The Mindful Isle

When was the last time you set foot in an op-shop? Today's guest Bel Dowde has a knack for finding pre-loved goods and transforming them into beautiful and funky upcycled items. She started her sustainable business Ramble Folk last year and now sells a range of reusable eco products. She was recognised as a finalist in the 2021 Tasmanian Sustainable Business of the Year award. In this conversation...

In this episode you'll meet Grace Williams, a Hobart-based gentle activist. She's packed a lot into her life so far...she's currently wrapping up a law degree, she's also a filmmaker, author and director of not for profit arts and human rights organisation Citizen Tasmania, which she established. Through this organisation she's doing some incredible community-building work and they have developed...

Tasmania is well known for its beaches and pristine coastal waters. Beneath the water's surface lies an incredible landscape of reefs, caves and marine life. Danny Lee has been exploring the underwater world for most of his life and for the past 15 years has been capturing some of the glory on camera to share with others.  You may be familiar with some of his work through his business Submerg...

In today's episode you'll meet Lindsay Andrew, a creative living between Tasmania and Western Australia, who you might know as Lindsay Stitches. She's an embroidery artist who's stitched everything from flora and fauna through to people, buildings and even political commentary. In this episode we discuss how she got into the craft, her 2020 embroidery journal which has since won her a Frankie Good...

In today's episode we venture to the North-West coat of Tassie to Blue Hills Honey at Mawbanna. It's a family owned and operated business run by husband and wife Robbie and Nicola Charles.  The business has been in Robbie's family since the mid 1950s and since taking over the business in 2001, Blue Hills Honey has expanded to around 2000 hives and now exports jarred honey internationally. In...

Cast your mind back to your favourite childhood toy...chances are it was a bear, a bunny or maybe a dog. Today's guest wanted to inject some more diversity into the plush toy market, introducing kids to some less common creatures. Soft and Salty creator Catherine Gibson creates the most beautiful range of plush marine animals who are all filled with personality. She hopes in turn children will be...

More than one billion plastic milk bottles are used each year, 500 million of which are used for commercial purposes. Owner of Launceston Flick the Bean coffee stops, Edward Crick decided something needed to change. He's developed 18-litre reusable milk kegs and through his new venture, The Udder Way, he hopes to roll them out across the country. In this episode we chat about his design process an...

Our island home is full of makers producing beautiful items while striving to leave the planet a better place. Tasmania is known for its clean and green status, but it can be hard to know exactly what goes on behind a brand's closed doors. With this in mind, today's guest wanted to help connect sustainability-conscious makers and consumers. Kelsey Rosevear has used her background in marketing...

Welcome to season two of the Mindful Isle! I'm so excited to be back with some fresh interviews after a bit of a break. In today's episode you'll meet Laura Tilley, a meditation teacher and the creator of The Half Between, through which she shares her love of meditation with others in person and online. Laura is sunshine in human form and I really enjoyed interviewing her. Laura is a big advocate...

In today's episode you'll meet Love Your Guts founder Caleb Robertson, who has developed a range of fermented food products since 2017. While working as a natural therapist, Caleb began recommending fermented foods to clients in place of probiotics. At first he starting making a few jars of sauerkraut to sell at the clinic, and running community workshops and over time the demand ramped up until h...

In today's episode you'll meet Hobart-based director of Good Life Permaculture, Hannah Moloney.  As a permaculture landscape designer and educator, a large part of her days are spent in the garden, working with clients and sharing knowledge in the community. She's a wealth of information and is a guest presenter for Gardening Australia. From her garden office Hannah discusses her lifestyle, t...

Back in 2018 Jodi Wilson and her family packed up their city life, sold the majority of their possessions and bought a caravan. In the years since she's been travelling Australia with her partner Daniel and their four children in tow. They've been travelling around Tasmania since November 2019, with plans to return to the mainland later this year. Jodi is a writer, photographer and yoga teacher. I...

When was the last time you took a long, hard look around your house, at all the products that are part of your daily routine and reflected on the waste you generate? Last year Hobart-based nurse Taylor Richardson did just that - she was housebound for several months due to illness and during that time she became very conscious of the waste she was generating so she decided to go zero waste. Since...

Have you ever eaten an insect? If not, would you consider it? It's something that's been part of many cultures for thousands of years and is becoming increasingly popular in the western world. In today's episode you'll meet Louise Morris, the person behind Rebel Food Tasmania. Since 2013 she's been growing premium insects for human consumption using food and brew waste from local businesses. Once...

In today's episode you will meet Simon McInerney, a freelance butler based in Northern Tasmania. He's been in the service industry for most of his life, working in high-class hotels in Australia and abroad. During an eight-year working stint in the UK, he served as house manager for none other than Highclere Castle which some listeners might recognise from Downton Abbey. In this conversation Simon...

When was the last time you really thought about where your food comes from and how it is produced? In today's episode Launceston-based butter maker and founder of Tasmanian Butter Co. Olivia Morrison shares how she makes cultured butter by hand and the philosophy behind her business.

Every now and then you meet someone with a knack for turning day-to-day processes on their head, determined to make a difference. Today's guests Sam Haberle and Toby Wilkin do just that. They're two of the partners behind Launceston's Change Overnight hotel. The unique enterprise has 18 rooms and each night guests stay they have have the opportunity to give back to one of Change's eight aligned ch...

In today’s episode you’ll meet the delightful duo behind the Bloody Unknown, a community project shining the light on the stories of individuals around Tasmania who have experienced a deep displacement from their origin country. Madeleine Rojahn and Josh Quigley are producing a coffee table book filled with touching stories and equally beautiful photographs to help break down some of the cultural...

Do you want to live a more low-waste life but you’re not quite sure where to start? Or maybe you’ve already started down that road and you want to up your game. Either way, entrepreneur and Sustomi creator, Bronwyn Kidd  has some easy tips you can implement today. She started out hand making beeswax wraps to sell at markets throughout the state. She quickly found there was a big demand for sustain...

When was the last time you went off-grid for a few days, made new friends and stepped outside your comfort zone? Chances are, probably not that recently. Natalie Dell came back to her island home from a summer camp in America in 2015 with a fire in her belly to help the next generation of Tasmanians to disconnect from their devices and reconnect with others. In this episode, Camps Tasmania directo...