The Greening of Gavin

TGoG Podcast 093 – Greening Our Business

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Greening our business is now second nature for us.  When Kim and I started our Little Green Workshops business, we wanted it to be as green as we possibly could.  We strive to make sure that our personal values shine through when we teach our classes and that all of our ingredients and equipment are as sustainably sourced as possible.  From local milk for the cheese making, to as much locally sourced oils for soap making, and eco-soya wax for candle making.  We reuse things as much as possible and recycle everything that is possible.

During this episode you will hear Kim and I talk about how we started our business and what we teach.  We get a bit off track at the start, but get to the greening part at around the [12:40] mark.  If you just want to specifically listen to greening our business then fast forward to that time mark.

Greening our business - soy candle making workshop

We have carried that through to our on-line business and all our new products where possible.  Additionally, around the office we make sure that we source post-consumer 100% recycled paper, refill our own toner and ink cartridges for printing our booklets and invoices, and of course we use 100% renewable energy here at home.

An as for packaging our products we use recycled cardboard boxes and brown paper for most of our shipping.  We even shred our old tax documents and any other paper we can get our hands on for filler for shipping.  Nothing goes to waste around here.  Boxes that we receive stock in gets reused for our own shipping or cut into soap mould lids or given away to friends.  If we can’t find a use for it, we then recycle into curbside recycling.

We hope you enjoy the show and learn a little bit more about how we try to keep our business as green as possible.

Successful Sustainable Living Workshops During 2013

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This weekend just past was the final workshop for 2013 that Kim and I have been running under aptly named business, Little Green Workshops.  During each school term, we have taught at least three classes, usually within the same month. 
November was exceptionally busy for us with three classes and one presentation. 
Earlier in the month we taught soy candle making.  We had seven students, all very eager to learn how to make soy wax candles.

Kim loves teaching this workshop, and she does all of the instruction for this one.  I am her obedient helper for this course.

This is the way she sets up each student’s workstation.  They get to take home quite a few candles and a small box of melts.

Here are some of the students creations.  Some great candles were produced on the day.
The very next weekend, it was Soap making class.  In this course, I do all the chemistry and instruction, with Kim washing up between sets.  Then we swap roles, and Kim does the what to when you get home demo. We teach four students at once, with a maximum class size of eight.

These are all the wooden soap moulds that I made for the class.  I am getting a bit of a dab hand at these.  I can whip up eight moulds at home in about 3 hours without rushing.

This is the set up for the students.  The table in front is where I make the first batch of soap as a demo, and the four student workstations are set up against the wall.  This is so we have adequate ventilation after adding the sodium hydroxide to the water to make lye.

This was a great class with everyone taking home a 1 kg block of scented and coloured soap, which in 4 weeks will be ready to use.  Kim also sets up a little shop to sell materials and equipment that the students may want to purchase.

Last week, Ben and I gave a presentation about Computer Security in the Home.  I scared the bejeebers out of eight ladies at the Diamond Valley Library, and quickly got their attention within the first five minutes.  I talked about the methods that cyber criminals can steal your money, and how to prevent getting scammed.  I also discussed malicious software on desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.  They were so grateful at the then of the class and I expect that they all went home and changed all their online passwords to stronger ones!

One lady even admitted to have fallen for the very prevalent Microsoft Support call scam.  This scam is where they (the bad guys) call your home around 7pm pretending to be Microsoft and convince you to let them fix your computer even though there is nothing wrong with it.  They then fleece you of your credit card details or Internet banking credentials or charge you US$160 for the privilege of scamming you.  She now knows better.  I give these presentations because I believe that if I want people to learn about all the great stuff online, like say sustainable living, I want them to be safe learning about it.

That takes us to Sunday just past.  I taught a Mozzarella and Ricotta class for five student at Melton South Community House.  Kim was my assistant for this one.  There is not much washing up after the class as each student brings their own pot and spoon.  I provide the ingredients and the camp stoves.

It is a great little class and everyone goes home with their own Mozzarella that they have made.  Quite a bit was eaten at the end of the class as well, because we serve up some sliced baguette so the class can try their cheese.  Kim then plays shop, and sells kits if the students want to make more cheese at home.

