Atlas Soils

01/05/2026

Windows open in May and June. We come to you.
The Arjes Hammerbreaker and Gremac E2 Trommel can process on-site:

🚧 Concrete and construction debris
🛌 Mattresses
🌴 Timber and green waste
👕 Fabrics and textiles
👓 Gyprock, glass, and plastic
🥶 White goods (degassed)
☀️ Solar panels

Processing at your facility cuts transport and disposal costs.

Material gets reprocessed, not landfilled.

Townsville and surrounds. Will travel for volume.

Email [email protected]

hashtag

14/04/2026

14/04/2026

Fuel’s up.
Fertiliser’s up.
Food’s not getting cheaper.

Queenslanders are feeling it.

We are too.

So instead of overthinking it…we just started doing a few simple things at home and wanted to share them.

This pumpkin was one of them.

Grew it a few months back.

Stored it.

Cooked it last night with my kids.

Dinner tonight again.

Lunch today too AND its really about the soup at all.

It’s about what sits behind it - 2 of these recipies are infinite.
👉 Seeds → next season’s food
👉 Scraps → back into the soil
👉 One meal → real savings

Nothing fancy.
Nothing perfect.
Just practical and fun with kids.

Because when fuel and fertiliser are under pressure globally, that flows straight into:
• farming costs
• transport
• supermarket prices

And most of us just absorb it, if we are lucky enough to....

But maybe we don’t have to absorb all of it.

Maybe we just start small.

Just one meal a week.

One thing in the ground.

One conversation with the kids about where food actually comes from.

That’s how this started for us.

Not as a business.

Just 3 dads trying to save a bit of money, grow some food, and make things a bit better in our home town. Maybe teaching others if we can.

Now, with your help, it’s turning into something bigger.

A way to help households, communities and cities lower cost of living and build resilience at the same time.

Have a flick through the slides 👇

It’s simple stuff, low budget (including the production) — but it adds up.

Question for followers:

What’s one thing you could grow or cook this month that replaces a meal and saves you a bit of money?

Other businesses just manage waste or move it around the city to make money.....

Here at Atlas Soils - we aim to build cities with you.

27/02/2026

A few years ago, we were invited into a cool government program called


The challenge was simple on paper....
Create products and services that reduce the impact of single-use coffee cups in Queensland. We took that challenge seriously, we even collected coffee for a whole year for nothing from our partners at McDonald's

We built the idea.
We pitched the system.
We didn’t get funded.
It cut deeply and cost us significantly at the time.
We almost folded as a business.

Since then, we still haven’t paid ourselves a wage.
But here’s the thing about being told “no” ....
Sometimes it clarifies whether you were serious.

We decided to do it anyway.

Not perfectly.
Not fully funded.
But in an imperfect motion nonetheless.

We partnered with people who cared - some we met in the challenge like a legend named Patrick Manley and some local champtions at Coffee Presto

We supported reuse systems that dont often attract $$. Human infrastructure is much less sexy to fund - how do you cut the ribbon?

We launched the 1 Million Coffee Challenge, our flagship initiative.

We started turning coffee grounds into living soil instead of landfill methane.
We began talking openly about what heated plastic means for human health and what daily habits mean for our soils.

It’s messy.
It’s slower than we’d like.
It’s far from finished.
But it’s real.

We’re definately NOT in the cup business. We may have even lost the $5000 worth of cups we purchased from Cercle after hearing they needed help too.

We ARE in the health business.... human health and soil health.

🍺 The cup matters.
🍺 The grounds matter.
🫡 The community system around them matters most.

So here’s to the ones who hear “can’t.”
The ones who hear “its cool but no.”

AND most of all....

The ones who build the f*cking thing anyway.

There’s a long way to go.

But we’re in action and thank you to all of those that have helped along the way.

19/02/2026

Yesterday, we shared some honest lunchbox maths (below vid for those interested, scary).

Today this dropped on Netflix.
https://youtu.be/Esd8PEWlt9w?si=ypDF3C-OY_9Jr15-

Worth watching.

We’ve talked about plastics as an environmental issue for years.

