Most of us have heard the word "regenerative" by now. Fewer of us could explain what it looks like on a Tuesday afternoon in a small town. That's what I wanted to understand when I sat down with Rachael and Moss, the co-founders of SeedTree, for this episode of (re)connect.
I worked with them on their social media for a few months, and I've followed their journey on Instagram for even longer. What struck me in this conversation is how clearly they've thought about the world we live in, and how much of that thinking is rooted in nature.
Two backgrounds that lead to the same place
Rachael is originally Canadian and has lived in Australia since 1999, the last decade in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales. Her background is people. She spent 25 years in medical recruitment, sales, travel and team leadership, learning how to build relationships based on trust.
Moss grew up on a property with a father who was a builder, metalworker and mechanic. He built his own cabin at 12. After years in hospitality and carpentry, he kept coming back to the same frustration. He had plenty of ideas, but none that felt important enough to follow through. He wanted impact.
On the winter solstice before last, the threads came together. Years of environmental awareness and a growing interest in the systems that shape our world became one idea: SeedTree.
What is SeedTree?
SeedTree is a platform and network linking the regenerative organisations, projects and ideas already happening around the world. Moss describes it as a coordination layer. Rachael calls it a way to amplify the hope that's already here.
The key insight is that the ecosystem already exists. People are already running repair cafés, restoring land, hosting community gatherings and building better businesses. Most of them are time poor, with a couple of people wearing many hats. SeedTree's role is to map that ecosystem so these people can find each other, share what works and stop working in silos.
So what is a regenerative business?
A regenerative business is designed to leave people and the planet better off than it found them. Sustainability focuses on reducing harm. Regeneration goes further, restoring ecosystems, strengthening communities and giving back more than it takes.
Moss offers the simplest test I've heard: is this thing moving the needle towards more life, or is it taking from life and leaving things a little worse?
He also points out that decay is part of regeneration. Old systems and old ways of thinking break down, and the nutrients get composted into the next cycle of growth.
Rachael brings it back to the body. Our cells regenerate every single day. We are already designed for renewal. Somewhere along the way, we were sold the message that we're not enough, and that we need more products to fix ourselves.
Regeneration can be the café on the corner
One of my favourite examples from the conversation was repair cafés. SeedTree maps many of them across Australia and New Zealand, and a few in the United States. You bring in your broken bike, have a coffee and get it repaired for free.
It keeps things out of landfill. But it also reconnects neighbours. We've lost so many of those connections, handling every purchase and every broken object alone. For Rachael, this is the heart of regeneration: giving without expectation.
Humans are the soil
The part of SeedTree I find most beautiful is its ecological structure, inspired by the forest.
In the SeedTree cosmology, humans are the soil. We are the substrate that holds everything else. When we come together, our initiatives and organisations grow out of us as trees, providing shade and cycling nutrients back into the system.
Ideas are seeds. Moss believes ideas aren't really ours. They float around like wind-blown seeds, waiting for a mind with the right conditions. On SeedTree, people can plant their seed and others can offer the resources it needs to grow.
The mycelium is the digital web connecting it all. Blooms are the moments when people gather for collective action, like festivals and events, which then scatter new seeds in everyone who attends.
In August, SeedTree hosted a local node of the Global Peace Activation, a globally synchronised meditation. Around 30 people meditated together on the land, then planted trees in silence to anchor that intention into the earth. That was a bloom.
Collaboration over competition
Moss has a hypothesis I think many nonprofit founders will recognise. Many organisations have absorbed a corporate mindset. There's limited funding and limited attention, so everyone competes.
SeedTree is built on the opposite belief: that we're stronger when we form alliances and prop each other up. When they first reach out to local organisations, people sometimes wait for the catch, the funnel or the sales pitch. There isn't one. SeedTree is there in service of the work already happening.
They also touched on tall poppy syndrome, the Australian idea that if you stand out too much, you'll get cut down. Rachael doesn't subscribe to it. You can be visible and humble at the same time, especially when your intentions are in the right place.
The morning ritual that makes it possible
Towards the end, I asked how they stay anchored with so much dystopian news around us. Their answer was a morning practice they treat as non-negotiable.
They sit at a tea table that has become an altar, with flowers, candles and incense. They meditate for anywhere between twenty minutes and an hour, sometimes with ceremonial tea drunk in silence. Then comes breathwork, visualising the earth's energy rising through the body, holding the breath for eight and releasing for ten.
They finish with gratitude, spoken out loud. Sometimes they face each other and share what they're grateful for in the other person. Rachael says there have been mornings she woke up in a funk and walked away from this practice ready for the best day.
This one hit home for me. A few years ago in Australia, I went through a period of anxiety and isolation. Writing down ten things I was grateful for every morning changed my life. After this conversation, I'm curious to try saying them out loud.
The world they want to live in
I close every episode with the same question: what does the world you want to live in actually look like?
For Rachael, it's a feeling. Harmonious, joyful and light, with butterflies and flowers all around, and no separation between us.
For Moss, it's belonging. Feeling valued, contributing to something bigger than himself and being free to be who he is. He compares it to a forest, where the diversity of foliage and colour is exactly what makes it beautiful.
Listen to the full episode on your favourite podcast platform or watch it on YouTube.
Connect with SeedTree: seedtree.earth | @seedtree.earth
Connect with (re)connect: green-socials.com | @reconnect.pod
