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ontents May/)une 20i0

36 Australia's top eco designers Meet fashionista 5ara Victoria and four green fashion gurus

44 Renting right Top tips for renting green

-

50 Recycled material shopping bag A guide to sewing your own tote

72 Electric dreams

63 DIY terrarium

81 ln season 82 In focus 83 Meet the chef Sustainable chei James Viles 84 Food for thought 85 Sustainable sips + bites

Turn an old bottle and ice-cream container into a mini ecosystem

practical and landlord friendly!

66 G report: Download damage Our virtual lives can have real

world carbon footrprints

58 Permaculture basics Create a food-producing haven

Cover image by Meghan Petersen on

location at

The London Hotel in Sydney.

Sara Victoria wears clothes from her Organic Softwears range. Make-up by Soge Beouty using lnika casmetics.

76 A

The future of fully electric cars

dynamic approach

You've heard about organics, but what about biodynamics?

See what it has to offer.

chef Luscious foot spa recipes

7B Beauty

86 Orangutan adventure Get up close and personal with endangered Sumatran apes

ffieiitmr's

letter

Contri$:utors Carla Oates Carla has 5pent the iast decade researching and

w'iti19 aboul natural ingredients dnd the

po5'1ive

effects they can have on skin health and weilbeing.

She is a Body Care Ambassador for organic

organisation BFA and G welcomes her as ouregu'ar beauty columnist. See p78 for ways to treat your feet!

Melody Lord A freelance journalist who has edited several

craft books and magazines, Melody has always enjoyed sewing, especially when the effort results in something practical, beautiful and good fo'the environment. Check out her guide to making your own foldaway bag on p50.

Tnking r*sponslhif ity There h,rs been ,r lot of rnedia cover:rge lately about palrr oil and orar)sut:urs. Greenpeace took the issue to new heights

with their

nrock video ,rd abor-rt Nestld and l.row the company uses palm oil

Ir'rrrr rrrl'ltlicrt luu,girrg 1'yirrls orarrgur.rrr habirat.

In March, I joined a fundraising trip to Sumatra with Rair-rforest Rescue (see pB6) to see oranglltans ir.r their r-rative habitat and to

Jane de Sraaff Jane is a freelance rood and lifesryie write' baseo in Ailolhnr ,rna (ho hr< r .laan ntof a<t in ne' <nn:l

witness the imprrct of p:rlm oil plantatior.rs. What I salv was borh

stories

amazing ar-rd sacldcr.rir.rg. Tl-re significance of the experience, given

ways that food brings us together. For this issue

thrt or:rngutarls rnay be extinct within the decade, was not lost on

of 6 she had fun exploring food production, nerm>rr rltr rrp <tvlp i'nlA\

me. They:rre caprivating creatures and their plight is representarive

of biodiversiry under threat fiom deforestation globally.

Paln oil is a complex topic and one that will not be solved overnight, as nr:rny impoverished Indonesians depend on the inc[lstry for jobs. tVh:rt rve ils consLlr]rers can do is den.rar.rd that palm oil in fbod proclucts is labelled so that we have the cl.roice at tl-re cl-reckout. We can also put pressure on retailers to push back tl-rroush thcir sr,rpply chain to der-r-rand rheir palm oil is sustainably sorrrced. If you rvanr to help, check outZoo Victoria's Don't Palm Us Oll carripaig n (www.zoo.org.a u /p a I m o i I).

offood culture, food production and the

Wllliam Peralta This issues guest illustrator (p66), William, is a final year student at the College of Fine Arts in Sydney.

He explores photography and graphic design within the visual realm of meoia. and is influenced by rhe interaction between the textures ofthe industrial urban and the organic natural environments.

'We have ,rlso t:rken ,rnother step along the green path here

:rt G. C:rrbon Planet recently lne:rsured the c:rrbon fbotprint

of

prodr-rcing the nragazine. They report that getting one copy into

your l-r;rnds results in 984 g of greenhouse gases.

Afie r tirking uleasules to r.ninimise our impirct, we've purcl-rased ccrtificcl carbon creciits lrorn Carbon Plar-ret to offset the remaining tVc chose to direct our money to a projecr in Brazil cr.r-rissior.rs. lvitl-r social ,rs rvell ,rs environr.nental significar-rce. The project helps local pcople to replace the fuel demancl for trees fror-r-r the threatened Cerr,rdo rvilderness

with s:rlvdust lrom furniture made

fiom sustainirble rvood. \We decided against credits frorn Australian projects bec;ruse, rvith the implementation of an emissions trading scher.ne in its pro;rosed form, :rny credits would not be ardditional to the cuts the government has colnmitted to.

So now yon car.r be sale in the knowledge that your copy of G Magrzine, wl.retl.rer delivered to your mailbox, or bought at a store. comes

with its calbon errissions offset.