So, that was the very last class for 2013, as we now take a break over the hot summer months and begin again in March 2014.

I can proudly announce that we will both be teaching people sustainable living skill in 2014, both locally and around the Greater Melbourne area.  I have a few sustainable living presentations booked already that will be held during February (Sustainable Living Festival event), and all our other classes are locked in for the first term at Melton South.

If anyone is interested in attending a class, you can find all the course dates over on our Little Green Workshops website, within the tabs for each subject.

Thanks so much to all the students who attended our classes during the entire year.  Both Kim and I are very excited about what 2014 may bring!

Here’s to a great year ahead teaching people new skills in the new year.

Have you attended a sustainable/simple living workshop near you during 2013?  What did you learn and was it worthwhile?

Warning: Not all Soy Wax is Equal

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There are a lot of things not to like about Soy Wax.  Much of it is produced from GMO Soybeans, some of it is produced on land cleared of rain forest, and some of it has added paraffin which increases its toxicity.  Most of it is not the environmentally product that most claim it to be.

When Kim first suggested to me that she wanted to add soy candle making to our list of Little Green Workshops, these issues were foremost on my mind.  I did look at beeswax, but found it to be quite expensive.  As we live in a financially depressed demographic, we thought it best to keep the price way down, so we looked for alternatives that would be in line with our values.

All things being equal we found that there are some manufacturers that do produce an environmentally friendly product that satisfied our concerns.  

So, as we have a soy candle making workshop this weekend, which is fully booked, it was timely that I received this email today.  Len asks some important questions about wax derived from soybeans.  Take it away Len!

Hi Gavin, 

I was thinking about your Soybean candles the other day and wondering why Soybean and not Beeswax. Found your first blog on the subject and received the answer – cost.
From memory a bee uses 10 KG of honey to make one KG of wax. which explains why it’s so expensive. So therefore if honey is selling for $7 to $10/KG then wax should be $70 to $100/KG which it isn’t so in fact beeswax is a bargain. Possibly that isn’t a convincing argument but it adds some perspective. 

Anyway, the reason for thinking about it was in the back of my mind there was an idea that Soybean growing had some impact on the Amazon deforestation and also if Soy wax came from Roundup ready Soybeans. 

Have you looked at any of these issues? 

Regards
Len

Cheers Len for your email.  Yes we had the same concerns when we first looked for a supplier of the soy wax. We looked for non-gmo, non rainforest destructive, and contained no added paraffin. 

We found a soy wax that met all of these conditions that was made in the US. The product is EcoSoya®.  I was wary of greenwash at first, but upon investigation I found that the company that makes it, Nature’s Gift International, does indeed care about the environment enough to make a better soy wax.

The company declares this about their soy wax;

All EcoSoya® soy waxes:

  • Are made in the USA with DOMESTICALLY grown crops.
  • Are 100% vegetable, made with Pure Soybean oil, GUARANTEED!
  • Are all NATURAL and biodegradable.
  • Are manufactured meeting FDA standards.
  • Are Kosher Certified.
  • Are NOT tested on animals.
  • Are FREE of palm wax.
  • Are FREE of petroleum, paraffin or beeswax products.
  • Are FREE of pesticides and herbicides.
  • Are FREE of toxic materials.
  • Are FREE of Genetically Modified Material.

Here is the source: http://www.ngiwax.com/aboutecosoya/purityofecosoya.html

Yes, I still have concerns about the manufacturing process, and what process it takes to make soy wax.
Yes, it is hydrogenated vegetable oil, and it must go through a lot of processing to turn it into wax.
Yes, the carbon emissions from food miles are high to ship it to Australia, however I can find no local manufacturer.

It is not perfect and  it is what it is.  It ticks as many boxes as it can, and I am comfortable using it in our classes.  With bee populations on the decline, which in itself is very sad and needs a better solution, I believe that EcoSoya is a viable alternative.  You may disagree, but that is fine.  We live in a free country (at least we did when I last looked).

By the way, this is not a sponsored post.  I just wanted to raise the issue, as I knew that not all soy waxes are the same.

Do you know where your soya wax comes from?