The earth is in your hands

By Erin Higgins

Well, literally, the earth is in your hands when you hold one of our green Compost A Pak bags. Made from corn, grown from the earth. There is no doubt you would have already seen our green bags in store, a transition that we decided to make before new legislation was implemented around the ban of single use plastic bags in Queensland. Because as you all know, our earth matters to us.

Reduce, reuse and recycle is a constant mantra that we practise at Flannerys and although there is always development to be done on minimising plastic usage – one that we are continuously working on, our team has sourced the best option as far it goes with bags. Overall, we encourage customers to bring in their reusable bag or grab a box, but we understand that this is sometimes not the situation we find ourselves in. Read on to find out more about the incredible Compost-A-Pak^® green bags that we have in store.

The magic, organic ingredient used in these plastic free bags is corn. The company chose corn as it is an annually renewable crop. Unlike trees, corn can re-grow and be harvested in a single season.

The actual crops are deliberately sourced from international GMO-free regions with high levels of rain, to minimise any irrigation. In addition, the corn kernels selected are classified as third grade. This spoilt corn is not suitable for human or animal consumption. Meaning this waste product that would have previously gone to landfill is being put to good use.

Ticking the boxes of plastic-free, these bags go a step above and are not just degradable or biodegradable they are also Australian certified compostable for both commercial & home composting. The bags started off as a vision from family man and founder of Compost A Pak, Peter Cruwys.

“I spent several years after university working overseas, only to return to Australia with a renewed appreciation of our beautiful country” Peter says.

“I became passionate about ensuring Australians have access to world class products, which make it easier for everyone to live more sustainably, and so protect our unique country.”

After a few years of research, many prototypes, and even more sleepless nights for Peter’s entire growing family, the Compost-A-Pak^® brand was born and what an incredible product it is that the Flannerys team are so happy to support and make available to you.

With flying colours the Compost A Pak even passed the eco-toxicity and the worm test, which is unique to the Australian Standard, the most stringent of all worldwide compostability standards. All their products are certified to the Australian Commercial Composting Standard (AS4736- ABAP10019).

In fact, according to worldwide standards, compostable products should biodegrade at least 90% within 90 days in a commercial composting facility. Compost-A-Pak^® products were shown to biodegrade 99% in half the time!

From the fresh compost which is spread across the earth, the story starts all over again with richer soil to support future crops.

When you see these green Compost A Pak bags at the registers or in our fresh produce department, know that you are holding a plastic free bag that is 100% compostable.

The real magic comes – when you Reuse, Reduce & Recycle.
Everyone of us can make a difference, so please continue to use sparingly and then dispose of them mindfully with regards to their compostable nature. There are SO many ways to recycle these corn bags: from pet waste, storage, reusing next time you shop & bin liners!