Every year, more than 484,000 events are held across Australia. Behind the scenes, millions of single use plastic name badges and lanyards are issued, and almost all end up in landfill. Traditional plastic badges take up to 500 years to break down.
On the Sunshine Coast, a small team is proving that a simple change can have an outsized impact. Terra Tag, based in Buderim, has supplied over 19,210 plantable conference and event badges, avoiding 370 kilograms of plastic waste and saving 2.1 tonnes of CO? in the process.
The innovation is deceptively simple. Conference name badges are made from thick, durable paper embedded with herb and flower seeds, paired with biodegradable lanyards. After the event, instead of heading to landfill, the badges can be planted and sprout wildflowers or herbs, creating a living legacy.
All Terra Tag paper is handmade by a master papermaker using paper waste donated by businesses, government offices and schools across the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane. There is no shortage of paper in the world, and Terra Tag has built a circular system that gives waste paper new life as seed paper. At a time when ways of working are changing, there is growing appreciation for handmade goods that carry meaning as well as utility.
Plantable event name badges
Clients including Tourism Australia, CSIRO, IAG, Bloomberg and Nando’s have embraced the solution, not only for its sustainability benefits but also because it reduces stress for organisers. Badges arrive fully assembled, packed in guest list order, and ready to use which eliminates a common source of last minute chaos.
Terra Tag’s work is part of a broader movement in sustainable event management, tackling smaller waste streams that collectively add up to tonnes of landfill each year. By rethinking materials, reengineering production and making sustainability effortless for organisers, their model shows how innovation can inspire other sectors to rethink everyday waste.
The company was recently recognised as a Queensland finalist in the Telstra Best of Business Awards Promoting Sustainability. But the real measure of success is sprouting across backyards and gardens, proof that what once ended in landfill can instead become life.
Papermaking
Terra Tag
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