable, and some coral species simply won’t survive them. “We need to look at species that can handle higher sea temperatures so it’s [replanting efforts are] not just a complete waste of time,” she said.

The science here is pragmatic: identify coral species resilient to higher temperatures, propagate them, and use them to repopulate damaged reef areas.

It is not an admission of defeat, but rather a new strategy for survival.

In Baillie’s words, “We have to be on the forefront… Which corals can handle the warmer temperatures? Because… it’s the reality.”

These corals buy the Reef time. They are not a permanent solution, but they hold the line against a now-hostile climate. Baillie and her team live in hope that the bleaching events will eventually pass into memory. And that by the time they do, there’s still some coral left to help repopulate.

Creating ‘coral nurseries’ to supercharge new growth

Survival is one part of the equation. Scale is the other. Here, Baillie points to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation’s coral nursery project, where restoration becomes industrialised.

“This is probably the most exciting thing that’s happening with the Great Barrier Reef foundation currently. It’s what we’ve raised funds towards,” said Baillie

It’s a simple invention that pays huge dividends for the Reef. Using repurposed shipping containers, scientists capture coral spawn, nurture larvae on ceramic tiles, and raise them until they are strong enough to be transplanted back onto degraded reefs. From there, they take root, slowly re-colouring once-barren stretches of ocean.

“One shipping container could produce more than what we’re currently producing now globally,” she says.

Crucially, this system is designed to be portable. A container in Queensland can become a blueprint for Fiji, Palau, or any island nation where reefs are at threat – particularly in communities that rely on reefs for food security.

The technology isn’t just about saving the Great Barrier Reef; it’s about seeding resilience across the tropics. And it’s self-sustaining, a solution designed to be managed by communities for community.

“It’s now about scaling it up and then being led by the community,” said Baillie.  “They [the scientists from the Great Barrier Reef Foundation] show the community how to operate it, and then the communities can be self-sustaining.”

Funding the Reef’s retrofit – but combatting climate change is the true answer

As with all things, it’s money that powers the engine of reef restoration.

Right now, less than two per cent of all giving in Australia goes toward environmental causes. And as it drips down, only a fraction of that reaches the ocean.

The Sapphire Project fills a gap many governments and institutions leave open, raising over $5 million across 15 organisations to date.

Without this kind of funding, many of the most promising interventions for the Reef would remain stuck in the lab, too small to matter against the scale of destruction.

When I started writing about the work of the Sapphire Project, I interviewed Dr Anne Hoggert, head of the Lizard Island Research Station. I asked what it would take to truly put our oceans in a healthy place. She answered resolutely: “cut carbon emissions severely.” Because carbon emissions don’t just warm the planet, they change the pH of the ocean too.

Baillie vehemently agreed. “It would solve so many problems,” she said. “Almost any environmental problem we face would be mitigated by dropping carbon emissions.”

The true tragedy of the matter is that our oceans are the world’s largest carbon sink. The ocean clears more carbon from the air than all the rainforests combined. Unless we take ocean conservation seriously, we risk our ability to remove carbon from the atmosphere and accelerate the effects of climate change.

Tackling climate change is a move that will require all of us to rethink our choices but more importantly vote in the best interests of our future.

Feature image: GeoNadir on Unsplash

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Champagne was poured, toasts were made, and the conversation began.

The guest list was a who’s who of creative forcefields: Sara Bell, CEO and founder of RIISE, led the evening alongside Elizabeth Roberts, RIISE’s Head of Brand. They were joined by artist Jedda Daisy Culley, photographer Jess Ruby James, stylist Teanne Vickers, actresses Anna Cocqueral and Joanne Palmaro, chef Ellie Bouhadana, AGMES founder Morgan Lang, artist Ellen Virgona, and stylist Thomas Townsend.

The menu was entirely vegetarian – hyper-local, beautifully considered, and cooked with the grain-centric magic of chefs Michel and Sébastien Bras. And the food didn’t just nourish; it told a story – one that moves against the idea that sustainability can’t also be deliciously indulgent.

As the first course landed, Bell welcomed the room and spoke with passion about RIISE’s mission. She spoke to the collaboration between RIISE and RUSSH as one unified by a belief in the untapped force of human creativity – not just to imagine a better world, but to build it.

She also introduced RIISE’s newly launched Manifesto, a call to arms for climate optimism — a roadmap for solutions: “We believe that optimism and celebrating positive actions, no matter how small, are incredibly important to galvanise our collective ability to have big impact.”

What followed was a spirited, soul-stirring conversation about what gives us hope in the time of climate. This wasn’t your average panel talk. This was a union of minds who know that culture changes culture – stylists, filmmakers, photographers, and actors all reflecting on how their work can spark the kind of emotional resonance that drives real-world action.

