The Business of Doing Good
Photos by Bri Hammond
This story is brought to you by our partner Bank Australia
Melbourne is home to a thriving scene of small businesses working to make a positive impact. From tampons to turnips, the end product can look pretty different, but the purpose is much the same - ethical business that helps the community. Photographer Bri Hammond tagged along with three enterprises and Bank Australia customers to capture what truly good business looks like.
Tsuno
Tsuno is a social enterprise founded in 2014 by Roz Campbell and operated out of her Thornbury home. They sell disposable, sustainable bamboo fibre sanitary pads and organic cotton tampons. 50% of Tsuno’s profits are donated to charities that focus on empowering women, with the main focus being education and menstrual support.
"I was given a menstrual cup from a friend in Finland. I used it and just couldn’t get it to work. I wanted to provide a product that women know and understand and try and make it better from an environmental point of view. Build a brand and get their trust, and then start introducing products that are more waste-friendly [like menstrual cups]."
– Roz Campbell
"My goal is to have a different artwork [on the packaging] each month. I want people to have a beautiful product that they don’t feel they have to hide at the back of a cupboard. I want them to think, yes, I’ve got my period, but I’m going to leave this on the bathroom counter or the shelf. In a tiny way, break down that taboo around menstruation."
– Roz Campbell
"I’ve got a piece of paper stuck on the door. It says ‘take consistent daily action to create the future you envision’. I can get really lost in the bigger picture but if I think back to five years ago, when I started Tsuno, I realise it’s all right. It’s just these small little chips that you do that can grow, and it can get easier."
– Roz Campbell
Reground
Reground turns coffee waste and soft and flexible plastics into a resource by bringing waste from cafes, roasteries, businesses and offices back to community projects.
Pentridge Community Garden
Pentridge Community Garden is a developing urban oasis run by Andrew Ogbourne and Russell Richards. The garden is a community hub in which local residents build community, grow organic food together and support each other through the roller-coaster that is modern life. It began in 2016, when a small group of residents realised that the historic Pentridge area, which was embarking on a major urban renewal project, needed to retain a community space to bring locals together and to grow healthy food locally. They're on example of a Reground end user, making use of recycled coffee grounds to power their fertiliser and grow delicious food for the community.
“People deposit their kitchen scraps, which we then compost for the garden. We add things like the coffee grounds to it. The coffee is just such an awesome resource. You’d be amazed to see what 800 kilograms of coffee grounds look like. It’s so high in nitrogen and carbon so it really accelerates the compost, gets it going.”
– Andrew Ogbourne
"There’s lots of people with ideas around. Reground have had an idea, but then they’ve turned it into a business. That means they need to buy a van, it means they’ve had to employ somebody… An idea and energy by itself isn’t enough. You have to turn that into an enterprise of some sort."
– Andrew Ogbourne
"There’s a social and community focus, a really strong one, for our garden. It’s about a place not just in physical terms but a group of people that get together and look after each other in ways that you wouldn’t if you were just living in an apartment."
– Andrew Ogbourne
Scarf
Scarf is a social enterprise which partners with Melbourne hospitality businesses to transform the lives of young people seeking protection and those from refugee and migrant backgrounds. Scarf was founded in 2010 by Hannah Colman and Jess Moran, who noticed how difficult it was for newly arrived young people to find jobs. They provide training and mentorship for those seeking work in the hospitality industry.
"We started looking at research and learned that unemployment rates amongst humanitarian migrants can be staggeringly high – up to 43%. More research revealed that people seeking protection, and those from refugee and migrant backgrounds face significant barriers to employment including limited English, lack of Australian work experience and local references, impacts of past trauma on health and wellbeing, low confidence and discrimination." – Hananh Colman
“We're all constantly inspired by the trainees and graduates of Scarf, who are so resilient, committed and talented. Our trainees have faced significant barriers to work but they show huge determination to change their circumstances and get a foot in the door with hospitality. And our graduates do amazing things – recent graduates have found jobs at Cumulus Inc, Siglo, The European, Garden State Hotel and fellow social enterprise Free to Feed.”
– Hannah Colman
"Our motto is that we believe hospitality can transform lives."
– Hannah Colman
