Plastic Free July is an initiative that has been driven by the Plastic Free Foundation since 2011. It asks us to challenge our use of plastic; to take notice of how much we’re using and look at ways to reduce and reuse. The Plastic Free Foundation has saved billions of tonnes of plastic from being discarded around the world and has inspired us here at Shade Australia to share our own sustainability practices.

As a business always looking to improve our own processes as well as the world around us, we found that our largest sustainability issue was packaging and waste going to landfill. We ship large, heavy products around Australia (as well as overseas) so it’s important for our goods to be well protected during transit and, to keep shipping costs down, packaging materials need to be as light as possible. Styrofoam and packing peanuts in cardboard boxes were once the most popular and economical choice however the past few years has seen a burgeoning availability in biodegradable