:Pa"Ll --f

Cerolyn Barry

Editor

MAY/JUNE

the iatest ideas and thinking in sustainability, we've asked experts from various fields to advise us $ir Richard Branson

Virgin Group founder and chairman; donor to climate change solutions

Patrice Newell FormerTV presenter turned biodynamic farmer and author Nich Howley Sustainability consultant; former advisor to British Pl\l Tony Blair and NSW Premier Bob Carr

Jrn Dee Founder and Chairman ofthe Australian advocacy organisation 'Do Something!'and co-founder of Planet Ark

Maria Atkinson Co-founder of the Green Building Council of Australia and global head of sustainability for Lend Lease

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Editorial Advisory Eoard To ensure G l\,4agaztne stays abreast of

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J.,:\S,*\3Jl'.tr8

Join us now on our..,

Lrrangutan

Editorial

Adventrilfllek Wednesday 16 March, 201

EOltOr Carolyn Barry editorial@gmagazine.com.au 9901 6100

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Art Director

1

Assistant Editor Chief 5ub-editor

Editorial lnterns

oniine Editor Editorial contact

contributors

rainforest

rescue

Tracy Loughlin Lauren Monaghan Kate Arneman Jessica Stone, Lucy Band,

Jill McCann, Max Mason Carolyn Barry enquiries@gmagazine.com.au Writers: Tanya Ha, Jon Dee, Richard Cornish, Max Allen, Leon Genler, Carla Oates, Al Gore, Sandra Langdon, Melody Lord, Jane de Graaff, Kate Hennessy, 5ue White, Tim Wallace Photographers: Tony Nolan, Meghan Petersen, Carolyn Barry

?'otutA*t*h'sta Fqo*r

Advertising National Advertising Manager

Tatyana Kovalyov

tkovalyov@gmagazine.com.au T: (02) 9901 6159 M:0411 497 804

National Advertising Manager

Krissy Mander

kmander@gmagazine.com.au T: (02) 9901

Advertising Traffic Alison

6164

M: 04'l 0 51 1 1 50

Begg

abegg@next.com.au (02) 9901 6346

Pre-press Manager Jonathan Bishop

Production Manager Leiani Reardon Circulation Director Carole.Jones

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next 0tffces: Level 5.55 Chandos Street, St Leonards NSW 2065

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Chief Executive Offrcer David Gardiner Commercial Director Bruce Duncan c Magazlne ir publlrhed by nqtmedla Pty ttd A(N: 1 28 805 970, Level 5, 55 (handoi S! St Leonard! Nsw 2065 @ 2m9. All ighr reryed. No paft of this magazine may b€ ppmduc€d, in whole or in part, wlthout the pdor permirrion 0f $e publlrhei Pilnted by lflebn

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Distfbuted in Auilr.lia by l,leM0* Servlcr, lssli 183+1 221, The publhherwill nota(cpt sponsibilityoraly li,billtyforthe@mmsrofinfomalionoroplnionsqpre$ed in lie publi(ation. rAll materlal gubmitted 19 ai the owne/r d5k and, while evefy Grc wlll be taken nqtmedla doet not accpt llability for lo$ or damage,

Privacv Policv ofyou pe[onal infomation. lfyou povlde peMnal infomation threugh your piltldpation in ary (ompelitions, ruveyr of offe6 f€atuftd in thk hs!€ ofc Magazhe thh wlll be lsd to prolde the produG or senic€r that yq have reque5ted a[d to impove the @ntent of our magazjleg. Youl d€lalls may be podded to thid partiet who a$irt us in thir purp05e. In th€ event of organisalior! pmviding pdre! or offets to 0!r reade6 we may pa$ your detailr 0n to thm. fom time to dme, we mny us the information you previde ur to infom you ototier pmdudr, serylcB and evenb ow enpary har to ofier, W€ may alro give yolr infomation to otief olgnnigtlons whid may !s it t0 infom you about thek prodlct!, services and €vent!, unl6s you tdl us not to d0 $. You arc wel@me t0 a@ss the Info.nation that w€ hold about you by getting l0 tou(h with 0w pdvary ofrcef, who lve value the Integdty

NEED MORE

INFO?

.C

Tristanne:

ddii#flures Contact tristanne@i nspi redadventu res.c0m.a u 1300 905 188 www.inspiredadventures.com.au/orangutanadventuretrek

G Magazin. is pdnted oi leipa paper, made 0l 1 00% rccycled fbn the (over ir printed 0n Mof,a, whkh is tlemental Chl0riie hee {tt() and 30% Fe-@nrumel and 2596 po5t-@nslmel rcqcled wl$ tie balance belng virgh paper fiom well-manag€d forcrt9 and otier (ontrclled rc0.@t Boti typ6 0f paper are cltifed by the f!re$ Shwardrhlp (ouncil. The plarti( in which sub(db€r copier are wopped ([coPure) lr made from an tDPl pli$kwhichtuilyblodegndet in 3-5yea6, wen in landfll.

