Our Story | Our Vision | Our Values | Working with Community
About Mercurius Australia
Our Story
Mercurius Australia supports Schools, Early Learning Centres, Home School communities and Professionals with high quality educational, art and craft products, working through Head, Heart and Hands.
Over 30 years ago, Mercurius was born in Australia, in partnership with Mercurius International. From the very beginning, the vision of Mercurius has been to support healthy child development, through education and creativity. This vision is a core component in the curriculum of the world-wide education movement embodied in Steiner and Waldorf schools. It is also seen in all forms of education that embrace an education, led by meaningful creativity, through head, heart and hands.
Mercurius, created by experienced Steiner teachers to support Steiner teachers, grew up quickly in Australia. Originally operating out of Melbourne, Mercurius became a wholly owned Australian business in 1993, and in 2022, moved to Adelaide, under the umbrella and care of the family business of Oskar's Wooden Ark.
Worldwide Mercurius Community
We work in collaboration with the Worldwide Mercurius Association, working in a world-wide network of partners in 50 countries around the world. In the Mercurius association, we share our experiences and suggestions, with each member working locally with the Steiner community and organisations within their own country. In 2023, we attended the Mercurius Stockmar Partner meeting in the Netherlands, where we met with Mercurius partners from all four corners of the world. How wonderful to share insights, get involved in different project groups and feel inspired by the enthusiasm of all involved.
Our Vision
Throughout it's inception and right through to the current day, Mercurius has been committed to supply Schools, Early Learning Centers, Therapists, Artists and Retailers with high quality products that support the developing child. And to this day, Mercurius remains true to its vision.
Our product selection is inspired by Steiner, Waldorf, Montessori and Reggio Emilia education - working with, and recognising the age-appropriate learning that takes place in nature, and through creativity and imaginative play.
We select our products to be as close to nature as possible, while still retaining a consiousness around quality, usability and function. The quality and agelessness of our products speak for themselves - much of our core range has remained unchanged for over 30 years.
Our values form part of the everyday decisions we make, including the way we run our business, the products we represent and the business partners we work with. We aim for transparency in the products we distribute - from the raw materials used, through to the production process, shipping, packaging and right up to the final delivery and supply to our customers.
Image: Linuwel Steiner School
Product Selection
Product selection is a critical part of ensuring we adhere to our values; we look into the product as well as the company behind the products we select. It is not a simple process, but by looking at these questions we can evaluate the product on a balance of all aspects.
1. Does a product meet our expectations of performance? This includes evaluating the artistic quality and workmanship of the product, looking at the durability and longevity of the product and examining how the product enhances or supports the healthy development of the person using it.
2. What are the environmental credentials of the product? We look at a broad range of enviromental impacts for the products we source, including, but not limited to organic certification, natural materials, plant-based dyes, natural finishes, sustainably harvested raw materials and FSC-accredited wood.
3. What are the social and ethical credentials of the company behind the product? Many of our products are produced by small, sustainable businesses that support social therapeutic communities. In supporting these businesses we enhance these therapeutic communities by providing the people that live there with meaningful work.
We take our selection criteria seriously. When you choose a product from Mercurius a lot of research has gone into selecting the best possible product for performance, healthy development, environmental impact and social ethical responsibilities.
We value products whose manufacturers support socially aware work places, have an environmentally aware culture and where possible use FSC, organic, natural and sustainable raw materials
To help you navigate our product selection, we have flagged and grouped our products into a number of Conscious Collections, to help share a little of the values and qualities that live in the products and companies behind the products we represent.
If you would like more information about any of our products or their credentials, please contact us.
Values in our Workplace
The little decisions often have the greatest impact - within our office and warehouse we constantly review and implement environmently conscious best-business practice and decisions.
- We are committed to reduce, reuse then recycle - core values we keep coming back to.
- We print on both sides of our in-house use paper, or where this is not possible, use the back as note paper
- Planet Ark FSC certified, 100% recycled, made in Australia photocopy and printer paper
- We reuse any packing materials that arrive with deliveries into our warehouse. This includes packing boxes, packing noodles and bubblewrap.
- Where we need to buy-in new packing materials, we source eco-options. Recycled cardboard or FSC certified boxes, paper shredding, honey-comb paper, and one of the warehouse favourites ... scrunched paper.
- Fumigation of wooden toys is a concern we are often asked about. By importing during certain months of the year, splitting orders into different categories and submitting authorised declarations, we can manage most fumigation requirements. If fumigation is required, we work to choose heat treatment or non-toxic irradiation over standard chemical fumigation.
Working with Community
Mercurius holds true to its vision to support Child Development and Steiner Education in Australia by supplying quality products that work through the senses to support the healthy development of the child, and giving back a percentage of sales to support Steiner Education and community initiatives in Australia.
Image: Sharing Stories Foundation