And of course, there was fashion. RIISE’s Optimist T-Shirt made its debut – simple, sharp, and intentional. Available with black or red embroidery, it’s the brand’s wearable declaration that optimism is not naïve, in fact, it can be radical. And with 25% of proceeds going to Arizona Muse’s charity DIRT (which works with biodynamic agriculture to create powerful nature-based solution for growing fashion crops), it’s optimism that gets its hands dirty.

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Shop the Optimist Tee

Optimist T-shirt with Black Embroidery

Optimist T-shirt with Red Embroidery

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In honour of Earth Day on April 22, we’re celebrating April as Earth Month. Here are some things that you can do that will have the biggest impact towards being more sustainable today. You’d be surprised at how small some of these changes are.

1. Switch your electricity provider to a green energy provider – they’re the same price

It only takes 10 minutes and it won’t cost you more.

Three years ago I switched to Diamond Energy, one of the most sustainable energy companies in Australia. It actually ended up cheaper than my current provider. Greenpeace recently pulled together The Green Energy Guide which breaks down all the nitty gritty so you can choose the best and greenest option for you. Giving your money to a sustainable business helps to empower that business to grow and continue its good work. It also helps to stop funding unsustainable energy practices.

Why is this so impactful: 75% of greenhouse emissions are caused by fossil fuels (coal, petrol, gas). Additionally 21% of greenhouse emissions can be specifically traced to heating, cooling and lighting buildings. If many of us move away from coal power in our homes, we can reduce this significantly.

2. Minimise your food waste – use your freezer

A third of the world’s food is thrown away or wasted.

From a climate perspective, this is a two-fold problem. When an apple is thrown in the bin, we waste the water and resources required to grow that apple. But also – now that apple will be producing greenhouse gases as it decomposes in landfill.

Utilising your freezer to minimise what goes in the bin makes a huge difference. Freeze your leftovers, freeze ripened fruit for smoothies and cakes, freeze raw meat, freeze cooked meat. You can even freeze herbs.

Why is this so impactful: Agriculture is driving almost 90% of deforestation. Deforestation reduces our ability to remove carbon the from the air. 25% of the global land surface is used for grazing livestock. If we eat all the food we produce rather than throwing it away, would could reduce our consumption of these resources by a third.

3. Buy less

Every single manufactured item comes with carbon footprint. A t-shirt for example requires thousands of litres of water to grow the cotton, then petrol for the harvest machine and transport trucks, electricity to power the manufacturing facility and more petrol to transport that t-shirt to the store that sells it.

The act of choosing to NOT buy something is one of the most radical acts in our fight to protect the Earth. Of course, we need to clothe and feed ourselves with the essentials. But next time you’re considering buying a new dress or shoes that you know you’ll only wear once, consider whether this is something you really need. Or whether you might be better off leaving it on the shelf.

Why is this so impactful: One t-shirt requires 2,700 litres of water, enough to nourish a human for 900 days. Manufacturing new products is one of the most resource intensive things we do as a species. Additional humans produce 2.24 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste annually. Reducing how much we buy minimises our use of resources and our production of waste.

4. When you are shopping, try vintage

When my last tan belt died and I knew it was time to replace, I decided to try Depop first. I wanted something very high quality, likely from a luxury brand. I didn’t want to buy another cheap item that I’d have to throw in the bin in just a year. I ended up finding a vintage Gucci belt that had two previous owners. It was still in near perfect condition.

There are so many good reasons to shop pre-loved clothing. It’s more affordable, it reduced the demand for new items and it reduces the chance that pre-loved clothes will end up in landfill. Australia is second highest consumer of textiles in the world per capita. So, buying preloved clothing actively helps reduce waste.

Another big way to help reduce waste is to actually sell your old things too. If you have pieces that feel like they could have another life, platforms like Depop, Vestiaire Collective or even eBay make it easy to find a second home for your preloved goods.

Why is it so impactful: Shopping preowned items eliminates most of carbon footprint associated with new purchases. There are no extra resources (beyond what was used in the original production) used, other than the petrol required to ship it to your house. Additionally, the average Australian throws 23 kilos of clothing away per year, in fact 80% of unwanted clothing ends up in landfill. Shopping preowned items keeps them out of landfill

5. Ditch the unboxing experience – opt for products with less packaging

The same principles as “buy less” apply here. Anytime you can avoid unnecessary packaging, you’re doing the world some good.

Buy loose tomatoes instead of the ones in a pre-packaged bag. Put your apples straight into the basket instead of grabbing a plastic bag to hold them in. Avoid beauty products that have multiple layers of cardboard and plastic casings.

