CERES Fair Wood

Our Cypress Macrocarpa veggie bed kits were assembled and installed in a flash by a team of volunteers at West Brunswick Community Garden last month. This timber was sourced from salvaged windbreaker trees from farms on Wurundjeri land. It's natural resistance to rot and termites makes it perfect for the garden's community plots as users start to prepare their summer harvest - and it will last for many more harvests to come. Read more about this story below, or head to our website to learn more about our veggie bed kits (link in our profile).

It’s been a journey for this Spotted Gum; we’re happy to have repurposed this timber into something the community can enjoy.   When the Brunt Road Level Crossing Removal Project donated seven large Spotted Gum and Southern Mahogany tree logs to us, we collaborated on how we could repurpose some of this timber into a meaningful and community-focused product.   Returning to the location where the tree originally grew, this Spotted Gum park bench made by our carpenter, George, offers locals a perch to sit and admire the park and natural surroundings.   We’ve been piloting our Urban Forestry Service, bringing the sawmill into the city and diverting "waste" urban trees into ethical timber products.   If you’re interested to learn more about our Urban Forestry Project Pilot, read about it on our website.

Sustainable Table celebrate Australian organisations in the food and farming industry that place nurturing ecosystems and communities at the heart of their actions and decision making. We're excited to feature in their interactive Regenerative Food and Farming Map. This map provides a tool for discovering changemakers in your local area to enable connection, collaboration and knowledge-sharing. We look forward to future collaboration and relationship-building with likeminded people who come across us on this platform. Head to their website to have a browse of the map yourself. #sustainability #regenerative #map #sustainablefarming

In 2022, the Level Crossing Removal Project teams contacted us about our efforts to save urban trees from being chipped. They had already begun preserving Class 1 durable hardwood logs from Northern region Level Crossing projects. Together, we navigated the complexities of repurposing these logs, eventually transforming River Red Gum timber into feature battens for the newly reopened Keon Park train station in Thomastown, Melbourne. We milled, dried, and machined the timber, integrating the remaining timber into our supply chain at Fair Wood, saving it from chipping or landfill. This project, one of our first major milestones, has taught us much about reusing timber for higher purposes. While reusing timber often defaults to mulch, benches or habitat logs, achieving a project like this required significant coordination and effort. We're thrilled to have reached this milestone and are excited about similar upcoming projects. To our knowledge this is best practice work we have delivered. We're working with a number of partners to divert trees from waste. Read more about our Urban Forestry Project Pilot on our website.

Are you a marketing / comms whizz looking for your next challenge? We are on the lookout for someone to join our team for a 12 month maternity leave contract. The role is diverse and fun and you get to work with a great crew of dedicated and passionate folk. If you want to work for a values driven organisation, send us a CV with a cover letter addressing the key selection criteria via the link below. https://lnkd.in/gZWrzYaB

Let’s talk about this beautiful table. Our incredible refugee carpentry team with our head carpenter George have crafted a beautiful meeting table that has found a new home in our communal area. Our refugee carpentry program is going from strength to strength as we welcome more of the Afghan women's soccer team. They are learning new skills to help them with a pathway to meaningful employment once the 12 week program is complete. Made with love, this table features salvaged Elm slabs from an ex-dairy farm near Fish Creek, on Gunai Kurnai Country. Read more about our refugee carpentry program on our website.  https://lnkd.in/gKY2jmAy This program is thanks to Federal funding through the #EconomicPathwaysforRefugeeIntegration #EPRI.

Take a peep at our amazing new composting learning space that has been created at the CERES Eco House over the past couple of months. We work closesly with the teams at main site and you'll see alot of our timber at the Brunswick site. From the market garden revamp, the new office build, the millipede and now these fab compost bays, to name a few. This was a true labour of love in collaboration with our site and education teams, and corporate vollies (cheers!) Big love to Heartwood Building and Construction who used our Macrocarpa sleepers to make this dream a reality #sustainableliving #composting #sustainableeducation

Like many - we are incredibly moved by the story and resilience of the Afghani women’s football team. These fierce, determined women fled Afghanistan, leaving behind their homes and families to pursue their dreams and find safety in Australia. Today, we want to celebrate these amazing women who are challenging the status quo on and off the field, some of whom have joined our carpentry program. We’re incredibly grateful to have them as part of the program! You can also read more about one of the team members stories from a recent ABC article here: https://lnkd.in/gifF9tDB

We are really proud of the success and growth of Fair Wood over the last 5 years. Given we are technically still a start-up, we have been breaking even, which is huge for any start-up, let alone a social enterprise start-up. The biggest reason for this success is our people! Say g’day to Tim! Tim has been in the industry for a long time and joins us from another timberyard across town, Urban Salvage. IYKYK Tim, he is a generous, kind and knoweldgeable person to have around and we are really lucky that we now have him as part of the team. You'll see Tim on our workshop floor giving top notch advice to our customers. You can get to know Tim and the rest of our amazing team over at the Q&A on our website. https://lnkd.in/gqxbv-Ue

Can firewood be fairer? Our friends Ben and Matt from wood4good would say yes! They are changing the game with sustainable firewood sourced from regenerative forestry projects. With 15% of Melbournians relying on woodfire heating, and with Australians collectively burning around seven million tons of firewood (the equivalent of filling the MCG ten times), it's crucial that we source our firewood thoughtfully. wood4good has been managing their regenerative forestry project that began twenty-five years ago on Dja Dja Wurrung country/Central Victoria, where 300 hectares of exhausted grazing land was replanted with sugar gum and red ironbark. Over the last five years, they have implemented selective thinning in their forest, allowing larger trees to thrive by removing smaller sugar gums and iron barks. Traditionally, these thinned trees would be piled up and burned as waste. However, this process has been revolutionised by transforming what would once have been considered a waste product into sustainable firewood. As we transition away from native clearfell forestry, organisations like wood4good lead the way in protecting ecosystems while meeting our timber needs. Read more about our approach and the work of Wood4Good here: https://lnkd.in/gP_DDqRN