What Does the 'Australian Made' symbol mean & how does it affect your Carbon Score?

The 2^nd symbol of the Astra Carbon Footprint Tracker that we are going to break down in detail is the ‘Australian Made’ icon. After reading this article, you’ll understand what this symbol means, the hidden advantages of buying Australian Made products, and how it affects your overall carbon score.   

Support for Australian Made products has recently surged, with research showing that more than 93% of Australians are more likely to buy a product that is made in Australia vs one that is made overseas. If you see this symbol against an Astra product in our catalogue or website, it is your guarantee that the product is designed and manufactured locally.

Buying Australian made products has many benefits, including support for the Australian economy, Australian specifications & standards, easier customizations & replacement options, significantly decreased lead times, and so on. But often people forget the benefit that local manufacturing has on our environment, and in turn, the carbon score of your project!

Firstly, locally made products means decreased transportation, with no need for container ships or container haulage trucks. These transportation methods release unnecessary carbon emissions, negatively impacting the environment and polluting our air and oceans! The Astra Environmental Specialist team have calculated that shipping a 20’ container from Asia to our Sydney warehouse is 30x the carbon emissions compared to manufacturing the products locally and shipping them directly to our Sydney warehouse!  

It's interesting to study the freight comparisons of flat packed product vs pre-assembled product as well. Many furniture providers supply pre-assembled product, whereas here at Astra Street Furniture we provide quality flat packed furniture with easy-to-follow assembly guides, saving massively on freight. To give you a good example, we did a case study on freighting our 240L Athens Bin Enclosure flat packed vs pre-assembled. When flat packed, we could fit 10 large 240L Athens Bin Enclosures onto 3 pallets. When assembled, we would ship one Enclosure per pallet, meaning it would take up 10 pallet spaces to ship fully assembled, compared to just 3 pallet spaces when flat packed. So as you can see, manufacturing locally means reduced freight and therefore reduced carbon emissions!  

In addition to environmental freight savings, Australia has much more stringent environmental policies and guidelines when compared to other countries in Asia which are renowned for bulk production and manufacturing. In fact, Australia operates under some of the strictest guidelines in the world, ensuring that locally manufactured products are produced with the least emissions as possible. Australia’s air quality is so pure, it even gets bottled up and sold for various health benefits, and in some cases, is shipped to places like China and India so they can have a taste of pure ‘Australian air’!

On top of this, Australian Made enables our supply chain to be regularly investigated to ensure all materials used are sustainably sourced and produced, including our steel, aluminium, hardwood timbers, and composite materials. More advanced technology allows for more efficient manufacturing methods which aim for lower levels of carbon emission. Also, remember that Australian made products typically last longer, which in turn means less carbon emitting manufacturing to replace products and less landfill over time because you are not having to replace your items so often! This is a fundamental factor in environmental sustainability.

But don’t forget, sustainability comes in many forms. With Australia’s detailed enterprise awards which have strict policies against slave or child labor, an Australian Made product will have been manufactured in accord with good ethical practices.

Every product in the Astra Street Furniture range is 100% Australian Made. Buying Australian Made products means 30x less carbon than imported products, and that’s just calculated based on the reduced cartage! When you also take the above points into consideration, that multiple will obviously increase.

Australian Made Chief Executive, Ben Lazzaro said “When you buy Australian Made products you know what you are getting - products made to the highest of manufacturing standards … in our clean, green environment. At the same time, you are helping to support our manufacturing industry, create Aussie jobs and give back to local communities.”

I hope this article has helped you understand how your product being Australian Made affects your carbon score, and we look forward to providing you with quality Australian Made street furniture products for your current and future projects!