All posts tagged: environment

In my next life, I’m coming back as a sculptor, & here’s why

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The little seaside town 10 minutes down the road from me just hosted its 3rd ‘Sculptures by the Sea’ event. It was simply wonderful, and began with sandy shoes scattered in the grass- hands up who hates sand in the house or bed after a walk on the beach? There were dozens of pairs, of all different types of shoes, re-purposed from the local op shops. The Spring weather was glorious, and it was lovely to just stroll around the parks and break wall, marvelling at the local creativity and talent. I was in such a relaxed daze though that I barely registered any artists’ names, so can’t give credit where it’s due; my apologies. That big old kangaroo had a good story though: a social worker told the artist she advised angry young boys in her care to take up a kangaroo stance, and send their fury down their tails into the ground behind them (an Indigenous strategy). My favourite aspect was the emphasis on recycled and found materials being re-purposed; the weaving with …

It’s a Hallmark construction yes, but has layers to it still

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My son ’17’ and I don’t do Mother’s Day; he did give me a hug, and we acknowledged that lots of other people around the world were celebrating it together. But this is the image I shared on my Facebook page that morning (no source credit sorry). “Motherhood” is such a loaded concept, with so many differing expectations, and I was grateful to be able to offer my tiny input into considering some of the non-dominant paradigms as illustrated. Then I went and got sweaty on a bush walk with the Tasmanian tiger who recently turned 50 and made us all do that bloody 4-day hike! It was so good to be in the forest, and commune with Mama Earth. We started by looking at the waterfall we were walking to the base of: The track was clear but narrow, and obviously heading down, but everything is easy among the trees when you’re NOT carrying a 15kg back pack: We got to the base after scrabbling up rocks like ninjas middle-aged ninjas, where recent rains …

There’s no such place as ‘Away’

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I went for a walk this morning on a local beach near Byron Bay; the tide was super high, as there’s a storm sitting off the East coast, so the waves were frothing and pounding. Without searching for them, I picked up these pieces of plastic directly in my path- the red one is a balloon. I always collect rubbish, and have written about it before HERE, including my top 3 tips for reducing plastic consumption. A couple of days ago, I watched a pelican swooping down to the same sand; I dread thinking about plastic shards in its belly. A friend summed it up terrifyingly: there’s no such place as ‘Away’. No plastic we use just disappears… it takes generations of time. So carry your own takeaway coffee cup: Australia uses over 1 billion a year. Americans throw away 25 billion styrofoam coffee cups every year, and 2.5 million plastic beverage bottles every hour. – Carry Your Cup website I simply want ’17’ to be able to walk on a beach NOT covered in plastic, with his grandchildren… Please …

#Australia #ecovillage #permaculture #nature #over50blogger @boneAndsilver #wellbeing #intentionalcommunity

Final Day 7: Integration of Eco Village intensive

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I was really ready for Day 7: to walk the actual land of the proposed site, and for it all to finish. I needed a break- to do loads of washing, reply to a bunch of boring emails, re-connect with the status of ’17’s homework, and sit quietly by myself, not speaking or listening for several hours at a time ASAP. We met beneath a giant fig tree, grateful for the shade on a hot summer’s day. I know a bit about trees, and assumed this was an ancient one 150+ years old who’d somehow survived Australia’s love affair with mass tree-clearing, but turns out to be only about 70! Unbelievable- that’s how rich the volcanic soil is- both basalt red, and peaty black. Bodes well for the proposed Permaculture gardens… We walked some of the land, which was an old dairy farm, so full of grass paddocks and weedy Camphor Laurel trees; a re-forestation plan would be paramount. But from one vantage point on the North side, you could see the ocean, and thus …

Normal programming has been temporarily suspended, because…

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… because I’m attending a 7-day intensive on the creation of an intentional Eco Village community near the beach, so I’ve decided to try and blog about each day’s events, partly as a way of integrating all the experiences. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead The vision is a Permaculture-based village, with clusters of dwellings, and shared community resources, such as a school, a restaurant, a community centre, a swimming pool and a small commercial centre that will include a general store, a medical centre and a community bank. “We’re doing things differently. We’re challenging the mainstream concept that success = ownership and are advocating for the concepts of success = connection and success = energy independence, but also success = interdependence.” BEV website 2018 One of the most basic premises is that no one ‘owns’ their home; they’ll already be built by local architects and builders, to passive-solar designs, then you buy a share in the Village, and pay a weekly …

World Weds/Random Thurs combo: What we can all do about plastic, ‘cos it sure ain’t fantastic

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I walked on the beach here in Australia yesterday morning after the farmers’ markets; it was wild! I’ve never seen the water so high, and I wouldn’t swim in that ocean if you paid me money; it was thrashing, and whirling. Still, I pounded my way up and down for 45 minutes, as I’m beginning training for a 4-day hike… but that’s another post (and hence the fairly ugly new boots I’m breaking in, and old shorts- sorry ‘H’, I know you don’t really like them. *grins) The point is, I began to pick up bits of litter/plastic. I always do, but this time, perhaps because of the storms and rain we’ve just had here, there was much more. Which reminded me of this fantastically-informative, well-laid out, beautifully-photographed blog I like to follow called The Zero-Waste Chef. Whose recent post was called Go Plastic-Free in 2018 (or Close to It). Please check it out, and let yourself be inspired. Let’s do it together! What ways do you think you could easily reduce your plastic consumption? Here’s …

World Wednesday: Oprah is trending because we need her to

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So you must have seen her Golden Globes speech? If not, go Google it now, and we’ll wait for ya… ‘H’ and I watched it with tears in our eyes- both usually a bit cynical about all that ‘celebrity stuff’, yet absolutely moved by her sincerity, power, and integrity. Now I’m totally on the #Oprah2020 and #oprahforpresident movement! The world needs a drastic change of direction: environmentally, economically, even emotionally. I’ve spent years watching Oprah consistently expanding and exploring both heart and mind; she taught me so much about marginalised communities, and most importantly, about all the positive, grassroots campaigns quietly going on in neighbourhoods to counteract huge problems. Sure, sometimes she waffled on about the Top Ten fashion mistakes, but then she’d meet with the Dalai Lama and meditate for world peace, so she’s still got my loyalty. In my opinion (and of course this is my blog, so you’re getting it), Donald Trump represents the last, atrocious, dying breath of the ‘Old Way’- the exploitative, corporate, consumerist-based, Patriarchally-focussed, ego-driven, narcissistic, sexist, racist, homophobic …