Despite the flashy images, global conferences and fast talking television interviews, behind pretty much every eco brand, especially one being built from the ground up in ground breaking or ground making territory, there is a founder taking one careful step at a time. Increasingly they are women - often working mothers. Here are a few of our fav eco tech women making news and noise right now.
Farmwall are an Agtech business, partnering with cafes, restaurants and Mirvac to bring paddocks into restaurants and urban farming into offices. Farmwall design urban farming technology and experiences to enhance fresh produce accessibility in the city.In a constantly developing world, the need for more efficient and sustainable ways of living, especially in small, densely populated spaces, is rapidly becoming a must. Farmwall's response to this need is to imagine how our cities can be transformed into food producing ecosystems. Farmwall believe more efficient cities can feed our planet, and that we can achieve well being for all through education, sustainability and good nutrition right here at home. We simply have to imagine it. Then do it.
Power Ledger is an energy trading software that can be used to buy and sell electricity in real time. If you have solar panels on your rooftop you can use the platform to sell excess energy to your neighbour. If you have battery storage you can store your energy and sell it at the peak to maximize your profit from the solar power you generate.Power Ledger is similar to trading shares on a stock exchange you can set buy and sell prices so that you can trade energy at the right price for you, but with the added security that all transactions are recorded on the blockchain.
The Story Boxes are a production studio dedicated to social impact and behaviour change based in Brisbane. They work globally and locally, using the power of video tech to create impact through carefully crafted communications content. Focusing on human rights, mental health, culture and creativity, The Story Boxes creates and tells stories, in whatever form that might take. They use the combination of a great story and comms tech to engage, communicate ideas and incite change.
The Very Good Bra is the world's first zero-waste lingerie alternative, using composting technology. The Very Good Bra lingerie is made from eucalyptus trees, wire-free, toxin-free and completely compostable so at the end of it's life, you can literally bury them in your own backyard. The Very Good Bra was initially launched via a Kickstarter in 2018 and each time a new range is launched, it is crowd funded to keep both costs and waste low. No storage, no excess stock, materials or travel weight.
Ginny Stevens from Active Farmers and Judy Davie from The Food Coach have built PA2health to help combat mental illness and support physical health in Regional Australia. PA2health is delivered via a gamified 4 week health challenge supported by healthy recipes, shopping lists, sleep and stress management tools, exercise videos and values-based messaging. It's a kind of lifestyle medicine on demand wherever and whenever it’s needed to help people in Regional Australia. The service uses chatbot technology and Facebook messenger to get to the 30% of Australia's population spread out across the 6th largest land mass on the planet.
Evergen is an integrated energy management system that leverages the combined strength of solar and battery storage. It was developed by a group of partners, including CSIRO and AMP Investors. The team has worked with CSIRO to test and select system components that are integrated into a single home energy system that delivers maximum performance and value to consumers. More broadly, with the grid opening to the prospect of virtual power stations and peer-to-peer trading opportunities, consumers need to be ready to get even more value from home systems and contribute to a more stable and cost-effective network.