But the conversation is shifting.

doesn’t just end up in oceans.
It ends up in soil.
In food.
In us.
That’s a different lens and a critical shift....

At Atlas Soils, we’re just three dads trying to shorten loops.

Refill over single-use.

Regeneration over fragmentation.

Soils over organs.

The work with Coles, Boody and the Townsville community isn’t abstract.

It’s about making everyday decisions easier.....and safer.

Most of the better choices save money anyway.

🍺 Less packaging.
🍺More whole food.
🍺More refills.
🍺More local loops.

This isn’t alarmism, have a watch and think for yourselves....

Then look at your own 7:12am routine like we did - bloody scary!

What are microplastics doing to our health? The dangers of using plastics have an unprecedented health toll on fertility, puberty, and much more. This docume...

06/02/2026

Why is turning OFF your irrigation right now is one of the best things you can do for your lawn and our city?

First up, Townsville’s drinking water is world-class, and we’re lucky to have it.

We also know locals LOOVE their lawns, gardens and veggie patches. It’s part of North Queensland life and brings real joy to families and communities.

That said, drinking water is treated to be safe for people, not designed for soils. Using it on lawns should be the backup, not the default.

The graph below isn’t just about how much we love the outdoors, it combines over 80 years of Bureau of Meteorology rainfall data for Townsville with what locals know a strong, healthy lawn actually needs each month.

If you hate graphs (like most people), here’s the simple takeaway:

👉 This time of year, Townsville typically gets around five times more rain than a healthy lawn needs.

It’s not always perfectly spaced out, but those are big numbers and a very good reminder.

Here’s why turning irrigation off actually help our city:

🌱 Stronger lawns grow deeper roots
When lawns aren’t watered all the time, roots chase moisture deeper into the soil. Deeper roots mean better access to water when it’s really needed. That mattes both in the wet season and the dry...

🌧️ Rain works differently to irrigation
Rain brings oxygen, variation and natural signals (that fresh rain smell — petrichor) that switch soil life on. Constant irrigation doesn’t.

💨 Healthier, breathable soils
Letting soils dry slightly between rain helps air move through the soil. That’s what keeps lawns tough instead of soft and shallow. Putting drinking water on soil thats already wet just promotes more bacteria (that swamp smell) as well as triggering root rot.

🔥 More resilient in dry AND wet seasons
A lawn with deep roots handles dry spells better and absorbs heavy rain instead of shedding it. Thats better for both our lawn, and the reef as nutrients stay where they should - in soils and not in the Rivers.

Many of us remember 2018 as it was a really tough time for the industry and city. We went from Level 4 water restrictions (businesses shutting down) to a once-in-a-generation flood in just 48 hours.

That’s the flood–drought paradox we live with here in

So, the best time to save water is now, when we have it, not when restrictions force us.

👉 The simple takeaways to consider over a beer, wine or iceblock:

If your lawn is green and growing after rain:

👉 turn the irrigation off

👉 let roots go deep

👉 let soils do their job

You’ll end up with a better lawn, reduce risk of bacterial dominance, and you’ll be doing your bit to protect Townsville’s critical water supply, without sacrificing turf quality.

Oh, and dont forget to enjoy them - we live in the greatest city on Earth.

Hang tight over the next few months as we share a few secrets we have been brewing.

Jason, Paul and Steve.

13/01/2026

Four years into trying to build a circular economy business in , here’s what has surprised us most.

Not from theory. From doing, failing and getting back up.

What’s harder than it should be:

1️⃣ Regulation triggers “high-impact” rules long before actual impact is high.

2️⃣ The land you’re then required to use is priced for heavy industry, not innovation. Game over.

3️⃣ Procurement systems often struggle to work with small, local businesses like ours, even when government wants the outcome.

4️⃣ Big businesses need circular solutions, but don’t yet have easy pathways to source them locally - that matters for

5️⃣ Banks, government programs and investors look for scale and “unicorns” that return 10x on investment. The opposite of what's being asked for.

What’s easier than we expected:

1️⃣ The public genuinely wants to be involved and people are ready. Youth matter.

2️⃣ Businesses want help, including large ones, and are open to figuring it out with you.

