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Introducing One Good Thing

Introducing One Good Thing

You may have noticed a few changes to our website when we spruced it up a few weeks back. One of the changes that we’re most excited about is the introduction of our One Good Thing Impact Policy.

If you’re wondering why, the short answer is that we have to. We’ve made our demands about action on climate, equality and racial injustice loud and clear. The planet is crying out and people continue to suffer while in-action plagues policy makers. It’s time for businesses to lead by example and rally for change, step in for support and change the way we work.

We have huge aspirations about how we want to contribute to a better world as a business. But big change can take time, and we know that action is needed now. So while we get the bigger cogs in place and spinning, we’ve opened up our One Good Thing fund.

How does it work?

$1 from every order goes into our One Good Thing fund. So yes, choosing to do stuff naturally is helping us! All the money put into the One Good Thing fund will be distributed annually across nine different initiatives that we feel strongly about, and need our support. When we first started thinking about One Good Thing, the list of initiatives that we wanted to support was pages long. But we thought long and hard about how we could sharpen our focus and increase our impact on causes that can help better the future of businesses in this industry, better the future of communities involved in this industry and better the future of our planet. Here they are…

Protecting our Blue Planet

Oceans are crucial to our island home. Our reliance might be felt clearly by those that reside by the sea, but even people inland are inextricably linked to the ocean. It produces half of the world’s oxygen, absorbs carbon dioxide and is home to ecosystems and creatures that support our industries, crucial weather processes and way of life. The ocean faces so many threats: from physical and chemical pollution, overfishing, temperature changes and ecosystem loss. The earth, like humans, are 70% water and we want to do all that we can to protect it.

Our Vision

earthYARD like many others would like to see a return to a plastic-free ocean and will assist the process by funding those that know how to manage this process.
The fate of our oceans and our planet is dire, and we need rapid transformation.

Doing One Good Thing

To help our oceans we will be donating an equal portion of our One Good Thing Fund to The Australian Marine Conservation Society to help them achieve their mission to clean up our oceans and fight for a blue planet.

Learn more about this initiative here.

The Imagination Library

Each month, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library sends a high-quality, age-appropriate book that is addressed to each registered child at no cost to their family. The Imagination Library provides the infrastructure of the core program including managing a database, coordinating book selections and wholesale purchasing and incurs the cost of the program’s administrative expenses – all to help make reading more equitable and accessible to all children.

Our Vision

earthYARD believes all children across Australia deserve the right to a broad range of literature catered to assisting with their development and preparedness for schooling years. No child should be left behind.

Spending time with children reading stories also helps to create nurturing bonds with parents or caregivers. Providing a stable premise for healthy relationships growing up. Everyone is different, everyone’s circumstances are different but if we can provide all children with access to books we can secure their ability to develop into their own strong human presence.

Doing One Good Thing

earthYARD intends to continue to support The Imagination Library annually and eventually we’d love to be an affiliate that can help to deliver books to rural and remote areas. Until we are in a position to do so we will maintain our support of those who are currently delivering free books monthly to children enrolled in their program and help to provide more spaces for children in this inspiring initiative. earthYARD will donate an equal portion of its One Good Thing Fund annually to The Imagination Library. These books are made for reading!

Learn more about this initiative here.

Gunawirra

Gunawirra  is a dreamtime word that means ‘the invisible seed of all creation.’ Formed in 2008 at the Grail Centre in North Sydney, Aboriginal representatives and elders pooled their ideas with professionals from psychiatry, psychology, social work, and psychoanalytic therapy to address inequality among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, their families and communities.

 

They identified a need for early intervention and a multi-disciplinary approach focused on supporting child development in the first five years of life. The disadvantages experienced by Indigenous children have led to 40% of Aboriginal children beginning school with communication impairments and being four times more likely to be developmentally vulnerable in language and cognitive skills than non-Aboriginal children.

Gunawirra addresses these disadvantages through understanding and caring for the individual needs of the mother and the child. Working to heal trauma and developing a capacity to learn is at the core of Gunawirra’s work across their Young Aboriginal Mothers Group and the 26 preschool communities they support.

