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The Sustainable Hour no. 519 | Transcript | Podcast notes
Our guests in The Sustainable Hour no. 519 are Kirsty Bishop-Fox, co-founder and president of Zero Waste Victoria, carbon consultant and community tidy-up advocate Heidi Fog, and plant-based cooking expert Anita Rickey.
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The 519th Sustainable Hour covers various topics related to climate change, extreme weather events, plastic waste, and the Zero Waste Festival on Federation Square in Melbourne on Saturday.
This includes the need for rapid action to reduce climate pollution, the impact of extreme weather events, the problem of plastic waste and potential solutions, discussions on picking up garbage, plant-based cooking, and the importance of individual and collective actions to create a sustainable future.
The hosts mention upcoming events in the Geelong area related to sustainability which are listed below on this page. Overall, the conversation aims to inspire and provide hope for listeners to make a positive impact.
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Kirsty Bishop-Fox, co-founder and president of Zero Waste Victoria, is a dynamic sustainability educator and trainer, empowering people and businesses to reduce their environmental footprint. Known for challenging the status quo, she offers practical solutions that inspire meaningful action toward a sustainable future.
Kirsty is also organiser of The Zero Waste Festival at Federation Square on this coming Saturday, 14 September 2024, which is showing the way on how to run public events that result in very little, if any, waste to landfill.
Kirsty speaks inspirationally about how they’ve been able to achieve this plus what we can expect to see and do there.
→ Free tickets to the Zero Waste Festival: Zero Waste Festival 2024 | Humanitix
→ More information about the festival: fedsquare.com/events/zero-waste-festival
→ Zero Waste Victoria: zerowastevictoria.org.au
→ Those wanting more info on Kirsty, go to: www.sustainabilitypathways.com.au
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Heidi Fog is a Geelong-based carbon and sustainability consultant who produces ‘Sustainable End Point’ reports to The Sustainable Hour about topics that she thinks we should know about. Today, we go for a walk with Heidi to see how – and hear about why – she has become absolutely passionate about picking up litter in her local area.
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Anita Rickey, owner of Diggers Vegie Kitchen in Anglesea, is organising a plant-based cooking class on 22 September at The Monastery at Breakwater. From Anita, we get a very clear picture of the health benefits of a plant-based and whole foods diet.
Anita has specialised training in plant-based nutrition and has run the cafe in Anglesea for years – the only food establishment anywhere in Victoria that serves food in alignment with the latest nutritional science.
She has also been on a team with doctors delivering many retreats on the topic with some dramatically great results for participants.
→ More about the cooking class event below. You can sign up on Humanitix.
→ More about Anita’s inspirational work here: www.diggersvegiekitchen.com
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Further down on this page you’ll find more information and inspiration on these topics.
With The Sustainable Hour #519 we hope our guests have given you ideas on solutions. Additionally, if this is the start of your sustainability journey, there’s never been a better time for you to start and we hope that you go well in this space.
For those already well on the way, we hope there has been something for you too in this episode. We’ll be back next week with more people who have devoted their lives to solutions to the climate crisis we face.
“These events have been planned for three, maybe even six or nine, 12 months, right? So when our food vendors come on, we are very mindful of who we choose to come on because they need to be able to use our washing service. That does mean that we’re conscious of some of the food that they sell. So we actually choose them like that.
None of our vendors are able to sell prepackaged drinks. Now, for a lot of people, that’s a real problem, but for me, I think that’s really exciting because we’re not selling prepackaged drinks. When you think about what comes in prepackaged drinks, they’re fizzy, they’re colored, they’re flavored, they’re artificial.”
~ Kirsty Bishop-Fox, organiser of Zero Waste Festival on Fed Square
→ Subscribe to The Sustainable Hour podcast via Apple Podcasts
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We at The Sustainable Hour would like to pay our respect to the traditional custodians of the land on which we
are broadcasting, the Wathaurong People, and pay our respect to their elders, past, present and future.
The traditional owners lived in harmony with the land. They nurtured it and thrived in often harsh conditions for millennia before they were invaded. Their land was then stolen from them – it wasn’t ceded. It is becoming more and more obvious that, if we are to survive the climate emergency we are facing, we have much to learn from their land management practices.
Our battle for climate justice won’t be won until our First Nations brothers and sisters have their true justice. When we talk about the future, it means extending our respect to those children not yet born, the generations of the future – remembering the old saying that, “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children.”
The decisions currently being made around Australia to ignore the climate emergency are being made by those who won’t be around by the time the worst effects hit home. How disrespectful and unfair is that?
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PLANT-BASED DIET
Interview with Anita Rickey from Diggers Vegie Kitchen in Anglesea
Anita talks about the upcoming Plant-based Wholefood Cooking Class on 22 September 2024 at the Monastery. The class is subtitled: ‘Good for you, good for the planet’ and is the third event in a series of six events this spring season, organised by Transition Streets Geelong.
There will be people taking turns to do the food preparation and cooking for a main meal, a plant based feta and a dessert.
Others can watch and ask questions. Everyone will be able to taste the food.
→ You can sign up here
The Carbon Brief website gathered data recently on the implications of eating meat for the environment, concluding that the meat and dairy industries create 7.1 gigatons of greenhouses gases annually, or rather 14.5% of total man-made emissions.
According to the Washington Post, the 1.5 billion cattle on the planet are the most common creatures on our dinner plates, responsible for 30% of global warming.
The average cow produces around 220 pounds of methane per year, or around half the emissions of an average car.
→ The New Daily – 8 September 2024:
Could No Meat Mondays ‘phenomenon’ improve health and bank balance?
“More Australians than ever are skipping meat in their meals to save money, but the practice can also have an impact on people’s health and the environment.”
PETITION:
Stop the use of harmful chemicals on Australian food
We are petitioning our Federal Government to stop the use of potentially harmful chemicals being sprayed on our food during the growing process on Australian farms.
There are chemicals used in Australia that have already been banned in many other countries, such as, the the USA, UK and throughout Europe.
Here are some examples of chemicals used in Australia, but are banned overseas;
Paraquat: This chemical is banned in over 50 countries and has possible links to Parkinson’s disease!
Neonicotinoids: Neonicotinoids are a family of pesticides that threaten the pollination of crops!
Atrazine: There is evidence that this chemical may cause cancer. Atrazine Also causes disruption in eco systems and waterways!
