In the wake of a tragedy
like this,
we’re reminded of all we
have to be grateful for…


When was the last time you consciously felt grateful to be alive?

Despite whatever challenges life is throwing at you, how often do you reflect on all the good things in your life, and feel truly and passionately thankful?
It’s in the wake of tragedies like the typhoon that smashed its way through the Philippines that we are reminded of how precious our lives are.

That’s why, every night before I sleep I close my eyes and say Thank You for all the blessings I have in my life – I start with gratitude for Life itself, then I say thanks for good health, for my family, for the fact that we live in safety and security, for the wealth and abundance we enjoy and for the lessons we receive that inspire us to grow.

It doesn’t matter if what I have is less than I truly need or want. Regardless, I’m grateful for what I have, knowing that I could have been worse off.
And in case you’re wondering, it’s also irrelevant who the  “You” is I’m saying thanks to. You could call it God, Jesus, the Creator, the Universe, or even your self. All that’s important is the gratitude!

So, in the face of the pain and suffering being experienced by 4.5 million people in the Philippines at the moment, it’s driven home to us, who are safe in our own homes, how much we have to be grateful for.
And the natural reaction, as far as we’re concerned, is compassion.

Consequently, Blue Turtles is donating $500 to Oxfam, who have teams on the ground in the Philippines, providing immediate relief to survivors who don’t have access to shelter, sanitaion or clean water (Oxfam reports that the town of Tacloban in Leyte province has been 100% destroyed).

Additionally, we will donate all profits from the sale of this Poetic Pieces pendant during the month of November to Oxfam (while stocks last).

This pendant is P-4S-19. It’s purpose is to express gratitude…for life itself.
It’s made from sterling silver and is strung on natural black silk, finished with a sterling silver clasp.

If you purchase P-4S-19 this month, we’ll donate all the profit it generates for us to Oxfam’s Typhoon Haiyan appeal.

To purchase, or to enquire about prices, contact your local stockist, who will order your pendant for you.

Indonesia is a nation of 250 million people, becoming industrialized to the point of becoming a world economic power. The standard of living is improving and the country’s middle class is growing, which is good news for Indonesia, but it’s scary to think of such a shift happening for so many people, if it doesn’t coincide with a shift in environmental awareness. Growing wealth means more cars on the roads, more fossil fuels burned and more waste!

If you’ve ever visited a city in Indonesia – or gone to the beach in Bali in December – you’ll know what a lot of plastic waste looks like. It’s everywhere! It clogs the drains and waterways, causing frequent flooding in the rainy season. It covers the beaches and wraps itself around your legs when you go swimming and if you go island hopping, there are plastic bags drifting through the pristine clear waters, as deep as your eyes can see.

Banners & signs imparting facts about plastic waste.

The mess from all this plastic has a devastating impact. It’s a serious hazard for the local flora and fauna, and its impact on the oceans goes beyond Indonesia’s borders (Indonesia isn’t the only country to blame, though – every country contributes to the mass of plastic waste drifting in the sea. Read about the highly disturbing Trash Vortex of the North Pacific).


Some components of plastic are known  to have serious effects on human health, affecting the heart, liver and endocrine system. Think of all that plastic breaking down in the soil, rivers and seas, being absorbed into the food chain and eventually finding its way into our diets!

The Plastic Monster Parade

The parade, moving through the crowds.

A great mob of people assembled to walk through Solo’s main thoroughfare on Sunday morning April 14, carrying posters and banners that imparted facts about plastic waste and its impact. We approached people in the street and traded whatever plastic they were carrying for a reusable bag. We also picked up all manner of plastic waste discarded along the road and filled a cart.

Blue Turtles' Sandy is "harassed" by plastic monsters, Doron & Pak Budi.

Pak Budhi Purnama, the head of STP Sahid Surakarta, and Blue Turtles’ Doron Berger, were dressed as “plastic monsters”, and snarled their way down the street, giving radio, TV and newspaper interviews.

We received feedback from some people we met on the day that they’d learned something new from our campaign, which is an immediate positive result.  And since that day, students from the STP Sahid Surakarta school have continued to campaign every Sunday on Solo’s main street, so there is already a positive legacy. The city of Solo is often referred to as a barometer for the rest of Indonesia, so what a great place to inspire change.


One year on from our first environmentally themed campaign in Solo Central Java, the seeds we planted have grown into this more focused effort, and we’re looking forward to future projects to both create awareness of the problem, and establish viable solutions.


We’re honored to have the opportunity to play a role, however small, in making a positive difference in our world.

Our friend Adam is participating in the Melbourne Marathon on October 14, to raise funds for the Grow Foundation.

