Melbourne 2023
Toast The Trees is a campaign run yearly to help protect the future of bourbon. For every #toastthetrees shared on social media platforms for August & September, Angel's Envy will plant a white oak tree to ensure the industry and their community can thrive for years to come. In 2022, they planted 3 times as many trees as they used for barrels to age bourbon in. Raise a toast, make a post, plant an oak.
In return for bars and restaurants giving Angel’s Envy a hand with raising awareness around white oak conservation, they are making sure to do right by the community they operate in, and this year’s campaign is weighted towards a positive impact locally.
We crowd sourced ideas on how to make that impact and what it should be, we received some brilliant submissions from the Melbourne bar community, for now we are focusing on the initiatives that have the biggest potential for positive impact locally.
Venue's put drinks on menu's and donated a dollar per sale, Angel's Envy put in $4,000 for the causes, and we threw an event to raise funds and are working off the clock with the people who had the ideas to get the initiatives off the ground.
It was a solid effort from all involved. $1,377 was raised from the cause announcement event at Ends & Means and cocktail listings over August & September, plus $4,000 from the fine folks at Angel’s Envy gives us a grand total of $5,377 to put to a good cause here in Melbourne.
There were two causes that we landed on putting the cash towards, with time from Please & Thanks off the clock supporting
these initiatives to get off the ground:
Community – Annika Regel – Bar Clara - Budget of $3,876
Annika had the idea to action some things and create resources to look out for young women & LGBTQIA+ folk in our industry:
Seeking expert legal advice and collate the practical info from the wonderful people involved with the “How to be a Better Ally & Intersectional Ally” sessions Nate ran last year, to create general house policy and contract clauses that venues can use in employment contracts and on-boarding documents.
We’ll then share all this information and resources at an industry class which will offer free bystander training for bartenders, chefs & front of house, run by paid professionals to give people the tools to speak up when they see something not right.
There will also be a community resource booklet with a list of places and people to talk to if they need help or advice that venues can pass on to new starters if they would like to do so.
Environment – Mel Hack – Whisky & Alement – Budget of $1500
Mel had the idea to train the industry on sustainability rather than just talk about it:
Offsetting the carbon emitted in shipping a year’s supply of Angel’s Envy from the USA to Australia.
Holding a session which will have two parts, the first is a panel discussion on the impact of hospitality on the environment, and the second is a masterclass on sustainable bar practices and how to implement them.
Mel is doing up a digital “Bar Sustainability Handbook” to take home with you on event day.
Timeline
We’re coming into the busy period for all of us right now, so we’re going to get to work on it and have it all done by the end of February 2024 at the very latest, if you want to get involved, please reach out! As a note, of course we’d love your attendance at the events, but that doesn’t mean your excluded from gaining access to any of the resources we’re creating, it will all be open source and available for digital download post events.
More details to come, if you have any questions or would like to get involved, please reach out.
Thank you so much to Angel's Envy for making this possible, and to thank you to the venues that got on board to support:
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands on which we work and pay our respects to Indigenous Elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty has never been ceded. It always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.