Finding ways to buy less packaging is one of the best and easiest ways to cut down on waste. It means you’re consuming less, thus reducing the need for new things to be made – and the associated carbon footprint. It also means, less rubbish ends up in landfill. Generally, the packaging associated with groceries, beauty products and clothing ends up in the bin, its often not recyclable. Looking for ways not to buy it at all is always best.

Why is it so impactful: Packaging materials are often plastic and plastic is made from fossil fuels. Overuse of plastic is a key contributor to the 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions attributed fossil fuels. Also, small plastics like produce bags are a huge killer of sealife.

6. When in the market for a new car, switch to an electric car

It’s not possible for everyone, but if you can, it makes a big difference.

Every year, a typical passenger emits 4.6 metric tonnes of carbon via their vehicle. In fact, a transition to electric vehicles will be an essential part of meeting any net zero targets.

Why is it so impactful: Transportation is a big contributor to greenhouse gas production (a fifth of total emissions) as most vehicles like planes, ships, cars and trucks rely on fossil fuels for power. Petrol-powered road vehicles (trucks and cars) account for the largest part of that contribution, around three quarters.

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Less is more when it comes to buying for sustainability. However, if you are indeed in the market to shop more sustainably for the home, there are some brands that offer more sustainable choices than others. From refillable packing to biodegradable formulas, (and in honour of Earth Day) these are some of the most sustainable and eco-friendly home cleaning products on the market.

1. Resparkle

Resparkle products arrive in powder form You add water yourself into the refillable glass bottles – which reduces the environmental impact of shipping as the products are lighter! The powder sachets are made from biodegradable material that is genuinely biodegradable – not just labelled that way. They take about 6 months to degrade in my worm farm and 9 in my regular compost heap. The formulations are non-toxic and biodegradable so you don’t have to worry about what’s going down the the drain. This is the brand that I use personally. It was never gifted, I pay for it with my own money. I love the all purpose spray because it’s stream free and the stain remover helps keep my white sink fresh. But this brand has everything from hand wash to laundry powder.

2. Koala Eco

Luxuriously scented with natural Australian botanicals, Koala Eco is another favourite. The laundry wash in particular has a glorious lemon eucalyptus smells that is terribly comforting. Although these are liquid products and packaged in plastic, all the bottles are made from recycled waste and the ingredient are sustainably sourced. There is the option to buy glass display bottles which you can refill, so you don’t have to have the large plastic refill bottles on display. Performance wise, this is one of the better sustainable brands. It’s also one of the most luxurious.

3. Zero Co

Zero Co is not just a body and haircare brand, it also formulates cleaning products for your home. When placing an order with Zero Co, you’ll receive your “forever bottles”, the ones that you will refill again and again. They’re made from reclaimed ocean plastic in an effort to take trash out of our oceans. Once you’ve refilled your forever bottles, you can post back your refills sachets in the postage-paid envelop that came with your delivery. Zero Co has everything from stain remover spray to shower cleaner.

4. Seed & Sprout

Northern Rivers brand Seed & Sprout is one of the most considered home brands on the market. Probably most known for its incredible food storage containers, the brand has an equally impressive cleaning range. Biodegradable cellulose sponges, bamboo cleaning brushes with replaceable heads, dish soap in bar form and even stainless steel laundry pegs. It’s a one-stop-shop for those trying to cut out plastic. It’s also extremely considered throughout its supply chain. Seed & Sprout runs its HQ on solar, the packaging is designed with end of life in mind and with and on the whole, the business aims for zero waste. It also actively donates to charities like the Orangutan Alliance.

5.Ethique

One of the original purveyors of bar products, Ethique is a New Zealand brand that creates skin and cleaning products. It’s solid, bar products are water-free to reduce the impact on water supplies and also to make them lighter and more eco-friendly to ship. It also allows the brand to be proudly plastic-free as the bar products can be packaged in paper. As of 2021, the brand is also climate positive – it offsets 120% of its emissions. Ethique is also very transparent, with a rigorously considered supply chain and also the self-awareness to admit that offsetting isn’t 100% of the answer to consumerism.

6. Dirt

Dirt is a laundry wash brand and one that will have you swearing off supermarket brands forever. In my experience, it cleaned my clothes to a far superior standard than any supermarket products. The scent is gloriously comforting. And believe it or not, it’s actually cheaper per wash than most other brands. Dirt laundry bottles are refillable and the brand offers a post-back system for you to return the refill sachets to be reused. Although the formulations are liquid, they use as little water as possible. Dirt also commits 50% of it’s profits to cleaning up the ocean.