Chlorpyrifos: This chemical has been linked to brain damage in children!
We are asking our government to review the current chemicals used on Australian crops and to outlaw potentially harmful chemicals that may have a devastating impact on the health of Australian’s and the Australian environment.
The use of these chemicals affects all Australians as it is directly affecting our local food system at the original source.
If we get enough signatures on our petition, we are hoping our government will take this issue seriously, just as many other countries already have done, and outlaw the use of potential harmful chemicals on our food.
If this petition doesn’t get momentum and/or our government doesn’t make any changes, nothing will change and these chemicals will continue to be sprayed on Australian crops. Join us at Garden of Vegan as we try to make a positive difference to the health and environment of our nation.
19,500 supporters on 11 September 2024
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PLASTIC
No time to waste
Interview with Heidi Fog about picking up litter. Read more:
→ More interviews with Heidi Fog
Microplastics in water
Anthropocene Magazine highlights new science intended to address a serious environmental challenge, in this case, the spread of microplastics in water:
→ Anthropocene – 5 September 2024:
Mix. Remove Nanoplastics. Repeat.
“Chemists have found a secret sauce to quickly and easily remove 98 percent of tiny invisible plastic pieces from water.”
Stop plastic pollution at the source
| Capucine Dayen, Head of Global Communications and Engagement for Greenpeace Plastics Campaign, wrote: Think microplastics are too small to matter? Think again. Microplastics have infiltrated almost every aspect of our environment. They’re in the air we breathe and the food we eat. These tiny, often invisible plastic particles splinter off from plastic items as they break down and seep into everything they touch, including us. They have even been found in our organs and our blood. Changing our individual behaviour can only take us so far, we must stop dangerous plastic pollution at the source by stopping corporations like Coke from producing unnecessary plastic. A crisis of this magnitude demands a unified global effort. A Global Plastics Treaty is our once-in-a-generation chance to stop plastic pollution at the source with binding international laws. Recent studies show microplastics in everyday foods like seafood and table salt. They’ve even been found in our lungs, placentas, breast milk, and testes. Polyethylene—the plastic in single-use plastics like bottles and bags—is a major culprit. This is a battle for survival. But with the final Global Plastics Treaty negotiations fast approaching, the petrochemical industry, corporations and some governments are trying to weaken the treaty’s ambition. If corporations have their way, plastic production will triple by 2050. But together, we can stop this. Greenpeace is standing up against some powerful interests in this crucial fight to protect our health and our planet, will you join us? YES, I’LL HELP |
Regional Renewable Organics Network webinar
In this webinar, Barwon Water’s Chief Scientist Dr Will Buchanan, Project Manager Moana Quiatol and Head of Circular Economy Philiip Bakes discuss the latest developments on the Regional Renewable Organics Network (RRON) facility at the Black Rock Water Reclamation Plant at Connewarre.
The future facility will take household food and garden waste, local commercial and industrial organic waste and biosolids – organic materials from wastewater treatment – and safely convert it into products that enrich compost, soil and capture carbon for high value use in agribusiness and sustainable manufacturing, and at the same time produce renewable energy.
PETITION
Protect our environment, climate and health. Reduce plastic packaging
Plastic threatens our ecosystems and contributes to climate change. Microplastics and nanoplastics have been found in our water, air, soil, food and even human bodies. 99% of plastic is made from fossil fuels, so we can’t reach net zero without reducing plastic use.
Most plastic waste comes from packaging.
Australians have the second worst single-use plastic waste in the world and our plastic waste will double by 2050. Each Australian produces 59kg of plastic waste each year, 4x the global average.
Right now, we have an opportunity to reduce the use of fossil fuel plastics.
The Federal Government is developing new packaging regulations to reduce waste. They will increase recycling and ban harmful chemicals, but there’s currently no plan to actually reduce fossil fuel plastic packaging.
→ Sign the petition to call on Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to reduce plastic packaging use in the new packaging regulations.
8,000 supporters on 11 September 2024
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PETITION
Stop big supermarket chains putting fruit and vegetables in plastic – once and for all
It’s time for Woolworths and Coles to stop unnecessarily putting fruit and vegetables in plastic!
This is not a new issue, and they keep getting away with it. There have been countless petitions before this and Woolworths and Coles keep greenwashing us into thinking they’re actually going to change.
Consumers are tired of seeing fresh fruit and vegetables which have natural protective skins wrapped up in single use plastics. There is no logical need for this.
We have known for years our water ways are being clogged with macro and micro plastics. It sickens me to think that the first plastic ever made is still in existence and we seem to be producing more than ever before.
There is only so much we can do as consumers to reduce our waste, if the big companies keep putting plastic into our hands to deal with ourselves. Redcycle and future soft plastic recycling is not the answer. Plastic production for this just needs to stop.
“NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean says the government plans to ban all single-use plastics by 2025, with plastic bags, straws and cutlery the first to go”. It is not good enough. This needs to be sooner and Australia wide. We need to put pressure on the government and producers of plastic to stop unnecessary plastic use, and to fast track innovative plastic free options.
→ With your signature, I will take this petition to the Federal Minister for the Environment Tanya Plibersek, and to the CEO of Coles and Woolworths to show how serious Australia is about this.
30,000 supporters on 11 September 2024
NSW Government wants to cut plastic litter
The New South Wales government has released an action plan to plot the state’s path to cutting plastic litter by 30 per cent by 2025.
Forcing cafes and fast-food restaurants to accept reusable cups, banning helium balloons and phasing out other problematic single-use plastics have been floated for Australia’s most populous state.
Plastic pizza savers, lollipop sticks, bread tags and helium balloons are among items to be phased out
Only 14 per cent of 891,000 tonnes of plastic waste NSW generated in 2022/23 was recycled.
That plastic waste figure translates to a staggering 110kg per person.
→ The Sydney Morning Herald – 8 September 2024:
How the NSW plastic strategy could change your daily takeaway coffee
“Forcing cafes to accept reusable cups, banning the release of helium balloons and phasing out plastic lollipop sticks are among ideas the government is considering.”
→ The Guardian – 7 September 2024:
Soft plastics are a scourge of the Earth, but there are ways to break our toxic addiction
“Plastic recycling is failing to scale anywhere near fast enough and remains a marginal activity in the sector.”
