Southern Plants Wins NGIV Commitment to Environmental Stewardship Award 2024
Southern Plants has been named winner of the Commitment to Environmental Stewardship award at the 2024 Nursery and Garden Industry Victoria awards. It's recognition from the people who know growing best: our own industry.
There's something special about being recognised by your own industry. On 22 August 2024, Southern Plants was named winner of the Commitment to Environmental Stewardship award by Nursery and Garden Industry Victoria (NGIV).
NGIV represents the growers, retailers and suppliers who make up Victoria's nursery and garden industry. These are people who understand exactly what it takes to grow plants well and to do it responsibly. Having them recognise our work means a great deal to everyone at Southern Plants.
Our family has been growing plants for Australian gardens since 1946. Over three generations, the way we grow has changed a lot, but one idea hasn't: plants are good for the planet, so the way we grow them should be too.
That idea shows up in practical, everyday decisions across the nursery.
Our pots are made from 95% recycled Australian PP5 plastic, and our labels from 100% recycled plastic.
Instead of staples or glue, each label is ultrasonically welded to its pot, on the only machine of its type in the Southern Hemisphere. Finding it took seven years of research.
That means both the pot and the label can go straight into a household kerbside recycling bin.
Around 35% of our electricity comes from solar.
None of these changes happened overnight, and none of them are finished. Environmental stewardship isn't a single project with an end date. It's a habit of asking, every season, what we can do a little better.
We grow around two million plants a year across more than 700 varieties. At that scale, small improvements add up quickly. One less staple per pot doesn't sound like much until you multiply it by millions.
Thank you to NGIV and to everyone across the industry who supports this kind of work. Thank you also to our team, whose care and effort go into every plant that leaves the nursery.
And to every gardener who plants something with a Southern Plants label: when you're done, pop the pot and label in your recycling bin. That last step is yours, and it's what closes the loop.
Better Plants. Better Planet.