7. Tirtyl

Tirtyl has a goal to be truly plastic negative. That is, it reclaims more plastic than it creates. At the current count the brand has taken back 59 times more plastic than it has created making it one of the leading plastic negative business in the world. Naturally, Tirtyl cleaning products are refillable and most of its products come in tab or bar form to reduce their impact to ship and package. The brand tries to combat waste as much as possible, offering options to help households reduce their use of single-use items.

8. Banyar Jagun

Indigenous-owned and operated Banyar Jagun, is tough on mess but kind to the planet. All products have considered formulation and backed by human cell research. Additionally, the packaging is made from recycled plastic, specifically from post-consumer waste. The brand also offers concentrated 50ml refill options, perfect for those wanting to minimise packaging waste. In the pipeline, Banyar Jagun also has a “Forever Bottle”, which will be made from biodegradable wheat straw – the Forever Bottle can be refilled throughout its five to ten year lifespan before it returns to compost. All products are Earth-Smart Certified, meaning they’re sustainably sourced.

9. Urth

A niche pick, Urth creates eco-friendly glass cleaner designed specifically for cameras and lens. Urth is actually a creative community with a considered and environmentally conscious focus. The collective creates art and also carry-all and bag essentials. It’s cleaning range has been designed and inspired by its creative community who were looking for eco alternatives to the products they use to clean their equipment. The collective is committed to a 10x greater positive impact on the planet. It makes products using low-impact materials, and also plants trees in areas of severe deforestation with every item purchased.

10. e*sup

e*sup has a goal in mind, to end single-use plastic. It’s entire range has been created with this in mind, a collection of accessories and essentials designed to make it easy for everyone to accessibly move away from single-use. The elegantly-designed and high-performance products are zero waste alternatives to the formulations you’d find at the supermarket. Arriving in powder form, just add water. The brand also donated 10% of its profits to The Seabin Foundation and Australian NFP supporting cleaner oceans.

11. Pleasant State

This Australian brand was started during the pandemic. The founders wanted to create a way to keep your home clean and healthy that didn’t mean accumulating piles of single-use plastic. Pleasant State cleaning products arrive in a bar form which you then add your refillable bottles along with water. But at the end of the day Pleasant State knew the products needed to be as effective if not more in order to compete with the less sustainable alternatives. So the brand looked at exactly how to build an effective cleaning agent at a chemical level – then replicated this with non-toxic and eco-friendly ingredients. They’re proudly a B Corp certified brand.

Images: All images have been taken from the respective brand Instagram accounts.

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But that doesn’t mean we should give up. It doesn’t mean there aren’t things we can do to change our reality. We all need to act in a way that – if everyone acted like us – we’d fix the problems.

Part of the reason that these big companies are able to continue to pollute is because people spend money with them. One of the most powerful things you can do in the fight for our planet is stop spending, buying and affiliating yourself with brands doing the wrong thing. Money talks.

We’ve written before about growing your own vegetables, reducing your intake of animal products, shopping plastic-free and reducing your footprint where possible. Which are all great moves. After all, every piece of plastic you don’t buy is one less that could potentially end up in the ocean. But, if you’re looking to make a powerful change and hold big business accountable, here are some other things you can do. And the good news is, most of these are simple swaps for things you’re already doing.

1. Move your electricity to a green power provider

Send a message to unethical energy suppliers by switching your electricity provider to one that prioritises renewable energy. Try using The Green Power Guide, an independent ranking of energy providers. It’s an unbiased way to see which providers are doing their bit for the environment

2. Stop supporting fast fashion, unethical beauty and disposable homewares

Yes, clothing options that operate outside of fast fashion will be a little bit more expensive. But I would argue that a $3-$5 top should have never been an option in the first place – and the social cost is simply too high, one that none of us can afford.

If you’re looking to find better brands to shop with, The Inspired Co. is a great resource for smaller Australian brands, most of whom are ethically produced. Also, I like to use Baptist World Aid’s sustainability report which gives fashion brands an ethics rating. B-Corp is another great place to find sustainable companies – you’ll find brands like Sunday Riley, Aesop and Koala Mattresses on the list.

Remember to also pay attention to the materials you buy. Look for furniture made from sustainably-sourced wood. And try to avoid polyester in clothes. Polyester is made from fossil fuels – the biggest source of global carbon emissions.

3. Consider moving to an environmentally-friendly bank

Banks use the money we deposit with them to make investments of their own. Finding a bank with an ethical and sustainable mindset can help to make sure your money isn’t used for activities you don’t agree with. I found this to be a helpful guide to ethical banks in Australia.

4. Vote for our climate

When your local, state or federal election rolls around, use your vote wisely. If we all put our vote towards candidates that prioritise the planet, we have a better chance of real action.

5. Where is your superannuation?

Many of us don’t think too much about what our super is doing – but have a significant sum building. And it might be invested with companies that are not working in the best interest of our planet.