Untrashing the planet
GREENPEACE:
Global plastics treaty now
Ready. Set. Go to tackle plastic pollution!
The fifth and final round of Plastics Treaty talks pick back up in November 2024 and it’s going to be down to the wire.
We can’t waste anymore time! World leaders must gear up to choose: planet or fossil fuel profits? Because if we are going to win a strong treaty, we need World leaders to get off the sidelines and come into negotiations ready to get to work on an ambitious agreement that drastically cuts plastic production and ends single-use plastic. Anything less, and the treaty will fail!
This is a race for our planet’s future! Not only is plastic drowning our oceans, killing wildlife, harming our health, and fueling the climate crisis. But plastic production is predicted to triple by 2050… unless world leaders step up to turn off the tap.
That’s why securing a strong and ambitious treaty is critical, and it’s going to be the fight of a generation!
Plastic is big money, and the oil and gas industry will try to do everything in their power to weaken ambition and push countries to cosign a very bad Global Plastics Treaty in South Korea this year that serves industry, not people! We can’t let them!
We demand a treaty that keeps oil and gas used to produce plastic in the ground, stops big polluters with their relentless plastic production, and ensures a just transition to a reuse-based economy!
And with people power and an unstoppable global movement holding world leaders accountable to deliver an ambitious treaty, we can win!! More than 2 million people around the world have already signed the petition to world leaders — asking for a strong Global Plastics Treaty! Will you add your name to grow the movement?
We need world leaders to go the distance and fight back against the oil and plastic industry to deliver a strong and ambitious treaty that cuts plastic production for people, planet, and climate!
Will you join us to take action to demand a strong and ambitious Global Plastics Treaty?
Together, let’s get a strong Plastics Treaty over the finish line!
Graham Forbes,
Global Plastics Campaign Lead
Greenpeace USA
Greenpeace UK wrote:
In a new study of microplastics in human brain tissue, 24 brain samples collected in 2024 measured on average 0.5% plastic by weight. Previous animal studies have linked microplastics to fertility issues, cancers and more.
Here’s the real story behind four myths corporations are spreading in their relentless quest to produce more plastic for profit:
Recycling: It simply delays the problem of plastic waste, it doesn’t solve it. While many of us do it, only 9% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled. The rest is burned, buried or ends up in our environment.
Clean-up initiatives: While these initiatives are commendable ways of removing plastic waste and help with the symptoms of plastic pollution, they do little to address the source of the problem. It’s like mopping the floor while the plastics tap is still running.
Bioplastics: While bioplastics derived from biodegradable materials can break down over time, they often require specific conditions to do so. Many bioplastics persist in landfills and oceans for years without degrading significantly.
Plastic-eating bacteria: While promising, plastic-eating microbes carry risks. Introducing genetically modified bacteria into ecosystems could have unforeseen consequences and disrupt delicate ecological balances. Moreover, we’re not yet certain of their efficacy on a large scale.
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CLIMATE EMERGENCY
Myles Allen: Climate tipping points in oceans, ice, forests
The impacts of climate change that probably worry people the most are irreversible changes that affect the entire world, such as a collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet, shutdown of the global thermohaline circulation, loss of the Amazon biome, or a melting of Arctic permafrost. Sudden, unpredictable and irreversible changes can happen in response to a gradual warming. What is known about these risks at 1.5°C, 2°C, and higher levels of warming?
This lecture was recorded by Myles Allen on 5th March 2024 at Barnard’s Inn Hall, London Myles is the Frank Jackson Foundation Professor of the Environment.
He has contributed extensively to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), including as Coordinating Lead Author for the 2018 IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C. He has published extensively on how human and natural influences on climate contribute to observed climate change and extreme weather risk, and the implications for adaptation and mitigation policy.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/tipping-points
Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds.
SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER
Climate activist tells Equinor CEO that he has stolen her future
Asking for accountability in business? You are not alone
Causing environmental damage should be a criminal offence, say 72% of people
The Global Commons Survey, conducted by Ipsos UK and published by Earth4All and Global Commons Alliance, reveals a deep-seated concern among citizens of the world’s largest economies about the current state and future of our planet.
The results show that 72% of people in 18 G20 countries surveyed agree that causing environmental damage should be a crime, and that a majority are aware that we are reaching nature and climate tipping points.
With results including full breakdowns by country, the Global Commons Survey offers an in-depth picture of global attitudes to planetary stewardship at a critical juncture for humanity and nature.
→ Daily Mail – 10 September 2024:
Scientists warn that 70% of the world’s population will see ‘strong and rapid’ increases in wild weather events in the next 20 years
“70 per cent of the global population will face rapid changes to weather patterns. Intense heat and extreme rainfall are likely to become more common.”
CLIMATE DENIER (noun)
/cli·mate de·ni·er/
‘klī-mǝt di- ‘nī(-ǝ)r
One who denies the existence of the climate crisis or that it’s caused by pollution from the fossil fuel industry.
Commonly, deniers are funded by Big Oil and spread disinformation to 1) delay climate solutions and 2) aid the Oil and Gas industry’s profits and escape accountability.
Used in a sentence: Big-Oil-backed climate denier Donald Trump offered $110 billion in tax cuts for the Oil & Gas industry while asking for $1 billion in campaign donations.
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Transcript of The Sustainable Hour no. 519
Greg Mullin:
We need to not just treat the symptoms which is extreme weather, fires, floods, it’s the cause and that’s rapid action worldwide to bring down climate pollution.
Jingle:
The Sustainable Hour. For a green, clean, sustainable Geelong: The Sustainable Hour.
Tony:
Welcome to The Sustainable Hour. We’d like to acknowledge that we’re broadcasting from the land of the Wadawurrung people. We pay tribute to the elders past, present and those that earn that great honour in the future. We are on stolen land, land that was never ceded, always was and always will be First Nations land. And in the ancient wisdom that they’ve acquired from nurturing both their land and their communities for millennia, before their land was stolen, lies so many of the answers, so many of the solutions that we will need to navigate the climate crisis.
