We can all see the impact of our changing climate through extreme weather and record bushfires.

Our local CWA is putting on an in-person (how exciting to see real people in real life) climate emergency talk at the Darebin Parklands Gleeson Centre (at the end of Separation Street), accompanied by a catered supper (made by the wonderful CWA cooks) on Monday 29 March, at 7pm.

The talk is presented by Alphington local Graeme Martin, who completed former Vice President Al Gore’s Climate Reality Leadership certification in 2020.

This presentation aims to help people better understand climate change and the range of positive opportunities available to them to take action.

It will cover:

• The science of climate change and why we must take action

• Solutions, what are the possibilities that will reduce carbon pollution

• What we as individuals or organisations can do.

If you are keen to find out more about climate change and what action you can take to make a difference (and to eat yummy food at the same time) you can book in here.

A few ideas to further your gardening knowledge today.

Did you know that Yarra City Council is part of the My Smart Garden program? The program is a multi-Council collaboration that supports residents to adapt to a changing climate and to resource scarcity by turning outdoor spaces into productive, functional gardens.

The My Smart Garden program promotes ‘smart gardening’ through workshops, events, online resources, incentives and community connections. It takes a holistic approach to sustainable home gardening across five elements: food, shelter, waste, water and habitat.

Just click on the link above to access the wide range of great resources.

In addition, you may also be interested in the free webinars that Council is running …

Love your soil! – Tuesday 2nd March 6:30 – 9:00pm

Understanding soils and how to build their health and fertility, increase their water and nutrient holding capacity and balance pH, and nutrients is the most important step you can take towards a continual good harvest! Join Kat Lavers as she discusses why soil health has many implications for the health of your plants, levels of pest damage and even the exposure to heavy metals. This is a free online workshop, however registration is essential. Book in here.

Seed saving and propagation 101 with Kat Lavers – Tuesday 9th March 6:30 – 9:00pm

Join passionate gardener and facilitator Kat Lavers and be guided through the basics of seed saving and propagation. This webinar will explain how to save your own strong, locally adapted seeds, discuss methods of effective storage, and also outline a few ways to propagate plants easily at home, including growing from seed without spending a cent on seed raising mix! This is a free online workshop, however registration is essential. Book in here.

Are you interested in community-led climate action?

Do you want to skill up and work with others in your area to take climate action?

Yarra, Darebin and Moreland Councils are partnering on a new program to support people across our cities to take climate action. This could be running campaigns, advocacy, community projects, conversations, arts projects and more!

The nine-session program will run from late April and then again from early September and include a range of speakers. Participants will:

• Build relationships with others who are committed to taking climate action

• Hear from people who are active in climate action 

• Explore what collective local action and advocacy can look like and how to reach out within and beyond your networks

• Gain skills to plan and run effective campaigns, including using social media and other online tools 

• Explore working effectively with others, sharing the load and self-care

Up to 75 people will be able to take part in the program — 25 from each Council area.

Applications for the 2021 program are now open. Click here to register your Expression of Interest  by Sunday 14 March.

Keen to get to know others in the neighbourhood? Join us for community gardening or community craft each Friday morning from 10am … and then share morning tea out on the corner from 11.30am. You’re welcome to come along for any part of this low key community-building morning.

We’ll be starting a new yarn bombing project with community craft participants inside - all skills (and no skills) gratefully received - at the very least everyone’s always keen for a chat! And the garden needs some love after our month of holidays if you’d like to be active outside for an hour or so.

We hope to see you here in 2021!

Hi, Leanne here.

In the midst of wicked global problems I think sometimes it is a bit hard to see the bite-sized chunks that we can digest and act on as individuals. And … even if they are presented to us on a plate, as it were … it is sometimes also hard to see how our individual actions and choices do anything meaningful, or have any real value in a global sense.

On the other hand, I feel that my/our pandemic experience disproves this thought.

When I look around at the Melbourne community and the very different life we are living to people in the UK or USA, just for example, I feel like my actions (to stay home and wear a mask and not whinge too much) have contributed to protecting my loved ones and to broader community safety. And this makes me feel good.

And I feel that our individual actions collectively enabled us as a community to actually see the benefits of putting public health first. Which enabled our State Government to more easily maintain the determination to keep public health front and centre, creating (unquestionably I think) a better reality for us than many other people internationally at this moment in time.

In addition, I can see that Victoria’s approach has influenced how other states across Australia are now tackling the virus when it gets into the community.

My/our action has created both a better place right here in the immediate for us, and also provided an alternative model that has influenced and can continue to inform others, nationally and hopefully even globally.

And this, friends, is my intro spiel to thinking about (or perhaps rethinking) the value of taking personal action on the other wicked problem in our lives, climate change.

Because little everyday actions at the individual level can make a significant difference, driving and bolstering political will, leading to real change at the big picture level. And they can also just make you feel good that you are doing your best and playing your part to look after those you most love.

In this context you might be interested in this latest offering from Yarra Council, a panel discussion they have put together called, ‘choosing a plant-based diet: taking climate action through the food we eat’.

Yarra Council invites you to join Shannon Martinez, Head Chef and Owner of Melbourne's best vegan restaurant, Smith and Daughters and Jess Panegyres, former Campaign Manager, Forests at The Wilderness Society in a discussion about why we need to change the way we eat if we are to tackle the climate emergency.

It sounds interesting right?

Choosing a plant-based diet: tacking climate action through the food we eat
Thursday 11 March, 7pm - 8.15pm
Online event

BOOK NOW

Shannon Martinez, Smith and Daughters