The best thing you can do here is talk to a professional. Your superannuation is very important for you  to have a financially secure future, so you need to invest it wisely. Speak to a financial advisor or other investment professional and ask for advice on how to choose the best super fund to align with your sustainability ethics – and that will also provide you with financial security into the future.

6. If you’re investing on your own, would you consider an eco-ETF?

Yes, there are many big business that are doing the wrong thing. But there are so many companies that are actually doing it right. And when you invest with the good guys, you’re sending a powerful message to the market – being environmentally-friendly pays. When you do put your money in climate-friendly companies, they then have more resources to develop and grow.

Speak to a professional who will be able to give you advice on eco-friendly investment options that could suit your financial situation best.

7. When you’re in the market for a new car, make your next one an EV

Despite what some poorly-researched documentaries may tell you, the biggest source of carbon emissions is the fossil fuel industry. And much of that is to do with petrol and cars.

If you are someone that needs a car, make your next one an electric vehicle. Historically, EVs were too expensive for the average person to access, but in 2025, there have never been more options and many of them are in a much for affordable price point.

I bought an electric/petrol hybrid car and it’s not uncommon for me to get 2000 kilometres from one tank of fuel. In addition to being much better for the environment, the running costs are a lot cheaper too.

8. Get your parents and the people in your network to do the same

Convincing your parents, who likely have more money and more investments than you, to make these monetary shifts can make an even bigger impact. Talking to your network about how easy it is to switch to a green energy provider or swapping to an environmentally-friendly bank amplifies the impact of your positive actions.

Get the word out and help your family and friends do their bit.

More resources for further reading

Greenpeace

The Greens

The Climate Council

WWF

Amnesty International

United Nations

Image: Arvydas Baltinas on Unsplash

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With nearly every brand launching a ‘sustainable edit’ or a ‘considered collection’, how can you cut through all the noise and find what is truly a responsible purchase? We didn’t have the answer, so we asked an expert instead.

Niccii Kugler is the founder of Nash + Banks, a store that exclusively stocks ethically and sustainably produced items. She’s made a career out of vetting brands rigorously, and had more than a few tips to share on how we can see through what is simply marketing, and what is true commitment. Below, she answers all our question how to shop sustainably.

First off, how can we determine what is ethical or sustainable? Is there an industrystandard?

The short answer is no. Not yet. But I think it’s important to start by recognising where we sit at the moment concerning these goals and to view this as a process or journey. Right now, as a global community, we have created a largely unsustainable system that in many cases thrives on the exploitation of our most vulnerable communities. Having a clear line of sight into the ethical and sustainable qualifications that span all aspects of today’s complicated supply chains is a complex undertaking – from resources to manufacturing to transportation and beyond.

That being said, there are an increasing number of certifications and governing bodies working to create benchmarks across a wide range of these critical areas. They are many and varied and often specific to one area of a supply chain – for instance, forest stewardship, animal cruelty, fair trade, carbon emissions, textile standards, ethical employment etc. But through these and other certifications like B Corp – which considers the impact of acompany’s decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment – we are moving closer to greater transparency and accountability for brands claiming the ethical and sustainable titles.

Buying ethically or sustainably shouldn’t be a chore. This is one of the core reasons that I launched Nash + Banks. Before including them in our collection, we research each brand in detail to learn more about their purpose, process, and products. We then have that information on every product page, making it easy for our community to get all the information about the product before buying it.

What do you look for when determining whether a product is ethical or sustainable? Are there any hallmarks?

Homework is my jam, so I spend quite a lot of time on About pages, FAQs and researching the details, materiality, and processes to substantiate a brand’s claims. I start with what the company openly communicates about their products (and what they leave out). From there, I think it’s important to talk directly with the founders to learn in more depth about their motivation, processes, certifications, and the challenges they face in achieving some of their sustainability or ethical goals. Once a brand has demonstrated transparency, accountability, and a genuine commitment to creating better products (even if not perfect yet), I drill down into each product to classify it correctly on the Nash + Banks website.

How can you tell if a brand is simply greenwashing?

The first thing that I’m interested in when I come across a brand that is labelling itself as ‘sustainable’, ‘ethical’, ‘green’ etc., is to take a long, hard look at whether they are supporting these claims openly and transparently. Have they provided detail regarding their raw materials, production process, the country they manufacture in and the ethical standards and certifications they have in place? If not, why not? An immediate red flag for me is the use of terms like ‘sustainable’ (particularly in marketing and communications) with little to no information substantiating the claim. Brands that are quick to own a value, without making an effort to understand what it means, or how they will deliver against it now and in the future, are often greenwashing, content to profit off an ethos that they are not committed to.