ABC News:
Victoria has been hammered by wild winds leaving more than 180,000 people without power at one point. Wind gusts of up to 146 kilometres an hour hit parts of the state which the Weather Bureau has likened to speeds of a category 2 or 3 cyclone. Around 2,800 calls for help were made overnight to the SES mostly for fallen trees and building damage and tragically a 63 year old woman has died after a tree fell on a cabin at Moama on the Victoria New South Wales border. This is just one example of how fierce those…
Mik:
Once again, we’ve been battered by a ‘big blow’. That’s what the Geelong Advertiser wrote on its front page last week after these 140 kilometre-an-hour winds created havoc everywhere, certainly in my street. And The Age wrote, ‘Woman killed by falling tree’. And what I say is she was killed by our collective burning of oil, coal and gas. She was killed by our politicians unwillingness to deal with this issue. It’s been going on for decades, folks. We were not battled by some ‘big blow’ as they write in Geelong Advertiser. No, we were battled by an industry that’s insisting on continuing to sell us its dangerous climate-wrecking products. And here we have the consequences and they get away with it because we, people out here, don’t really get the connection, do we? And why? Because media is not helping us. And at the same time, we get the news now that globally, more people are dying from fossil fuel pollution than from smoking. It’s incredible what we’re putting up with here. Anyway, before I get carried away, as usual, let’s calm down and hear a little bit about what’s happening around the world. We have our global outlook scanner, Colin Mocket OAM, who is ready with the news from around the world. Are you, Colin?
Colin Mockett’s Global Outlook:
es, I am indeed, Mik. And my roundup this week begins in America, where everyone, everywhere, appears to be talking about the heat of the summer that they’ve just endured. On both coasts and many places in between, about 100 cities have sweated their way through the hottest American summer on records.
Roads buckled in Wisconsin and Washington state, New York’s Third Avenue Bridge swung open to allow ships to pass but so swelled in the heat that it couldn’t close again and Amtrak announced delays across its network as train tracks warped.
In August alone, the US Department of Health issued ‘‘ extreme heat’ ’ warnings for regions with a collective population of more than 57 million.
‘‘ Intense heat domes sprawled across portions of the nation every week’ ’ from the beginning of June to the end of August, The Washington Post reported. The temperature in Las Vegas peaked at a record 48.9 Celsius. Palm Springs in California hit 51.1 degrees.
Last month, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study reporting a 117 per cent increase in America’s annual heat-related deaths in the years from 1999 to 2023. Last year, 2325 deaths were attributed to extreme heat.
And the effects weren’t felt only in the air. ‘‘ About seven in 10 Americans say in the last year extreme heat has had an impact on their electricity bills, ranging from minor to major,’’ an Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research poll found. Further, four in 10 reported that extreme heat had affected their sleep, pets or exercise routines. And for seven in 10 of Americans who’d experienced some type of extreme weather in the past five years, climate change was considered to be a contributing factor, the poll found.
Yet while public concern over heatwaves and climate change reached an all-time high as measured by Google searches, the political debate between Trump and Harris has not yet even mentioned climate change. So far. We’ll see what happens when they debate face to face.
Elsewhere… The world produces around 250 million tons of plastic waste each year. That includes plastic bottles, cigarette butts, plastic packaging and much more. Most of that waste is put into landfills; a tiny proportion is recycled.
But now, a new study published in the journal Nature shows that a large proportion of the world’s plastic waste is simply burned in the open air. This is not for a generating purpose – just to get rid of it, according to Costas Velis, a lecturer in civil engineering at the University of Leeds and one of the authors of the paper. He said that the smoke and emissions from this burning is threatening to human health and it demonstrates the world’s ongoing struggle to manage its plastic pollution.
This study puts a magnifying glass on what goes wrong with managing plastic waste,’ he said.
The study found that 21 per cent of all plastic waste is ‘unmanaged’, according to the paper, meaning it never makes it to a landfill or recycling plant. A majority of that unmanaged waste, around 57 percent, is burned outside, creating the deadly air pollution. The vast majority of this occurs on the sub-continent of India and Southern Asia.
Another paper released this week found that war-induced environmental damage is prolific today, with the Ukraine war, alone, releasing 175 million tonnes of greenhouse gases so far.
It said that that worldwide there were 59 wars in 2023 and 2024, with 110 armed conflicts. The wars we don’t hear about are in Myanmar, Sudan, Nigeria, Congo, Syria, Mexico and so many more.
It was impossible to calculate the climate-change effects of bombs and explosions, but the fuel consumption of military vehicles can be calculated. This states that one military jet burns as much fuel in an hour as a typical car driver uses in seven years.
The US military is the world’s single greatest consumer of petrol, and the largest institutional emitter. It exceeds the carbon footprint of both Portugal and Sweden. The study found that environmental damage of war is too extensive and severe to detail but it should include deforestation along with the chemical contamination of air, land and water by bombing factories and fuel depots.
This is all so depressing that I’ll move back here to Australia where the mining giant BHP announced that it is sticking to its multibillion-dollar decarbonisation plans despite Opposition Leader Peter Dutton signalling he would scrap Australia’s 2030 climate target and push to replace fossil fuels with nuclear power.
Dutton has spurred Australia’s climate wars ahead of the next federal election due by May next year, saying he would scrap the 2030 emissions target at the risk of undermining the legally binding Paris Agreement on climate change and build seven nuclear reactors around the country to power the energy grid.
But the political uncertainty this has caused has not slowed BHP, which told an investor briefing that it was on track to cut operating emissions by nearly one-third over the decade to 2030.
BHP is the globe’s biggest resource company, and it is reducing emissions by buying more renewable energy to power its operations, slowly electrifying its diesel-powered mining vehicle fleet , and finding ways to cut fugitive methane emissions from its coal mines.
But I have got some good news for Tony. The world’s only carbon-neutral and vegan sports club, Forest Green Rovers in the English Division Two league, began their season with a loss, then a draw…. But then it has won the last three games in succession, lifting the team to fourth place in the 24-team ladder.
So this little bit of good news isn’t the final piece of good news for you. I’ve got one more little bit. This little bit of news is that the last day of this month is the United Kingdom’s final coal-fired power station closes down.
After 140 years of coal-fired electricity generation, they are now completely off of coal, or they will be after the 31st of this month. And that ends my roundup for the week.
Jingle:
Listen to our Sustainable Hour – for the future.
Tony:
Yeah, lots of mentions today, Colin, in your Outlook about waste, especially plastic. And that segues really well to our first guest today, Kirsty Bishop-Fox. Kirsty founded the Zero Waste Victoria movement some time ago and their annual festival is on the weekend. So, Kirsty, thanks for coming on. Let’s hear about what’s up front this year in the Zero Waste Festival.