Our Vision

We see an Australia that respects and understands Aboriginal culture, history and provides equality in opportunity. This comes from the beginning. Providing support systems in early childhood allows equal opportunity for aboriginal children to grow to their full and rightful place as resilient empowered adults.

Doing One Good Thing

We are respectful of our place. We do not pretend to fully understand the immense history of division we have in Australia. We are listening and learning. We can do one good thing though it never feels like it is enough so our one good thing in this space is divided. We will actively listen and seek out understanding regularly. We will give space to voices that need to be heard to provide others with an opportunity to listen. We will provide support financially to Gunawirra to help those who are having trouble with their voice, gain control and strength to speak.

An equal portion of our One Good Thing Fund will be donated annually to Gunawirra’s Clinic on Country program to help transport speech therapists and social workers to rural and remote preschool communities.

Learn more about this initiative here.

Escaping Domestic Violence

Domestic and family violence is the biggest issue in Australian society in that it affects every race, culture, age, sexuality, and social class. One in three women in Australia have experienced physical and/or sexual violence – these sorts of statistics make us ashamed of the society we have.

RizeUp helps victims of abuse to urgent supplies and care including emergency relocation, they also set up homes, children’s education supplies and more. Everyone has the right to a fresh start and a bit of help along the way.

Our vision for the future

earthYARD has a dream of providing a workspace and learning hub for women escaping domestic violence, complete with on-site FREE day-care, food and essential supplies, equal fair pay and transport arrangements from shelters, lodgings and supported accommodation.

We want to give women the opportunity to forge their own path, be it for a week, a month or for a few years. Providing opportunities to learn or relearn warehousing, administration, sales, operational management, quality control and even technical skills like natural cosmetic manufacturing is a great way to show these women that they are supported but also self-supporting. They are strong inspirational women and don’t need to feel like they are a statistic on the government’s hand-out list.

Our vision is to see every business in Australia have a dedication to providing some level of support and equal opportunity to women choosing to stand on their own. Ideally there would be no need for such activities in the future as violence and abuse are eradicated, though until then, we have our own goals for what we can do to better the environment these women live in.

Doing One Good Thing

Getting to see our vision come to fruition is the end goal for us, but we’re not there yet. We’re still a small family business with a long way to go. We need growth, community support and stability to provide opportunity and support to women escaping family violence and abuse. Until we get to that point an equal portion of our One Good Thing Fund will be donated to support RizeUp and all the important work they are doing.

Learn more about this initiative here.

Caring for our children

All children should be provided equal opportunity in life – period. Unfortunately, many systems aren’t designed to support children with disabilities which can leave them behind in education. In Australia according to the Disability Discrimination Commissioner in 1996, access to education services for students with disabilities was a major issue. From early childcare education and the education of staff to support and provide care, all the way through to physical access limitations in schools, these areas were simply underdeveloped. All children deserve equal opportunity to fully explore their capabilities but we need to provide them with the tools necessary to do so.

Our vision

earthYARD has supported Variety’s annual Gala dinner for the past 3 years with donated items to raffle off and is dedicated to providing further support. earthYARD believes that all children have the right to equal opportunity in life and equal right to choose the path they want to take.

Our vision is to help fund equipment to be placed in rural schools that allow the intake of more children with varying abilities and skills. Equipment such as access equipment, play equipment and critical learning tools are on our to fund list. Until we are in a place to achieve this, earthYARD will continue to support Variety who are already doing big things in this space.

Doing One Good Thing

An equal portion of our One Good Thing fund will be donated annually to Variety – The Children’s Charity.

Learn more about this initiative here.

Supporting Neighbourhood

We’re big believers in the good that can come from strong, healthy connections with our neighbours. This doesn’t just include the people you live right next to – it also includes the people that might usually be invisible. Those that are struggling, alone or forgotten. Everyone deserves to feel included in their neighbourhood and have a safe space to go.

Wayside Chapel offers services and programs with dignity, respect and love at the heart of their approach. They see everyone as a person to be met, not a problem to be solved. It is because Wayside Chapel is willing to listen, to provide support and opportunities that earthYARD feels so strongly about their mission.

