Australian Paper

How you choose to serve your salt and pepper might not save the world immediately but over time small things make big differences. Discussion about sustainability has to start somewhere and what better conversation starters than Pepperino – a design initiative by Arte Veneta which aims to reduce their wastage by using their timber off cuts to produce quality chopping boards, grinders and bowls.

Having already contributed to the tasteful interiors of Melbourne restaurants such as Izakaya Den and more recently the Barbagallo Trattoria E Pizzeria, Arte Veneta use Pepperino to further apply their design skills to notonly the tables, but also to the things that go on top of them. Affectionately referred to as their ‘little brother’, the tone of the Pepperino brand may be playful but this hasn’t prevented it being taken seriously by restaurants such as Rockpool, Fifteen Melbourne, Enoteca Sileno and D.O.C.

Using French Walnut, Rare Macassar, Flamed Cyprus, English Oak and even Ancient Olive Tree, no two Pepperino products look the same. Simple designs bring out the true character of the wood and indirectly act as a reminder of the natural beauty that we are trying to protect in the first place.

www.pepperino.com.au

Joost Bakker is an artist who provokes questions about the way we (re)use the materials in our lives. Challenging notions of what sustainability can involve with beautiful, surprising and deceptively simple designs, his initial floral work for Melbourne restaurants and bars has led to everything from public installations to large housing solutions. After creating his Greenhouse restaurant in Melbourne’s Federation Square using completely recycled and sustainable materials (with a functioning roof garden), Bakker successfully replicated it in Perth to much excitement.

Bakker’s family migrated to Australia from Holland when he was nine years old, and has a long history of farming flowers. With his inventive eye for what others might term rubbish and a deep connection to the spaces in which we like to gather, Bakker is a natural fit for our social sustainability spotlight.

www.joost.com.au

www.greenhouseperth.com

Has your work always had a sustainable bent?

I’ve always found life in what other people see as waste. Once you’re interested, you start to get an understanding of how complex something like recycling actually is. Take the sticker on an apple. Making compost, I keep coming across these little stickers and thinking, ‘why couldn’t we use something that breaks down organically, instead of plastic?’ And I’ve always wondered why you’d buy flowers in Queensland and send them to Melbourne. It’s never made sense to me.

How did you go from working with flowers in small social spaces like restaurants and bars, to bigger work with other materials?

You do flowers in a restaurant and become friends with the people who own it, then they might ask for help with something else.

Is there an educational element to your work? 

I’m not into hammering things down people’s throats. I just do it, and if people like what I do, great – but it’s up to them to make change. And it is up to people, not government. People have to demand change. So I figure I won’t ram it down people’s throats, which means they might not pick up on some little details in my work. But I also like the idea that people who’ve been coming to Greenhouse for four months will suddenly notice something different.

Tell us about the Greenhouse in Perth.

It’s right in the heart of the city and will stay there for 10 years. We make everything there; yoghurt, fetta, jam; we’re milling our own wheat from a farm outside of Perth and making our own bread and pasta. It’s much busier than Melbourne and way beyond what we expected.

How do you feel about the response?

I’m shocked. As an artist I’m always doubtful people will appreciate an idea I have, but Perth must be ready for it. Somebody bought a piece at an exhibition back in 2002, and said, “I don’t like it, but I know I will. I know your stuff grows on me.” If you instantly love something, you can only grow to dislike it. If it slowly grows on you, I think you’ll have a better  appreciation of it.

Would you like to do more than simply make things?

I get asked to sit on panels and so on, but I’d rather keep doing stuff. I think that’s my role.

What are some of the problems thatcome up when businesses don’t take social sustainability into account?

A good example is the lack of focus on local communities. My daughter’s school is currently having an extension built. I pushed for them to use local builders, but they had to use governmentapproved contractors who ended up coming from the other side of the city.

If you had builders who live nearby working on this project, not only would you be reducing pollution and transport, they would take a lot more pride in theirwork than someone who’s more interested in finishing up in time to miss peak hour traffic.

Do you see business benefits from socially sustainable ideas?

