The Fab Five

Most of our brands are local, most produce their wares thoughtfully and foster ethical work practices and sustainability principles - it’s why we chose them! 

It’s a tough call - but here are five favourite ethical brands of the Melbournalia Collection!

1. 
   Hey Tiger makes delicious chocolate with OTT flavour combos and neat packaging. Right, we know that. But did you know that Hey Tiger is also a social enterprise that works to fund cocoa farming communities in West Africa? At the time of writing this article over $250,000 has been contributed by Hey Tiger’s efforts to The Hunger Project Ghana, an organisation which has funded such things as micro-loans to women farmers, childhood education programs and HIV prevention.
   
   
   
2. 
   The team at Apiary Made have got together with the hardworking bees at their Yarra Valley farm to create a variety of sweet, honey based products. Our favourite are their beeswax wraps, a natural alternative to plastic wrap, and a sustainable way to store your food. Beeswax wraps are made with 100% organic cotton, pure beeswax, organic jojoba oil and natural tree resin. The wraps we stock feature ethically licenced indigenous artwork - with a percentage of proceeds going directly to the artist.
   
   
   
3. 
   Did you know that plastic ink cartridges from your office printer are usually crushed for recycling, meaning that the remaining ink becomes runoff - and is usually headed for landfill or even to be burned as chemical waste? The team at Lousy Ink thought that this wasn't good enough and are giving both the plastics and ink of your old cartridges new life in their range of high end ink and refillable Lousy Liner pens.
   
   
   
4. 
   Beci Orpin is a renowned Melbourne born illustrator and crafter, not so much a brand as a force of nature! She has illustrated a number of books, created murals, completed large scale 3D craft / sculptural as well as works on paper and canvas.
   In 2019 she wrote and illustrated  “Take Heart, Take Action”, a book for children, adults or anyone who wants to create a more open-hearted and sustainable world.
   
   “My work is all about colour and optimism. I was particularly sad about the Australian federal election result this year so created an illustration to bolster everyone’s mood—and was blown away when it was reposted thousands of times (some might even use the word ‘viral’ here). I was so happy to be able to spread good vibes through my work.” 
   https://www.jackywinter.com/artists/beci-orpin
   
   
   
5. 
   Dissatisfied with the 'almost-instant-coffee' flavour and environmental catastrophe-in-the-making of existing disposable coffee pods, three Melburnians got together and decided to change the coffee-pod game. Pod and Parcel take beautiful, small-batch specialty coffee roasted in our home-town and coffee mecca, Melbourne, and put it into biodegradable, compostable coffee pods. It’s café-quality coffee in your Nespresso® machine - minus the guilt!  Each Pod and Parcel pack contains 10 biodegradable and compostable Nespresso compatible coffee pods.
   Image credit https://bridgetwald.com/