I’ve learnt from working with passionate founders in this space that creating a sustainable, ethical or zero-waste product is not an easy path. That it takes dedication and commitment, often at the expense of ease, scale or financial gain. The brands that achieve progress and innovation in this endeavour deserve our support.

How can the average consumer read between the lines?

In my experience, brands who genuinely care and are built on delivering against these values provide a lot of clear evidence, are transparent about their shortcomings and share their goals for the future.

But when in doubt, jump on your search engine of choice (try Ecosia if you’re looking to plant trees as you investigate), and go down the rabbit hole.

Is there any database or source of truth consumers can use to find accurate information about the products they buy?

There are a growing number of resources in this area. When curating for Nash + Banks or researching something for personal use, I tend to combine a mix of certifications, not-for profit benchmarks and journalists/organisations who provide a sobering but realistic breakdown of the challenges and facts.

Here are a few of my current go-to’s outside of specific certification websites (although thislist continues to change as research, tech and resources evolve):

What advice would you give to someone looking to be more considered about their purchases?

It can be overwhelming, so I recommend starting with the values that resonate with you most. We each have our own hierarchy in terms of which social and environmental challenges resonate with us most. Start by recognising which are personal deal-breakers. For example, is single-use plastic a hard ‘no’, or are you more focussed on reducing your carbon footprint?

Each individual will answer differently, and that’s ok. The process of becoming more considered can be overwhelming, and taking it one challenge and step at a time with a view to what you want to achieve will help to make your journey a sustainable one. What can start as a focus on one value can quickly gain momentum to include others.

What is the biggest misconception you think people have about ethical sourcing?

I think that many people – especially those just starting to shop ethically – underestimate the immediate and long-term positive impacts that their decisions have throughout the supply chain when they choose to support genuinely ethical brands.

Image: Nash + Banks

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In 2024, Australia surpassed the USA as the highest consumers of textiles in the world. The average Australian buys 56 items of new clothing every year. This represents 383,000 tonnes of new clothing purchased in a year. We consume clothes at twice the rate of the average nation.

The saddest part is that 90% of the clothes Australians buy are disposed of within 12 month. Each Australian throws away 23 kilos of clothes each year. 6000 kilos of clothing is dumped into landfill in this country every 10 minutes.

It’s undeniable that we have a fashion problem. A fast fashion problem.

The low prices of fast fashion retailers might initially seem enticing. But know this.

Fast fashion producers rely on their items being poor quality. It means that you have to throw them away sooner – and ultimately buy more in the long run.

According to the (LG) Laundry Care Report 2024 the leading causes of clothing being thrown away or replaced include damage (48%) and poor condition (42%).

It’s also extremely important to mention there is also a horrifying human cost to fast fashion. It is impossible to sell a t-shirt for $5 without a worker somewhere being exploited within that supply chain. This is a core reason why France has passed a bill to limit fast fashion production.

Engaging in fast fashion creates a vicious cycle that can be difficult to remove yourself from. But the first step is to make the things that you do have last for longer, eliminating the need to replace them as frequently. If you’re looking to change your shopping habits, these are the tips and tricks our team uses to make our own clothes last longer.

1. Wash on cold

According to Marketing Manager for Home Appliances at LG Australia, Shannon Tweedie, cold water: “helps preserve fabric integrity and prevents fading.”

“Modern detergents work effectively in cold water, so you won’t sacrifice cleanliness for conservation.”

Washing in cold water also prevents your clothes from shrinking. Plus. it will help you save on your power bills.

2. Don’t use more than the recommended amount of detergent

Too much detergent does more harm than good. Tweedie says, “using too much won’t make your clothes cleaner and can leave residue.” This residue is harmful to your fabrics and can shorten their lifespan.

3. Get moisture absorbers for your closet to combat mould

If you live somewhere humid, you need to get moisture absorbers for your wardrobe. This can drastically reduce the chance that one of your favourite items of clothing will end up covered in mould. You can get hanging moisture absorbers from any hardware store.

For leather items, you can also wipe them down with vinegar and regularly coat them in leather conditioners to stop mould from growing to

4. Avoid fabric softener

Our deepest sympathies to our fabric softener fanatics, but it’s actively shortening the lifespan of your clothes and towels. If you crave that soft feeling. Add a dash of white vinegar to your wash instead.

5. Lay knits flat to dry

Drying your knits on a flat surface will prevent them from stretching and ultimately ending up out of shape.

6. Repair any damage before it gets worse

Small rips and tears get much worse if you don’t fix them early. If you notice a small pull, move the pull to the inside of the garment. If you have busted stitch, sew it back up immediately before the break becomes bigger. Patch holes, mend breaks, trim loose threads. And if you don’t have the sewing skills, ask your friends for a good tailor near you.