Look at Greenhouse. If you run a business that sells food in Perth and you’re quiet, and you look across the road at a place that’s milling their own grain, growing their own vegetables, using cuts of meat that nobody normally wants and they’re busy, then you’d want to investigate.

Located on Sydney’s old common gardens, The Commons Local Eating House has taken its name not only from the site, but also its use of shared environmental and cultural resources. Through careful consideration of both, the restaurant is resonating with casual diners and critics alike.

Instead of simply working towards a sustainable business on their own, the collective who run the restaurant are involving their local community, and looking to implement solar panels with neighbouring properties. Herbs are grown on site, a worm farm converts kitchen waste to fertiliser, and reclaimed and certified plantation timbers make up the furniture.

Chat with staff and you’ll discover the ‘local’ in their name has dual meaning. Most ingredients are locally sourced, and all meat is from ethical suppliers. The kitchen rotates the menu regularly in response to what’s available and in season, instead of chasing ingredients from around the country or beyond. When dining at The Commons, it’s impossible to ignore the relationship between our plates, our planet and our community. After all, looking forward is also about looking more closely around you.

The Commons – Local Eating House

32 Burton Street, Darlinghust

02) 9358 1487

www.thecommons.com.au

Fashion label or research lab? Both. Melbourne-based label MATERIALBYPRODUCT (MBP) takes a unique approach of inventing new design and manufacturing systems with the operations of a fashion house to create deceptively simple designs that provoke thought.

Founders Susan Dimasi and Chantal Kirby are on a mission, with environmental and social concerns at the forefront of their thinking, to create a brand relevant to today’s (and tomorrow’s) consumer. That consumer is someone who prioritises “a transparent supply chain, a relationship with the fashion house/designers (à la the haute couture model), and an understanding of design and construction processes”.

The notion that it’s not only about what you make but also how you make it drove the designers to develop their own language of techniques. These reduce their impact on the environment and better enable
their garments to be produced locally.

Cutting, joining and marking form the core of MBP’s techniques. “Cutting both sides of the scissors” combines positive (garment) and negative (waste) shapes to produce less waste, while technical markings and special bindings become decorative elements that highlight the process of production.

“From a cultural point of view, inventing our own techniques sustains fashion as a design process, not a styling process,” says Dimasi. Their decision to work with a more streamlined supply chain, to limit the number of cloths used and never work with manufacturers’ minimums has enabled short production runs – hence eliminating the excess stock, one of the environmental ‘dark clouds’ hovering over the fashion industry.

Which piece would best sum up their thinking? “A scarf, which is both a length of cloth and a garment,” responds Kirby. “A MATERIALBYPRODUCT scarf would be decorated/marked with the motif of a template, which guides how to cut, press and join this length of cloth into other garments – so this scarf is loaded
with a lot of possibilities.” Fashion designers or conceptual luxurists? Both.

Learn more at www.materialbyproduct.com

What do bullets, custard, matches, shampoo, cigarettes, salami and beer have in common? They all contain parts of a pig. Yes, a pig. This is revealed in the book PIG 05049 by Dutch designer Christien Meindertsma in collaboration with Julie Joliat. It depicts all the products that are made from a single pig – pig #05049, which Meindertsma followed for three years. With its pig-hide colour cover complete with earmark, the book is a detailed exploration into the origin of raw materials.

“I chose a pig over a cow or chicken, because a pig produces the most varied collection of ingredients,” Meindertsma explains. “The book arose from my interest in the invisible lines that link raw
materials, producers and consumers worldwide. In a globalised world, it is becoming increasingly difficult to trace these lines, and the increasing complexity of the meat industry leaves the consumer little idea of the route an animal takes to many finished products.”

Like the animal itself, the book is deconstructed into Skin, Bones, Meat, Internal Organs, Blood, Fat and Miscellaneous, the pig’s parts meticulously documented with photos of 185 different products – including wallpaper, X-ray film, ice cream, crayons, paintbrush bristles… and so on. Meindertsma’s goal is simple: “What I wanted readers to take away was that the products we use all come from somewhere: they were grown somewhere and made by someone.”