3️⃣ Collaboration is a currency and often the thing that keeps you going 💛

4️⃣ Humans are far more generous, creative and willing than we assume.

5️⃣ Technically, it’s never been easier to build these systems that work.

Our biggest learning, other than remembering hats for photo shoots.....

The circular economy, for the most part, isn’t a technical challenge.

It’s a systems and relationship challenge.

The tools exist. The people, like us, are ready.

The work needed is helping learn how to move at human speed.

We’re sharing this not as a complaint, but as an offering, to make it a little easier for the next person who tries.

Because its bloody hard.

From three dads and a very supportive Townsville community, thank you.

If you’re working inside government, finance, infrastructure or business, what’s the one thing making this harder (or easier) where you are?

Photo credit - amazing team at Boody, thanks for working with us and joining the journey.

Paul Bull Hannahbull Hydro Excavations & Locations

30/09/2025

From 3 dads to our community — THANK YOU!

This ‘Townsville Urban Food Calendar’ has been years of learning and mistakes in the making. It started with a simple and small idea….

To connect families, community, soils, and people through the joy (and mistakes) of growing food in our beloved city.

Over the years, we’ve had coffee grounds dropped off by schools, weeds pulled out of creeks by First Nations partners, food scraps collected from all over town, and stories shared by families who wanted to grow something that survived.

We’ve learnt a lot along the way….mostly that nothing meaningful happens alone. The support, encouragement, and trust of this community has kept us going when we would have otherwise . We nearly did AND we are still .

This calendar is our small way of saying thank you. It’s not perfect, but it’s real, it’s local, and it’s built with you and for you…

🌱 For your backyard and park.
🌱 For your health.
🌱 For our city.
🌱 For the Reef.

Each month in the Urban Food Calendar highlights a hand-picked edible plant….something easy to grow with kids, useful in the kitchen, can be given away and has been chosen for the right time of year.

We’ve added some local growing tips that are honest and realistic, because gardening seems to be a bit like life, it isn’t about perfection, it’s about having a crack.

👉 Download link to calendar is in the comments
👉 Please share it if you like it
👉 Getting involved is easy, just start

With a sincere thanks…..

— Jason, Paul & Steve

28/08/2025

Here at Atlas Soils, we believe healthy soils = healthy people. We started this work to help our community turn waste into living soils that heal lawns, gardens, and even ourselves.

✨ The Giveaway – Lawn Glow Up ✨

As part of tomorrows amazing Green Space Open Day (detais attached) we’ve teamed up with our local partners to give TWO lucky Townsville lawns or gardens a full ‘Lawn Glow Up’
Each prize includes:
🌱 250 kg of 2025 HumiSoil®
💧 5 litres of XLR8 Bio®
🚛 Supply and spreading by Grounds Maintenance Services

That’s a living makeover worth $350 each, is timed with the bioloigal renovation season (we all felt it thjs week) and launches this years small batch of Humi….

👉 To enter:

1️⃣ Tag a mate who’s got a lawn or garden that needs a serious glow-up.

2️⃣ Make sure you’re following Atlas Soils.

We’ll give one prize away online and the other live at Green Space Open Day this weekend.

Nedt week will also commence a soft-launch of our screen to order approach - you guys asked for it so we will givr it a .

r

22/08/2025

Here at Atlas Soils we’ve been diving deep into the world of old mattresses as part of our circularity research.

Along the way, we’ve learned a lot about the hidden chemicals inside them, including:

🔥 Flame retardants
🧪 Formaldehyde & VOCs
🧴 Phthalates
💧 PFAS
🎨 Dyes & heavy metals
🛡️ Antimicrobial coatings

We spend approx 1/3 of our lives rolling across and dribbling all over them so knowing what’s in your bedding means you can protect yourself and your family 👊

Here are two simple ways to reduce exposure at home….

First tip is a no brainer - particularly kids…

1️⃣ Air it out – Let a new mattress breathe for a few days before use. Most chemicals off-gas the most when brand new.

2️⃣ Wash & refresh – Wash sheets regularly and choose certified safe bedding (keen to hear options if you have some)

✨ Sweet dreams from 3 snoring dads. Well, Steven Hannah reckons he doesn’t….