7. When buying new clothes, pick quality fabrics

Some fabrics are more durable than others. Cotton, linen and wool in general will remain in good condition for much longer than polyester and other plastic fabrics. This is because natural fibres are more resilient when it comes to daily wear and wash.

When you’re shopping, look at the composition of the garment you’re about to buy. You can keep a good woollen jumper for decades (I certainly have!) but you might only get a year or two out of a polyester one.

8. Buy less, buy better

Instead of buying five tank tops from a fast fashion brand, it is always a better investment to buy one high-quality item from an ethical brand.

Not only will one quality piece last you for longer, but you’ll feel prouder to wear it. Think about how you get dressed now. Do you not find yourself more often reaching for those pieces that you spent a little more money on? The one that fits you better? That you’re proud to name drop when people ask you were the piece is from?

Consider all of this next time a very tempting fast fashion ads appears on your TikTok feed.

9. Avoid the dryer – line drying is better

The heat and tumbling is going to shorten the lifespan of everything from your tea towels to your t-shirts. Avoid using it at all if you can.

Plus, the sun acts as a natural anti-bacterial agent, helping to kill bugs and odours. Line drying is your best friend.

10. Spot clean where you can

Is it worth putting a whole dress in the wash because of one tiny splash of soy sauce? Try spot cleaning instead. You can get a stain remover pen to help pinpoint small stains.

11. When you’re next in the market for a washing machine, pick an intelligent one that will be kinder to your clothes

Being able to customise your wash can actually help you extend the life of your clothes. In particular, if you look for machines that allow you to customise spin cycles, or turn them off altogether, this will be very beneficial for your delicates. It’s also handy to find a machine with multiple temperature settings instead of just the binary hot or cold. This can allow you to be more precise when choosing how to treat your garments. You can also get washing machines that can correctly measure washing detergent for you. Some LG washing machines have a feature called ezDispense® which releases the optimal amount of detergent based on load size.

12. Alter or tailor trend pieces to keep them relevant

If you have a piece that is out of fashion and you don’t feel your best wearing it anymore, see if there is a way to alter or tailor it to make it more relevant. Hemming a dress or taking in a shirt is better than buying something entirely new.

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Either way, both camps have likely entertained the potential dark side of AI: a universe where robots develop beyond our control and eventually make humans redundant. However, this picture, straight from a science-fiction film, is far from the true darkness that swirls around AI and it’s impacts on society.

What could be more concerning you ask? Well, AI and LLMs are stealing from our creative industries and cooking our planet in the process.

AIs are trained using the literary, auditory and visual works of our creative industries

I’m sure you’ve seen how quickly and easily AI systems can churn out a five-day itinerary to the Greek Island of Paros or produce a stylised image of dessert. But how?

First we need to understand how AI works. In essence, it is a model that ingests large amounts of data, analysing for patterns and similarities, and then using these patterns to help construct a response when prompted. In order for AI to work, there has to a substantial amount of data for it to learn from first.

Many AI systems have full access to the internet; they are able to read and process almost all the content available on the web. So, when you ask an AI for that five-day Paros itinerary, AI is able to produce an answer because it has trained itself on countless articles from independent travel bloggers, travel journalists and travel guides.

Any writer knows that it takes hours – if not days – to create a well-researched, first-person guide. And writers do so in the hope that someone will visit their website and an audience will grow. It is absolutely devastating to know that AI has read through your content, and is now sharing your ideas and words with people without your consent, without compensation – and without anyone needing to visit your work directly.

It is a similar story when looking at AI image generation. Many AI image tools will ingest the works of photographers, sketch artists, painters and other visual artists and then use their work to help create it’s own imagery. Unique visual styles and personalised aesthetics can be taken and appropriated without the original artists’ knowledge.

Some will argue that an AI learning from our creative industries is no different to you observing someone’s painting and then recreating it yourself at home. An actual example someone shared with me when defending AI. But of course there’s one big reason why the situations are entirely different: profit.

Many LLMs and AIs charge customers monthly subscription fees for access to their repositories of knowledge. Knowledge that doesn’t belong to them.

“AIs are profiting extensively from the cultural contributions of our creative industries, which they have taken without permission, and without providing royalties or compensation.”

We know our creative industries are already drastically underfunded and many creative people struggle to make a living from their pursuits. Did you know that the average annual income for a published author in Australia is just $18,200? For professional artists, it’s only slightly higher at $23,200. To put it into perspective, a salaried fast-food service worker makes around $42,000 annually.

For many creatives, we continue to think, write, sculpt and create despite these barriers in the hope that our audience will find us. That readers and viewers will find our websites, and we can grow an audience. But with AI sharing our work without anyone needing to come to our spaces directly, what hope do we have?

