Search

Healthybake is an Australian family owned Company that produces a range of organic healthy breads, both wheat alternative and gluten free. Free from chemical contaminants such as pesticides, herbicides and heavy metal residues. Based in Victoria.

Research shows that at high levels, this can have adverse effects on reproduction, the nervous system, immunity, metabolism, the cardiovascular system, and more. The results are particularly concerning for pregnant people and young children. However, these levels are well beyond what we are typically exposed to. Experts debate whether the same damage is done at lower amounts. Toxicology tests by officials suggest that the levels that most of us experience are within safe limits. However, many independent academic investigators have found adverse effects associated with the kind of exposure we currently experience, especially in the long term. In some cases, these health impacts occurred from doses significantly below the legal limits. The answer is not completely clear, but the number of researchers who have found negative effects is concerning. Many companies have introduced "BPA-free" products that substitute BPA for something else. While this seems great, the issue is that there is little evidence that these alternatives are any safer. This is simply because scientists have not had the time to study these yet. Because of this, we don't know for sure whether buying BPA-free products is an effective solution. BPA has also been found throughout our environment and is in various everyday items like receipts and electronics. This makes genuinely escaping exposure difficult, but we can still take action to protect ourselves. To reduce exposure to BPA: Avoid consuming food and drink stored in cans or plastic and move to fresh produce instead. Store your food in glass and ceramic containers rather than plastic or metal cans. You can buy BPA free products, however, be aware that it is not entirely clear whether they are any safer. Do not microwave plastics as this can cause further contamination of the food. Read more about BPA in this Choice article from 2014.

Further, rare earth metals are often used to make electronics in the first place, so disposing of them is a huge waste of limited resources. The usual response to this e-waste is recycling, but this has issues. These include the fact that some components cannot be recovered economically, a lack of understanding from the public of where and how to recycle electronics, and some recycling companies illegally abandoning recyclable material. One way to address this is to reuse and repair your products to maintain their life as long as possible. This means choosing durable, long-term items and learning to fix items yourself (or taking them to an independent repairer). Unfortunately, companies tend not to support this idea as it reduces their profits. Instead, many manufacturers intentionally design products with an artificially limited useful life, forcing customers to replace their products more often. Check out our entry on Right to Repair for more on how to repair electronics and other goods to extend their useful life. Purchase electronic goods from companies that are leading the industry in efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle e-waste Buy second-hand and sell or donate your unwanted goods. You can use websites like OzMobiles, Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace or physical stores like op-shops and refurbished electronics stores. If your television or computer can't be reused or repaired, recycle it by taking it to an approved drop-off point.

Despite the name, the 17 metallic elements are common in the earth's crust, but the techniques used to extract and refine them is labor-intensive, environmentally hazardous and increasingly costly. China is now responsible for approximately 95% of the world's rare earth mineral production, and has at least half of the world's reserves. China imposed a limit to the export of rare earth minerals in 2009, citing the need to conserve a dwindling resource and limit environmental damage from mining. The United States and others challenged the quotas in 2012 in a WTO complaint, which was upheld in January 2015 with export restrictions dropped. Australia, the third largest producer of rare earth minerals, is responsible for 2.0% of world production and has 3.9% of the world's reserves. Further information on rare earth resources in Australia, including interactive map See 'Why We Need Rare Earth Elements' (a great introduction) See 'The Global Race for Rare Earths' See 'National Security, Rare Earth Elements'

Tin is an important metal used as a solder in tablets and smartphones. Four smartphones contain around the same amount of tin as an entire car. Tin is contained within the crust of the earth and extracting it involves clearing and ploughing land, or dredging the seabed. About one-third of the global tin supply comes from the Indonesian islands of Bangka and Belitung. Large-scale deforestation to make way for the mining threatens to leave up to half of Bangka's forests arid, and previously fertile ground and water aquifers have acidified. Purchase electronics goods from companies that are open about where they source tin from, acknowledge the damage tin extraction has caused in Indonesia, and support the introduction of sustainable mining practices. Friends of the Earth Netherlands has assessed major electronics companies based on their transparency and support for sustainable mining See Friends of the Earth's three part documentary: Mining for Smartphones