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TRAVEL iSumatra

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TRAVEL iSumatra

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An inspired expedition Travelling in March, it's the end of the wet season and there's not much rair-rfall; but the intense sun and extreme humidity create a steamy reminder that you're deep in the tropics.

For 12 Australian travellers, there's no place they'd rather be.

This trip is no ordinary holiday; it is the culmination of months of fundraising aimed at saving this precious habitat.

Organised through lnspired Adven[ures, a company that specialises in fundraising trips, this expedition was the brainchild of not-for-profit group Rainforest Rescue (see "Snippets", pl9).

The groups primary focus is saving the Daintree in far north

Queensland but side projects include teamir-rg up with the Indonesian-based Orangutar.r Information Centre (OIC).

This is the first fundraising trip to Sumatra; however Rainforest Rescue plans to make it an annual event, with Sri Lanka on the cards as a potential second destination.

"This kind of Ifundraising] trip makes it accessible to everyonel'says enthusiastic participant Tara Hunt, from Sydney. "lt restores faith in humanityl' Over 10 days the group will attend orangutan viewing sessions, trek four days through the jungle, catch a ride on a semi-wild elephant, visit a local orphar.rage and head north, where logging and illegal palm plantations have devastated the once pristine jungle. Here they will visit a tree-planting program run by locals, one of the projects their fundraising efforts will support.

"I've always given money to [animal rights group] PETA but I wanted to do morej' says trekker Lauren Henley, 2I, from Brisbane, as she reflects on her motivation to become involved.

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Elephants and banana juice Bukit Lawang, a village of around 3,000 people, is the tourist gateway to the adjacent GLNP. While you're far from modern comforts, the quaint surroundings are not primitive. Wander through local shops to find cheap clothes, trinkets and traditional food - and know your money goes to the locals - or stop for' Bintang beer or a banana juice on a balcony overlooking the meandering Bohorok River. Accommodation is authentic and comfortable, often made from timber or other local materials, with about a dozen small operators offering lodges or bungalows.

'We

stayed at Ecolodge Bukit Lawang Cottage, where rooms featured a semi-outdoor bathroom, some with traditional ceramic

pot bathing. Organic vegies feature heavily on the menu in the open dining area. For dinner, you can't go past the gado gado (steamed

with peanut sauce) and chicken rendang, and the breakfast banana pancakes are to die for. Stock up on nasi goreng (fried rice), an Indonesian staple, before trekking through the jungle. vegies

Into the jungle The GLNP was once a release site for orangutans who had been illegal pets or had become homeless due to habitat loss,

but the program was discontinued in the early 1990s. Today, 223 ex-captive orangutans live in the jungle. The only human intervention in their lives consists of twice-daily feeding sessi

fhis trip is no ordinary holiday; it is the culmination of months of fundraising aimed at saving this precious habitat.

from national park rangers who provide bananas and milk for those who feel like venturing down from the treetops.

Crude wooden planks and a bamboo fence mark the orangutan

viewing area, which is about l0 metres from the feeding platform.

There s no guarantee how many, if any, orangutans will appear at any given feeding session, as they are free to roam the jungle.

'We were lucky enough to see several individuals make their way to the small wooden platform and grab some bananas. As I watch them adeptly peel the curved fruit and hold a cup to drink milk, their human-like characteristics are striking. Their habit of switching from hand to foot as they shimmy up trees gives new meaning to the word ambidextrous.

W'hen feeding hour is up, the four-day journey to Tangkahan begins, and it doesn't take long for the jungle to encapsulate me.

The tracks are narrow and at times rough, but it's wondrous to be surrounded by the visceral sounds, smells and feel ofthe jungle; I could very well be in another century.

Impish long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) swingby to check me out and Thomas leaf monkeys (Presbytis thomasi), identifiable by their small head and Mohawk-like black and white fur, are not uncommon. Tigers are an unlikely sighting, but you may see footprints if you look close enough. If you're lucky, you may catch a glimpse of 33-year-old orangutan Suma watching attentively while her baby Sumi (pictured, top left) awkwardly learns to clutch and climb branches. Or you might come across Mina and i(etrin wrestling each other affectionately.

While the animal life is amazing, don't discount the plants.

The world's largest flower, Rafilesia arnoldi, is found exclusively on Sumatra and Borneo. Weighing in at l1kg, it's known as the torpse' flower after the distinctive rotting aroma it emits to attract pollinating insects.

Each night guides set up the camps in idyllic locations along ihe river. They use their extensive knowledge ofthe forest to concoct meals like fern stir-fry and banana skin curry.

Carbon offset Climate Friendly says return

flights from Sydney to Medan create about 4.1 tonnes of C0,equivalent (5117 to offset).

www.gmagazine.com.au

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