Kirsty:
Well, it’s really exciting this year. Sometimes I think, how’s the festival going to be just as good or better than last year? And somehow it’s going to be amazing, as if last year’s festival wasn’t great enough. We have got such a range of speakers and topics, right from urban evolution, designing a zero waste future, where we’re talking about really, know, shifting and creating our cities or recreating our cities, thinking about sustainable food systems and the way hospitality manages that through to renovating sustainably as well too. Then we go through into all sorts of different things like composting, but not just composting. One of the people I’m really listening to is speaking about composting human bodies. So that is something that I’m really interested in finding out about as well too.
And not to mention, you know, on a different note, our fashion. Like fashion is one of those things I think, can we keep talking about fashion? The reality is we have to keep talking about fashion because it’s so problematic. And we’ve got a group of researchers from RMIT Uni. And when I say researchers, these are funky fashion people who are actually taking pre-consumer, like these are unsolved garments and unsolved things and turning them into fashion statements really revolutionising what we do because we do need to rethink fashion and it’s a really, really key thing too. We’ve got talks from sustainability leaders. We’ve got Lindsay Miles treading my own path. She’s actually WA based, but she started out just like a lot of us did trying to do something better, but now she’s actually moved into local council. Really starting to have an influence there.
And I know that when she started her journey, that was not something she ever imagined. So we’ve got some really key things. And of course, food. Food is my favourite topic. Not just because I love to eat it, but because we reduce food waste, we save money, we save resources, and we’re going to have a lot of fun with that topic as well, too. Talking about Best Buy dates, talking about those pesky fruit stickers and solutions. And it’s great.
Colin:
Whereabouts is it, Kirsty?
Kirsty:
It’s at Fed Square [in Melbourne, Victoria]. Fed Square this Saturday, the 14th of September from 10am to 7pm.
We’ve got our exhibitors from 10am to 4pm, as well as the activities including a clothes swap, the repair cafes, mending circles. We’ve got kids activities as well too, making things from upcycled crafts, adult activities that they can do like making produce bags so they can actually reuse them instead of plastics.
And we’re finishing the afternoon. really exciting, with an eco networking forum where we’ve actually got some experts coming in who’ll be listening to community ideas, brainstorming, elevating them, and a chance to meet like-minded people, which I think everyone in this space wants to meet just for hope and for faith and for network connections. So yeah, Fed Square, we’ll see you all there.
Mik:
Yes, yes. It’s great, Kirstie, to see your enthusiasm about a topic which is pretty dire, know, all the figures, like we heard Colin say, it’s… it’s very serious with the plastic pollution, including that pollution that goes into our body, even into our brain, microplastics that the scientists are now saying – plastic is finding its way into our bodies.
Kirsty:
Yeah, look, I think it is, and it is very grim. And I have my moments where I look at that, but I also think that while the information is alarming, we’ve got the information.
You know, I’d rather have the information now and go, right, OK, moving forward, is the changes that we can make rather than not know it and have it shelved. We all know if we go back in time, there are so many things that were shelved that shouldn’t have been shelved. And in the day and age that we are in right now with the information that’s so accessible, we know it, no one can hide it from us anymore.
Mik:
Can we talk about, because the solutions, can we talk about: What do we do with the plastic, for instance? I’m a little bit puzzled with this whole idea that we can turn plastic into bioplastics because then other people are saying, no, it’s not really working. What is the story about how we can create a new kind of plastic which is biodegradable, compostable and so on?
Kirsty:
Yeah, look, I find that whole thought… It sounds really good in theory. That just sounds wonderful in theory, but there are so many stories and cases, real case studies where it hasn’t been as effective as we hoped it would be. I’ve heard of stories where people actually put this compostable plastic into their compost and now it’s destroyed their veggie garden because plastic’s everywhere. So I really tried on a small scale and see what happens.
The other thing that’s really problematic with these plastics is that if they do have a recycling solution for argument’s sake, it effectively contaminates the batch. It’s different. It’s a different type of plastic altogether. And it also puts us into that false sense of security that that’s the solution. It’s not a silver bullet. It still takes resources to make and manufacture it, particularly if you make a manufacturer and use it for a short amount of time. It’s still a single-use item.
So if we can go, ‘Rightio! Okay, I could have used this single use cutlery or this single use bag, but I can use my reusable bag.’ That will always, always be the better option.
Colin:
Hey Kirstie, who’s cleaning up Federation Square on Saturday evening? From the Zero Waste Festival.
There’ll be no need. Well, there shouldn’t be, should there? Will you be asking people to take their rubbish home with them?
Kirsty:
Yes and no. And the reason I say that is because we’ve actually designed the festival so it’s not going to create that waste. So there may be some amount of waste, but when it comes down to it, we’ve actually got like all our food vendors are supplied by Green My Plate. So Green My Plate, if you’re not familiar with them, they’re a small business and they have reusable cutlery and crockery. And that’s how any takeaway food is served. So that would be washed. There’d be no waste there.
Effectively, the waste that we’ve had in the previous years, and this is our third year at Fed Square, has come from outside of the festival. We can’t control somebody who didn’t even know the event was on and they’ve brought in their own rubbish. If it wasn’t for that, I have put my foot down and tried not to have any bins and at previous festivals we have been able to do that, but because Fed Square is an open public space and anyone can walk in, we have to have that. But they have been remarkably shocked with the tiny amount of waste that’s come in there but it’s not waste that was sold on the day.
Tony:
Kirsty is that the secret? I’m sure that your approach I mean is your approach the secret because I’m sure there are festivals all over the country that would like to be waste free but they come up with all sorts of excuses why they can’t. Maybe if you can tell us you know some of the people that you use to limit the waste or to support you to have no waste?
Kirsty:
Yeah, so when you actually are planning an event and it doesn’t matter if it’s an event with your 20 favourite people for a party at home or thousands and thousands of people that are coming to a major event, you’ve got to plan for it. And I’ve had a number of calls or contacts in my time from people saying, our event is three weeks out, we want to be zero waste, can you help me?