He says if he successfully raises $10,000 from sponsors, he’ll run the event in an orange lycra suit!

Personally, we don’t have any particular need or desire to see Adam in orange lycra, but we support his cause and have come on board as sponsors.

So, what is the Grow Foundation?

Sarah Delarue from the Grow Foundation explains…

“Nearly everybody knows somebody who has a child who has been affected by either Autism, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, stroke, ADHD or other such thing.  The Grow Foundation is raising money to help these children and families.

The  Grow Foundation will be bringing a team of professionals from The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential to  Australia from the US, to help over 100 local families undergo training and treatment.

The Institutes provides expert medical advice and training for parents to run home based therapy programs for their own children. The results achieved by special needs children on these therapy programs are amazing and in many cases they achieve results far superior to those seen from conventional treatments.  In fact, some results seem miraculous.
These include:

Seeing: Of 262 children who were blind, 85% saw for the first time

Hearing: Of 116 children who were deaf, 91% heard for the first time.

Walking : Of 428 children who were unable to walk, 50% began to walk without help for the first time.”

To visit the Grow Foundation’s website, click here.

And if you want to help get Adam into his orange lycra suit, click  here.

Turtles is getting involved (but of course!).

Inspired by a US based non profit organization known as American Tortoise Rescue (www.tortoise.com), we’re chipping in to help the sea turtles of South East Asia. As with so many things in this beautiful but harassed world of ours, turtles and tortoises are threatened. But thanks to American Tortoise Rescue, there are efforts to wake us up to the turtles’ plight. American Tortoise Rescue established World Turtle Day “to increase respect and knowledge of the world’s oldest creature”. Visit the World Turtle Day facebook page to keep up to date with them.

What we’re doing to

honor turtles on

World Turtle Day

P-26-PROTECTION

We’re offering you the opportunity to purchase a turtle pendant that will contribute to turtle conservation.

The pendant costs AUD$64 (postage included), and we’ll donate $25 from your purchase to the Turtle Conservation and Education Centre (TCEC) in Bali, an amazing grass roots organization doing fantastic work to change the fate of sea turtles in Indonesia for the better. Read all about them and their inspiring work through the link above. You can also see our facebook album of our visit to TCEC here.

P-26-TENACITY

These sterling silver turtle pendants are part of Blue Turtles’ Poetic Pieces Collection. They are each inscribed with a choice of 3 empowering affirmations. Choose between Tenacity, Creativity or Protection. Each pendant is shipped in a gift pouch.

P-26-CREATIVITY

To order your turtle pendant, click here and quote the item code of the pendant you prefer:

P-26-TENACITY

P-26-CREATIVITY

P-26-PROTECTION

Order your turtle pendant now and make a difference! Click here to order.

The Silvery Gibbon Project is a fundraising organization committed to the conservation of the critically endangered Silvery Gibbon, a primate found only in the jungles of Indonesia, and famous for its haunting and beautiful call.

On Saturday May 19th, they will be holding an art auction at Perth Zoo, to raise much needed funds to continue their conservation work.

Blue Turtles has produced a jewellery piece especially for this fundraising event – a silver bangle inscribed with the words, “Will you hear their call?”.  This bangle, along with many original works of art, will be available for you to bid at the auction event.

Visit the Silvery Gibbon Project website here for more information.

Solo Go Green is an initiative established by Pak Budhi Purnama, the head of STP Sahid Surakarta, a vocational high school in Sandy’s hometown of Solo.

Doron with Pak Budhi and the director of Balekambang Garden in Solo.

Recently new to his post as headmaster, Pak Budhi wanted to make the most of his position to create positive environmental change in Indonesia. So, he established the Solo Go Green initiative, starting off with a tree planting event, where over 600 trees were planted on the mountain slopes surrounding Solo, by students from his school and local government and business identities.

Blue Turtles was keen to get involved and sponsor the event. We could see that this isn’t simply about planting trees in the mountains – it’s an opportunity to plant new ideas and cultivate a fresh mentality in a country on the verge of change.

Some of the students from STP Sahid after tree planting at Candi Cetho.

Indonesia is set to occupy a more influential position on the world stage in the next few years, thanks to its huge population, its rich natural resources and continual economic reform. This means that Indonesia will have more of an impact on the global environment. But perhaps with a more aware population, its impact can be more positive!

A Javanese Hindu ceremony marked the tree planting. "He/she who sows, will reap."

Though generally there is an awareness of climate change and global warming in Indonesia, you get a sense that it usually only receives token attention and lip service – that many people there aren’t really seeing the big picture and how it influences their lives and impacts the rest of the world.