Our vision

earthYARD has a pretty big vision. Education services, training, skill development and opportunity are all on our vision board. We are still young and small so can only do what we can with what we have.

Doing One Good Thing

The financial resources required to achieve all we wish to achieve is a way off yet. Until we get to the place we need to be to launch the next phase of One Good Thing, an equal portion of our One Good Thing fund will be donated to Wayside Chapel to support their efforts.

Learn more about this initiative here.

Feeding The Hungry

Food insecurity is a socioeconomic condition at a household level that results in limited or uncertain access to enough food. This can be a result of numerous factors, not just the obvious matter of the poverty line. It’s not just a wealth issue. Government-imposed restrictions, limited access to staffing and resources along the supply chain, natural disasters, and lack of public service are a few examples of factors that can influence whether everyone has access to food.

For us, action on this issue started with a story from a farmer who had been on the receiving end of a trail of natural disasters and bad luck, but also the delivery of essential supplies and food to help his household through that dark and difficult time. We knew then that we had to do more to support this work.

Our vision

earthYARD wants to feed our farmers, help them get a good night’s sleep and wake bright, energised and positive. We need them to be this way. They feed us, teach us, keep us warm, heal us. Our farmers are everything. Our communities are everything. We want to nurture and nourish them all. It’s impossible to be everywhere, and while we provide when we can, we can also support when we can’t provide.

Doing One Good Thing

An equal portion of our One Good Thing fund will be donated annually to Foodbank NSW/ACT to help them deliver essential supplies to individuals doing it tough and who need support.

Learn more about this initiative here.

Plastic reduction

We feel strongly about this initiative because as a business, we are keen to see what innovation and solutions can come from more research. We’re in a bit of a pickle when it comes to shipping our precious cargo, and unfortunately right now, plastic is the best answer. But we’re committed to doing everything we can to lighten that plastic footprint.

Our Vision

We want all parties to come together to revolutionise the storage and safe transport of essential oils and natural plant ingredients. This means the postie, the packaging manufacturer, the essential oil chemist/alchemist, the innovator and the government. 

We want a solution that is sustainable, made from sustainable ingredients, keeps our products safe, is lightweight, sturdy and reliable. So we’re putting it out there, if you know anyone who could help… send them our way.

Until then – Send your plastic back to us! 

Clearly, nothing magical is going to occur overnight so we need an interim solution. Luckily for us, we live in the age of thinking outside the square and in a time where young minds are striving to make better choices through innovation.

Plastic can and should be, reused, reimagined, reconditioned, recycled and this is what we’re on board with.

Doing One Good Thing

There is much to do in this space and making this program a part of our One Good Thing fund allows us to put some money into the cause and get some research going. This not just helps us but the world, find a solution to plastic packaging for plant-derived ingredients.

Learn more about this initiative here.

Biodiversity Restoration

Biodiversity strengthens ecosystems that supply us with oxygen, clean air and water, animals and insects for plant pollination, natural pest control, resources and habitat. Healthy natural systems are crucial for agriculture and our work – but more importantly – it’s part of our duty of care to mother earth.

Our hopes

earthYARD will continue to support the efforts of Carbon Neutral in their ambition to complete the 200km corridor as well as support and participate in projects they wish to undertake around Australia in the future.

Further, earthYARD encourages farmers around Australia to consider their options for Agroforestry enterprises with essential oil production from native trees being at the top of our list of recommendations. We want to see more producers launching here in Australia and if buying and planting seedlings that turn into critical inhabitants on rural properties is the way to help this along, that’s what we aim to do.

Doing One Good Thing

We can’t do everything to counter climate change and reduce global carbon output but we CAN plant one tree for every order shipped. You’ll notice our One Good Thing metre at the bottom of our homepage. This counts every order we’ve shipped so far, and therefore every tree we’ve planted either through the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Offset Program or through our own efforts on farms around Australia.

Learn more about this initiative here.

We've kickstarted our fund with $1 for every order we've EVER shipped and now we're turning it over to our customers to help us with our mission. Lots of frightening things are happening right now. And while it may feel like nothing can help, please remember that one good thing can.

Next article Protecting our Blue Planet