It’s a snake eating it’s own tail. AI needs the creative industries to learn from and train with, but it might just send them bankrupt in the process. Unless something changes.

AI uses more resources than our planet can feasibly sustain

Our current electricity usage as a society is already beyond what the Earth can sustain – at least, if we wish to continue to live comfortably on this planet, for us, and our children. And AI uses far more.

“Did you know that a simple search like “how long do you boil an egg for?” takes 10 times the amount of energy via AI compared to regular search?”

And when you look at AI image generation, it’s even worse. According to an article from MIT University, just one AI image uses as much power as charging your phone.

When you consider there are over 19 million users of image generation AI Midjourney, 100 million weekly users of ChatGPT, and millions of people casually sending dozens of AI images of cute animals or fruits with superimposed eyes every hour… it starts to make you feel sick.

75 per cent of the world’s global emissions are caused by fossil fuels. To be specific, this relates to burning petrol to power cars, refining oil to turn into plastic and burning coal, gas and oil for electricity. By far the biggest contributor to this 75 per cent is from electricity generation.

Our current levels of electricity production are already more than what the planet can handle. But with AI slowly being integrated into every phone’s daily processes, our search engines, and even into word processing software, AI’s significantly higher energy demands threaten to blow past the danger levels we’re already at.

Most large-scale AI is powered by data centres  – and they have a heavy environmental impact. Not just in their energy consumption, but also due to the materials required to make them. According to the UN, a 2kg computer requires 800kg of raw material. And the chips and GPUs in these computers are created using rare earth elements, like cobalt, which are more often than not sourced in environmentally-destructive ways.

Then there’s the waste issue: data centres produce a lot of it. The electronic waste from these centres often contains toxic heavy metals. They require a huge amount of water to be cooled. According to the UN: “AI-related infrastructure may soon consume six times more water than Denmark, a country of six million.”

In this booming industry, where there is a new AI introduced each day and more and more companies powering their processes through AI, the demand for more and bigger data centres is only going to grow.

It’s about more than just numbers, it’s about our survival

AI isn’t going to destroy us using mechanised robots with guns. Rather its doing it slowly, and right in front of our eyes.

I’m often shaken to my core by how complacent many people are, preferring not to think about big issues it because it’s uncomfortable. It’s easy to ignore, especially when it’s just numbers and statistics. But sticking our collective heads in the sand won’t stop all of us from feeling the very real impacts.

We’re feeling many of them right now.

The creative industries are already some of the most vulnerable. These industries are shrinking, a process that was only exacerbated by COVID. The opportunities for those without privilege declines every year.

“If we allow technology to continue to take from writers and artists, without giving anything in return, what art will be left for our future generations? Just a burnt out planet devoid of beauty.”

The impacts of the climate crisis are arguably more visible. Wondering why fresh fruits and vegetables are so expensive? It’s because the increased droughts and floods mean farmers can’t grow as they used to. Council rates going up again? Yes, its because the cost of repairs after more frequent and damaging storms . Can’t afford your insurance? Insurance companies are pricing in our future of frequent severe and damaging weather events.

Did you know rising temperatures is linked to an increase in ear infections and auditory health issues? That it can increase UTIs? Even the occurrence of pandemics like COVID can be linked to climate change?

It’s easy to say that it’s the fault of big business (which it is), but passing the buck to them without doing anything to hold them to account if not going to change the status quo. Does this mean you have to stand out the front of an office with a picket sign? Of course not. But there are practical and much easier things you can do that will have an even bigger impact.

So, what’s the answer?

We’ve already opened Pandora’s Box. AI is here to stay.

But if we want AI to have a sustainable future – one that nurtures creativity rather than strangling it, and one that inspires climate innovation rather than poisoning our Earth – society needs to treat it mindfully.

The companies behind AI and LLMs have a responsibility to factor ethics into their business model. That starts with compensation for creatives and producing greener data centres.

“Individually, the best we can do is educate ourselves.”

Think before you generate. If you’re not sure if an AI company is sourcing its energy sustainably, don’t use it. Switch your at home energy company to a green energy provider, and ask if your work can do the same. Inform your friends and family of what’s going on in the world. And most importantly, ask questions.

Is a new software company pitching to your company to switch to their email software? A sales assistant trying to sell you a pair of headphones? An insurance company calling you with a car insurance deal? Ask them what their sustainability policies are or if they’re using green energy. If enough of us ask the questions at the bottom, eventually the message will filter its way to the top.

And maybe, the next time you need a travel itinerary, perhaps visit the website of the blogger that has poured their soul into their content – rather than using the AI that appropriated it.

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