Through Blue Turtles’ involvement in the  Solo Go Green initiative, we hope to play an ongoing role in increasing awareness of environmental issues in Indonesia. By teaming with those already committed to the cause, we hope to help introduce the following ideas to mainstream Indonesia:

1. Dispose of waste thoughtfully (and put an end to the masses of plastic waste that litter Indonesia’s waterways)

2. Cut down on the use of plastics

3. Recycle where possible

4. Make buying and consumer decisions that take into account the environmental impact

We hope to bring you lots of good news in the future about Solo Go Green.

The “Be the Change” pendant is a not-for-profit Community Care project launched by Blue Turtles to raise funds for people affected by catastrophic famine in East Africa. $33 from the sale of every pendant will be donated to aid agencies fighting famine. We are currently supporting Action Against Hunger (ACF International).

The “Be the Change” pendant is the only product that Blue Turtles sells direct to the public.

You can participate in the project by doing one or more of these 3 things:

1. Stock the “Be the Change” pendant in your retail outlet (this is a non-profit item).

2. Distribute flyers in your store to promote the project.

3. Create a link from your website, facebook or twitter to the “Be the Change” web page.

To visit the “Be the Change” page, click here.

Contact us to discuss participating.

It’s here!

You can now purchase a “Be the Change” pendant and make a difference for East Africa.

The “Be the Change” pendant is a Community Care project launched by Blue Turtles to raise funds for people affected by catastrophic famine in East Africa. $33 from the sale of every pendant will be donated to aid agencies fighting famine. We are currently supporting Action Against Hunger (ACF International).

Visit our Be the Change page, and please share this page with everybody you can, because every pendant purchased means a donation to save lives.

Be the change, and make a difference!

In July we announced that we would be supporting Melbourne based charity FareShare with a percentage of our August Gift Fair sales. FareShare rescues good food that’s destined to be thrown away, prepares it and redirects it to feed Victoria’s hungry and undernourished (learn more about FareShare here).

Very soon after we announced our intention to support FareShare, the UN declared famine in East Africa! Reports about the suffering in Somalia disturbed us terribly and we started thinking, how can a small business like ours stretch further and make a difference for those poor souls in East Africa?

So, we set to work and devised a plan – a Poetic Pieces pendant dedicated to raising funds for important causes, such as East Africa’s famine.

We went to facebook and our blog and asked everybody what quote would be the best for our fundraiser pendant, and in response to the feedback we got, we chose “Be the Change”.

It’s now nearly mid September. We’ve finally despatched the bulk of our August fair orders and have transferred our donation to FareShare. The first samples of our new “Be the Change” pendant have just been completed, so we can now finally introduce “Be the Change” to you.

The  “Be the Change” pendant will cost $55 (incl. GST) and will be available from participating retailers or directly from Blue Turtles.

Chains are sold separately.

$33 from the sale of each pendant will be donated to Action Against Hunger (ACF International), who has a presence in East Africa. We chose them because they were highly rated by independent charity evaluator, Charity Navigator. You can read Charity Navigator’s evaluation of Action Against Hunger here.

Please consider purchasing a “Be The Change” pendant, so you can make a difference in the lives of others.

* Note that the contribution we can make per pendant may vary with the changing market value of silver and exchange rates.

Thanks to REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya, courtesy Trust.org/Alertnet for the East Africa newsletter image, and AP for the East Africa image in this blog post.

The famine occurring in East Africa is an incredibly distressing situation. An article from news.com.au describes the horror, and highlights the absurdity of the developed world’s general attitude to this tragedy. You can read the article here.

If you happen to be swayed by the comments left by other readers at the end of the article to criticize the article and the importance of contributing, think for a minute how you’d feel if the starving child in the photo was yours – or simply a child you know.

Unfortunately, in these days of information overload, it’s far too easy to switch off and feel nothing. But this tragedy is real. If the rest of the world doesn’t help, thousands – or hundreds of thousands  – will die painfully.

The "Be the Change" pendant will look similar to this.

If you’ve been keeping up to date with our blog and facebook posts, you know we’ve been planning the release of a new Poetic Pieces pendant, the profits of which will be donated to an appropriate organization for famine relief. We asked for your feedback – which words would be the best ones to inscribe on such a piece of jewellery?  The overwhelming response was to choose “Be the change.”

So,”Be the Change” it is! We’re making the prototype as we write. Please keep an eye on this space for the release of the “Be the Change” pendant. Hopefully you’ll buy one or more – for you and for someone you love – so that together we can help change the dire circumstances of those in East Africa.

Incidentally, we’d appreciate any informed opinions on which aid agencies can make the best use of our donations!