The Natural Action team / Photo by Mark Velasquez
The rebellion against conventional farming and high-tech winemaking continues its march into the mainstream. Over the last decade, search engine results for “natural wine,” which has no official designation in the U.S., have steadily increased.
Last year, as the pandemic forced people away from bars and restaurants, wine clubs that focused on minimal-intervention producers became a logical option. From the growing number of shops, bars and direct-to-consumer operations that offer natural wine, here are five of the best.
Natural Action Marlen Porter and Simonne Mitchelson / Photo by Mark Velasquez
Last summer, industry colleagues Simonne Mitchelson and Justin Trabue formed a nonprofit natural wine club with winemakers Eric Bach, Cameron Porter and Marlen Porter, art curator Khalil Kinsey and wine bar owner Teron Stevenson. The goal was to support BIPOC community members eager to pursue careers in the wine world, with proceeds d
Australian couple markets world first compostable potato-based cling wrap, pallet wrap
After being disheartened by the sheer amount of waste products in their respective industries, Julia and Jordy Kay have decided to produce the world’s first compostable cling wrap and pallet wrap. This wrap is made out of potato waste.
The Melbourne couple sold more than $30,000 of ‘Great Wrap‘ in their first week. Julia Kay said they couldn’t make their Great Wrap ‘fast enough’.
The couple quit their jobs at the beginning of 2020, spoke to experts and developed a fully compostable product that doesn’t leave any nasty micro plastics behind. Now, they have a factory on the Mornington Peninsula - completely solar powered – as well as 15 staff. They also have big plans to tackle the most destructive plastic-based products one at a time. The couple currently import the potato waste product from the US.
Julia and Jordy Kay have made a potato-based alternative to plastic cling wrap
The new product is compostable - completely breaking down in just 18 days
The couple are researching how to make a wrap out of fruit from Aussie waste
They currently import the potato waste from the US which is expensive
They sold $30,000 worth of stock in their first week, serving 2000 customers
For now, the product is sold online for $7.50 a roll.
It is more expensive than plastic wrap, but two weeks into production supermarkets and big business are taking notice. When you re trying to eradicate plastics, particularly in warehouses, there s not a lot of good options - so we re super excited to see Great Wrap coming to solve this problem, co-founder of Who Gives a Crap Simon Griffiths said.
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The environmentally friendly cling wrap can be thrown into compost.(Nine)
Great Wrap can be thrown away into the compost bin at home, and it takes less than 180 days to break down into carbon and water - faster than an orange.