Now three weeks out from an event, for anyone who knows about planning an event, these events have been planned for three, maybe even six or nine, 12 months, right? So three weeks out, it’s not that you can’t do anything, but you’ve missed a really big opportunity. So when our food vendors come on, we are very mindful of who we choose to come on because they need to be able to use our washing service. That does mean that we’re conscious of some of the food that they sell. So we actually choose them like that.
None of our vendors are able to sell prepackaged drinks. Now, for a lot of people, that’s a real problem, but for me, I think that’s really exciting because we’re not selling prepackaged drinks. When you think about what comes in prepackaged drinks, they’re fizzy, they’re coloured, they’re flavoured, they’re artificial. That’s actually adding no value to your body. Do you know what I mean? Like from a health thing. Now, I’m really conscious that’s my personal view and not a lot of people actually like to have these drinks, but by not having those drinks, it’s one day of people’s lives. No one’s ever, ever complained. And we eliminate by design a huge amount of waste. And I’m really mindful because I do think if everyone took that into their personal lives as well, too, and thought about that, that could make a difference as well. But I appreciate that’s a personal choice that people have to consider.
Tony:
The message I’m picking up from you is that it’s well and truly possible, and it comes down to a large extent on doing the work beforehand.
Kirsty:
Yeah, that’s right. Also think to be sustainable. When I started on this journey, what I realised is that when you actually start looking after yourself and your body and the nutrition that goes into your body, you can eliminate a lot of unnecessary packaging because you’re not buying those things anymore. And drinks is a classic example of that because most of the drinks that I have don’t come in a package.
They just don’t need to. And most of the drinks that come in a package aren’t healthy for me. It’s not healthy for the environment. And I don’t say that in a judgy way, because I’ve made some personal shifts. I used to buy different drinks and things like that. But it’s a really simple way to avoid a lot of waste. And at events, the amount of drink and beverage containers that are lying around at these festivals and other events that aren’t zero waste, it’s amazing.
Colin:
Kirsty, how long has your festival been going?
Kirsty:
Since 2018. So this is our seventh year.
Colin:
Six years taking out a bit of COVID. What changes have you found that you have nowadays? Have you been successful in changing people’s behaviour in any way at all?
Kirsty:
Yeah, look, I believe we have. We don’t always get direct feedback, but people often ask questions. When it comes to change, change can be one of those things that I don’t look – at change – to get a perfect system, although I’d like a perfect system. I look at changes in progress. Really, if we look at progress over perfection, that’s how change happens. So if you can look at that one thing and go, right, I’m going to do this differently, this one thing, it might even be seemingly small. Like it might be like, okay, I’ve heard Kirsty speak about beverages today. I wonder if I can reconsider the beverages that I buy if you make that one change, then that’s where it adds up. So it might be a beverage. might be clothing. I’ve had people say, okay, I’m not going to buy new clothing for the next 12 months. Or next thing I’ve got broken, I’m going to get it repaired. And we make those changes. Yes. It has a lasting impact.
Mik:
There’s another… maybe myth or maybe a new method coming up, which is bacteria, plastic eating bacteria. Is that a solution?
Kirsty:
I’m not entirely sure. I know a little bit about it, but not enough to nerd out over it yet. I think it sounds great in theory, and if that’s the answer, then wonderful. But I know the question I would want to know is, so what happens to that bacteria and what eats that bacteria? We’re all connected. So I think it’s too early for me to make a judgment call on that, apart from we have to know that it’s cause and effect. Just see what it is.
Colin:
And even if it is the most effective thing, what we’ve got to acknowledge is there’s a lot of resources to create that plastic in the first place. And if we’re going to create it and use it once and pass it on, well, we’ve got to limit that as much as we can. You mentioned how important fashion is. From my perspective, the real worry is that I’m old enough to remember when plastic packaging first came in.
We never used to have the amount of plastic that has to surround every single item before we can buy it. And I would see that as being far more important to reduce that before you start cutting back on wear once and chuck it away mentality.
Kirsty:
Yeah, look, I think it is. And when you go back to what we did back in the day, and you know, I’m old enough to remember when we went shopping, we packed things in the boxes at the end of the supermarket aisle. And for us, I remember getting, you know, getting clothing or, you know, your fresh, your fresh socks and jocks or something we got at Christmas, it was a big deal. And that’s just changed a lot. Things have become really accessible. And on one hand, it’s really great because, you know, it’s more inclusive, but on the other hand, it’s becoming really problematic.
And when you talk about fast fashion, which I’m sure none of you have fallen victim to, fast fashion is one of those things that I heard one of the researchers say, it’s like fast fashion is not designed to be worn, it’s designed to be sold. And when you look at the convenience and the marketing, like the marketing is all about us buying the product. Do you remember lifetime warranties? Yes. Right.
A lifetime warranty, that product was made to last a lifetime. Whatever that meant, we didn’t really need to know because most of the things just lasted. But how long are the warranties these days? They’ve come down to 12 months, five years if you’re lucky, but usually 12 months, two years. And that’s because the product’s been made cheaper so they can sell more. And if it lasts too long, they can’t keep selling it. And as a consumer, when we catch on to this and go, right, okay, you know what?
I actually don’t even need to buy that thing because my friends got it. My neighbuors got it. My family’s got it. I can borrow it from them. You know, they’ve got it sitting on their shelf. They use that whippersnipper twice a year. Well, guess what? I don’t need one either. It just is a real shift. But what excites me even more than that shift is that we’re valuing resources and connecting. We’re connecting to our friends and family and community. And I think it’s really, really special. so when you, I’m just excited about that. I mean, are you excited about that?
Tony:
Yes. It’s contagious.
Mik:
In New South Wales, the government there has just released a new action plan about how they’re going to cut plastic litter. And the plan is that they’re going to cut it by 30 per cent already next year. And what I noticed in the report that they’ve come out with is that the figure, you know, the plastic waste, the average plastic waste of each of us adds up to something like 110 kilos per person per year. 110 kilos of plastic. That’s how much we go through. That’s how much we throw away. And only 14 per cent of that is recycled in New South Wales. And then you look at, what’s happening with the plastic recycling in Victoria?
Kirsty:
Yeah. And I think that we have to look at that. You know, when you go back to some of the plastic and all the packaging, it comes back down to our food system. We can look at other things as well too, but a significant amount comes from that. And I think it goes back to what I was saying before, the drinks are only part of it. When you look at the food, when you look at the food that our bodies are meant to have, that nature has created for us, our fresh fruit and veggies, those who eat meat, whatever it happens to be, you can get that almost package free or completely package free depending where you shop.
