Eco-friendly festival

By Chelsea Cucinotta

Australians waste $8-$10 billion of food every year – that is four million tonnes of edible food!

With the month-long Sustainable September, the South Melbourne Market aims to reduce this number by educating and inspiring market-goers with fun festival activities.

Market enthusiasts and newbies alike can learn how to shop and live more sustainably with the Sustainability Circuit. In this guided tour around the market, participants can meet the various eco-friendly traders and stalls. The tour will also highlight the market’s latest eco-innovations, like the use of food waste as garden fertiliser.

Another festival highlight is Turning Trash to Treasure, which runs from September 20 to October 1 and exhibits some of the strategies implemented by the market to stop wastage – which turn waste into “artistic treasures”.

The exhibition is inspired by Kim Simon’s The World is your Oyster sculpture, which refashions 7000 oyster shells from the market’s Aptus Seafood stall.

The SO:ME space sees permanent and pop-up stalls, which are both fair trade and environmentally friendly.

The Catlogic stand works with Nepali artisans to create stylish cat beds from 100 per cent New Zealand Merino wool, while La Sierra uses ethically sourced alpaca textiles and clothing from Ecuadorian communities.

There will be something for everyone, from making beeswax wraps, denim bags, DIY soap and skincare as well as a waste-free kitchen workshop.

Children can also join in on the fun, with Sustainable Storytime in the Food Hall on Wednesdays.

For more information and for tickets visit southmelbournemarket.com.au