Sustainable Living Armidale

The flagship event of the 2012 SNL Program is the Sustainable Namoi Living Expo. Held on 18 and 19 May 2012 at the Tamworth campus of TAFE New England, the expo will involve a range of exhibitors, workshops and speakers, from the building industry, ‘green’ retailers, and sustainable food producers across the Namoi Catchment.

At the expo, you’ll see demonstrations on recycling furniture, calculating your food miles, reclaiming timber, and you can even take bus tours to ‘Open Houses’ at sustainable properties and council facilities.

Sample the best of our region’s sustainable produce. Bring the kids to meet Cartoon Dave (children’s author, and presenter on Toasted TV and the Disney Channel) and watch as he cartoons his way to a sustainable future!

The Tamworth Community Organic Gardening Group Inc. proudly presents Costa! Sunday 20th May from Midday, at Calrossy’s William Cowper Campus.

This year the 100% Renewable Energy group is focusing establishing  big solar plants, particularly solar thermal which allows energy from the sun to be stored for many hours until it is needed.

Please support their campaign by filling out their short survey.

http://100percent.org.au/content/take-part-national-big-solar-poll

Bimblebox is a documentary depicting stories from the front lines of the battle of 

rural Australians against coal and gas extraction on their land,

at 7:30pm on Wednesday, 9th May,

at the Armidale Club, 91 Beardy Street.

Turntables Restaurant will be open for dinner from 6pm.

The Progressive Cinema screening this month follows on from the Coal Seam Gas Forum organised by Armidale Action on Coal Seam Gas at the Armidale Town Hall at 7pm on May 2.

The film, Bimblebox, will be introduced by Carmel Flint, spokesperson for the Northern Inland Council for the Environment, Regional Co-Ordinator with the Lock the Gate Alliance and one of the leading members of Armidale Action on Coal Seam Gas. Carmel chained herself to a bulldozer at the Boggabri coal mine in Leard State Forest and was arrested on 11th April. Her action was a measure of last resort to raise awareness and send a message to the State Government which seems to place the welfare of mining companies over that of the community.

The coal mines at Boggabri and Tarrawonga are set to be expanded and a third mine  is to be established in the district at Maules Creek. The mining projects would see 5000 hectares of bushland cleared to produce 21 million tonnes of coal each year, dispersing 18,000 tonnes of dust over local farmland.

We are privileged to have Carmel sharing her experience and expertise at the screening.

‘Bimblebox‘ is directed by US-based filmmaker Michael O’Connell. It presents the story of Paola Cassoni, a resident of Alpha, a tiny town in Queensland 500 km west of Rockhampton. Bimblebox Nature Refuge is an 8000 ha property directly in the path of the proposed ‘China First’ coal mine, an operation that, if approved, will be the largest coal mine in the world.

The film features interviews with leading academics and scientists, as well as members of the communities affected by mining and former miners, to provide a picture of the broader implications of Australia’s mining boom, while focussing on one woman’s fight to protect the land she loves.

“This documentary was born out of the necessity to let the broader public know that our bush, our communities, farms and our waters are going through a radical transformation,” Ms Cassoni said. “ It shows the daily battles and frustrations of ordinary people in dealing with both mining corporations and an indifferent Governments. It’s more than a hint that we need a new direction in energy consumption both at home and globally.”

“My sincere thanks go to Mike O’Connell, who donated his time, and to country folks who helped to finance the project.” Mr O’Connell is an experienced environmental documentary film maker, having previously made ‘Mountain Top Removal’,  which focussed on the issue of coal mining in the US region of Appalachia. He has received numerous awards including the ‘Reel Current’ award, presented by Al Gore at the Nashville Film Festival.

“Australia is the world’s largest exporter of coal, supplying one third of the world’s supply. It is impossible to address climate change without looking at Australia’s role in the planet’s climate future,” said Mr O’Connell. “After making my film, Mountain Top Removal, I wanted to look at the global issue of mining and also explore the alternatives to fossil fuels. Australia was a perfect place to do that”.

‘Bimblebox‘ premiered at the Byron Bay Film Festival. Further information about the documentary is available at www.bimbleboxdocumentary.com.

The event will be free, however donations to help cover the costs of making the film are encouraged. 

For more information about the film call Ellie Smith, Associate Producer, on  {mobile prefix oh four}48335452. 

For more information about the screening call Bea Bleile on  {mobile prefix oh four}58 752 680. 

Please pass this on to others who might be interested.

This month’s shared meal will be a family-friendly one at Cathie’s home, which is only 2 blocks away from Kent House – nice and central, with plenty of space for kids and adults alike to relax. 

We suggest you bring finger or fork food and drinks to share, rather than food you need to sit at a table to eat – there’s only one table and it may not be big enough for the 8-12 people who usually attend our meals.  We usually aim to eat at 7, but children will probably want to eat earlier, so you are welcome to arrive any time after 5.  

Please call Cathie on 0413 46 4026 if you need the address.  RSVPs are appreciated, but not essential – we know that things can change at the last minute!

Hope to see you there

Cathie and Helen

Cathie Lamont (intrepid aspiring Sustainable Community builder) trained south on Saturday 21 April to attend the earthbagging workshop at the Calrossy primary/boys high school campus in Tamworth.  “It was a physically, psychically, intellectually and socially invigorating experience” reported Cathie.  “I thoroughly recommend the experience to others interested in alternative building methods for both garden beds and houses.  It was also inspiring to see how involved the schools are in sustainability in our neighbouring catchment area, and to meet people interested in exchanging ideas instead of competing!  I also appreciated the automatic offer of transport from the station by the gardening group!”

Earthbagging will be a feature of the Sustainable Living Namoi expo with Costa demonstrating earthbagging and other principles of Sustainable gardening at Calrossy’s William Cowper Campus on 20 May.  The main expo will be held at the TAFE campus on 18 and 19 May. 

See http://www.sustainablenamoiliving.com.au/ for more details.  And contact Cathie (village-owner@slaati.org) if you’d like to car pool (or take the train!).

Dear slaati.org,

Working my way through the NSW Draft Wind Farm Guidelines led me read the slaati submission.

It is excellent to see community groups with large numbers such as this put a voice into this vital area.

My interest is derived from the clear Science on Climate Change and the urgent need to curb Human impact on the Planet, to do otherwise is self destructive.

Even so I am alarmed that the NSW Government will undo so much of the forward thinking of the prior policy mix and ignore the signals from the Federal Government as well.

It is indeed hard to be optimistic with so much greed in place.

I see it like this, my town of Mudgee is a mining town now and its mix is changing rapidly to the point where as a basic Grazier I am unlikely to be able to afford goods and services from that town.

It is as I see it a policy mix today of:

“the right is about ME and the left is about YOU”

Therefore with so many for the “all about ME” YOU is not very popular any more, perceived as anti employment and wealth.

My family has operated the same landscape here since 1880 and today it is in finer condition with biodiversity and sustainable management than ever, unfortunately these don’t cover costs so well but we try.

Yes, climate change is utterly evident here and if the NSW Government wakes up to itself the Wind Farm developers’ that have a licence over the huge ridges on my property may one day generate power for about five thousand standard homes.

Finally, I wish my location wasn’t so remote, it is very difficult to locate like minded people where I live, but I will keep trying.

Yours,
Neville.
By: Neville Mattick