But when you get these processed foods, now some are just processed meals and pre-packed yogurt and that’s great, but some of them are ultra processed foods with ultra loads of plastic, which is serving us not the health benefits that we need and not the environmental benefits that we need. And it’s so interesting these health and environmental benefits they intersect. And when we look at that and the packaging and think, right, if I’m going to nourish my body, I’m also going to nourish the planet.
For me, that’s been a really big personal shift having that realisation.
Mik:
When people think about going on Saturday, where would they find the program?
If you look up Zero Waste Festival, if you just Google that, it should come up. It’s a surprise if it doesn’t. Otherwise you can go to zerowastevictoria.org.au. That’s the website. There’s a lot of information on the website and we’re encouraging people to sign up through Humanitix. That way you can get reminders. They’ve set it up so you can get a reminder just before the talk you want to go to starts.
Because there’s nothing worse than being at an event and losing track of time and missing that talk. So that’s the advantage of signing up. But having said that, it’s open to the public. And if you’re just there at Fed Square, you can come and see us on the day.
Tony:
And a good thing from what I’m hearing is that there’s lots of hands-on things to do, practical things that people do. They’re not sitting down being spoken to. There’s both. So you can sit and listen to the talking sessions or you can talk to exhibitors and activities. And there’s hands-on things as well, too.
The talks are all going to be interactive in the sense that people can ask questions at the end of them, but we’re going to have a food cooking session as well too. So there’ll be food cooking along with discussion about the things that we can do. It’s really about coming along and getting some hope for what’s happening and some inspiration for what you can do.
Heidi Fog:
Sustainability is about mathematics for me. It should be mathematics for everybody. We’ve got a carbon emission problem that’s measured in parts per million. That’s really our baseline.
I want to share something that I’ve done by myself for a long time, but I realised that other people do it too. So I thought it’d be worth it, like, letting people know about it. I work hard at the moment, probably 70 to 80 hours a week. And I know that it’s so important for me to get exercise. So I’ve just got myself a bit of a new sport to make exercise happen for me. And that is that in the day, just before lunch time, I get out with my dog and we bring a bucket and a pair of tongs. And then we go for a walk and we just pick up garbage. And just like little pieces of plastics, sometimes it’s a lot, sometimes it’s a little, and sometimes I find bottles. You know, my optimistic self: I bring a plastic bag for the overflow of the bottles that we might find. And then I bring my bucket and my tongs. Sometimes I just got some gloves in my back pocket.
And I went for a walk with a friend one day, and we met down by the river and then I brought my bucket along. And she goes, ‘What’s the bucket for?’ And I’ve had another person that actually goes, ‘Are you going to go looking for mushrooms?’ And I was like, ‘No, I’m looking for garbage.’ And then she goes, ‘I wanna do that too!’
So now we meet every Tuesday afternoon for 45 minutes. Couple of weeks ago, we went down to the bike hill on Shannon Avenue, near the river, and we walked down there and there was a young couple that came over to us and they go, ‘We thought we were just the only ones that did that.’ And that was pretty cool!
I always get excited to see when there’s nothing [no litter]. I think that’s a great outcome and there’s lots of places where there’s nothing to pick up.
I went for a… probably a 4K walk last week, and all I found was somebody that had chucked a poo bag. And I chucked that in the poo bag that I had, you know? So, you know, like, 4 kilometres of beach with nothing is a great outcome. My friend that meets once a week, we got places that we don’t want to go again because there’s nothing to pick up.
It’s just so easy. So let’s… I’ll show you where we go this morning.
I hang out with people that get stuff done and it’s motivating to hear what they get done and we go out together and do stuff, for example, like this, picking up garbage, but that’s also just a way of getting, I have time to catch up and catching up over a cup of coffee is kind of nice, but you don’t really get anything done.
So, you know, I’ve got friends like, you know, like we do this picking up, that’s, know, 90 per cent of the time that I do it, I do it by myself because it’s just my brain space. And, but, you know, I do other things, you know, members of a couple of committees and we do olive pressing, you know, we do, you know, yeah. It’s just nice to be around people that engage in what they can do.
You learn so much, you build your skills and knowledge about life and then when you do that you’ve got something that you can pass on to your kids. I find that my kids couldn’t give a hoot about who I met, not who I met but what we talked about at the coffee place because we haven’t done anything. The person at the coffee shop that’s made the coffee, she or he has done something but I haven’t done anything.
And to me in my life it’s really important that I do something.
We’ve to look after the litter at the source. If it’s unsustainable, it’s because it’s a poor design. For example, we haven’t designed that the bin sits in the right places where the waste gets generated and therefore instead of becoming waste in a landfill bin, it becomes litter. That’s our…
See that one here is probably a Spurro. Been sitting there for quite some time. Alright, done.
What did you watch something like…
So when I walk around, I meet a lot of people. Often I do it in the morning or in the middle of the day when people are working, but I often meet people and sometimes they say something. I usually don’t approach them and it’s just what I do. What I do is for me.
Mik:
What do people think about you?
Heidi:
Maybe they think that I’ve got no money if they see that I pick up a bottle or two, but for me, the bottle holds a piece of energy and that energy needs to go to the best place where they can recover that energy and then translate that energy into a new product so that you don’t have to go out and then dig for virgin materials. So that’s just what it is for me and I don’t put it on people.
Some people when they see me they think it’s a great idea, some people kind of like a bit standoffish but I don’t actually, I don’t make an issue out of it, I just do it, you know, I’ve got to go back to work so, yeah, I do it for me. It’s a way of, and I go out, get some fresh air, I just get that relaxation in my body, and that I need because I probably got another 10 hours of sitting in my chair when I get home.
Mik: UPCOMING EVENTS
There’s so many events in the sustainability calendar at the moment, just to mention a few: Transition South Barwon is organising a film night on the 25th. ‘The Bike, A Positive Force for Change’ – that’s the subtitle for a film called ‘The Engine Inside’. And on that same night, Wednesday the 25th, there’s also a community climate resilience workshop at the Common Ground Project in Freshwater Creek.
And just a few days before that – on Thursday the 19th of September – there’s an online meeting which is about this incinerator that a company is planning to build in Lara. Senator David Pocock will be meeting with local activists in an online meeting which takes place on Thursday in a week from now at 5:30pm.
And in November, coming up, there’s an EV and e-bike Expo on the Bellarine Peninsula.
And another interesting event coming up soon is a plant-based whole food cooking class with the subtitle ‘Good for You, Good for the Planet’. That’s the third event in a series of six events coming in the spring season organised by Transition Street Geelong. Anita Rickey from ‘Diggers Vegie Kitchen’ in Anglesea is the organiser of this event. Anita, tell us a little bit about what’s going to happen. A cooking class for whole food and plant-based food?
Anita:
Yeah, we’re going to have a cooking class at the Monastery on the 22nd of September. So we’re going to show people how to put together a couple of dishes. One of them will probably be a curry, maybe a yummy pasta dish. We’ll probably do some muffins as well. So people can see how easy, quick and healthy and delicious plant-based cooking can be. We’re going to also sit down and have lunch afterwards, so have a light lunch and eat the culinary creations that we’ve made, so that’ll be really nice and there’ll be time for questions as well. I usually start off with just a small talk about, you know, what are the benefits not only to the planet, but to our bodies on a plant-based diet and why do we cook this way, what’s to include, what’s not to include. And yeah, obviously at that time there’s a little bit of discussion. Some people may have heard of a plant-based diet and others it may be new to them. So just catering for all needs as well. Anyone can come along.
Just want to make this accessible for anybody. What are some of the benefits then? Well, lots and lots and lots of benefits. So when I start off with a small talk about plant-based eating for health reasons, I talk about my story and how my mum had lupus and diabetes. And her doctors had basically said that, you know, it was normalised, I guess, and then she was put on quite heavy medications. And then, yeah, several years later, I thought, you know, gosh, my mom was so sick, all her joints were swollen and stiff and sore. I wonder if nutrition would have anything to do with it?
And turns out nutrition had everything to do with it. And there was a lot of science behind a whole food plant based diet as being a treatment for lupus and diabetes. So, yeah, we adopted the program, well that way of eating and within a few months my mum got off all of her medications, her swelling and soreness and stiffness went away. Basically you get rid of all the inflammation out of your body and yeah she was able to go back to playing golf, she didn’t have any pain anymore, she’s 83 now, she’s just come back from an overseas trip.
Yeah, the benefits to the body are numerous. It turns out that a whole food plant based diet is also a treatment for heart disease. It’s a treatment for all autoimmune diseases, diabetes. It’s great for weight management because the food that we’re eating, vegetables, greens, fruits, beans, and whole grains are nutrient dense and not calorie dense. So it means that we get to our ideal weight and we are able to maintain our ideal weight pretty easily if we stick to the guidelines of whole food plant-based. So diet is 90 per cent of our health. People don’t realise that.
So it’s the most important thing that you can do for your health, and we just want to make it accessible to anybody so that anybody can do this and the food is great as people will see in the cooking class. You know, we’re not just eating mung beans and boiled tofu, not that there’s anything wrong with that. We’re eating really delicious foods, we’re eating a range of different cuisines, you know, we’re eating sweets and I’m about to go and hook into some sweet potato chocolate mousse for my dessert. So, you know, it’s really good food and it’s, you know, you can really taste the freshness and the quality of the food. So there’s all the benefits to health, but there’s also benefits to the planet, Mik, as well, which you would probably be aware of. Would you like me to run through some of those?
Mik:
Yes, please.
Anita:
Great. So one plant based meal saves 4,000 litres of water. 20 kilos of grain, 30 square feet of forest, 10 kilos of CO2-equivalent, and one animal’s life. That’s just one plant-based meal. Over time, over days, weeks, months, it’s much more sustainable to be on a plant-based diet.
I mean, the first point, 4,000 litres of water in one meal is huge. That alone should be enough to spark people’s interest because water is so precious now. you know, like, having that amount of water saved is just huge.
So there are lots and lots of benefits to the planet, and sustainability is just so important as of course you would know. Yeah, we just want to, you know, reach out to everyone that this is accessible. We really need to be doing something. So this will make a huge impact on our environment if we move towards a plant based diet.
Mik:
So, isn’t it actually becoming a little bit more mainstream than it used to. And I know Australia has a reputation for being really a meat eating nation, but I see more and more articles talking, for instance, about Meat Free Mondays. It’s a bit of a phenomenon that they’re writing in mainstream newspapers. So what’s your impression? Is Australia gradually beginning to change?
Anita:
I think so. I do. I think people are becoming more aware now that we’ve got the internet, you know, everybody’s got access to information that they didn’t have before. And so we are seeing more people, you know, realise the importance of that and jumping on board. I guess it’s just, you know, my area of specialty is food because, you know, a lot of people come to me and say, you know, I know I should be doing it, but I just don’t know how. I don’t know how they’ve grown up on the meat and the three veg. And I think that it’s just taking the meat out and you’re just left with the three vegetables, but it’s not like that. You know, you basically need to relearn to cook again, but it doesn’t have to be difficult.
It can be relatively simple, just needs to be, I guess a little bit more organised. There are more and more plant-based options available in the community, but sadly not a lot of them are compliant with whole food plant-based. So there are some and it is growing.
There are some brands around the community now that are Whole Fruit Plant Paste, which is awesome. But like we whipped up a sauce tonight in the kitchen, it took five minutes. You know, that’s quicker than you can order UberEats. So, you know, and people are writing to me saying, ‘I’ve lost a lot of weight and I’m feeling great!’ You know, so if you really do give it a go, you’ll see lots of benefits for your body. And I think once people start realising that it will grow even more, I’m convinced – and I’m here to help that happen.
Mik:
Anita Rickey from Diggers Vegie Kitchen in Anglesea, which is a small restaurant, but now also you’re running this cooking class – and actually, Anita, are you also running other cooking classes if people can’t make it here on… was it the 22nd or the 23rd?
Anita:
22nd of September. Yes, absolutely. I am available to come to anybody’s workplace. I’m actually going down to a gym in Apollo Bay in a couple of weeks. so doing a talk and a cooking class at the gym. And I think that’s fantastic because, you know, like food is just such a big part of our, of our world. And, you know, people go to the gym and think, you know, they might need to lose a few kilos, I’ll go and work out in the gym. Not thinking about their diet makes a huge impact. So, yes, I’m doing that there because that will definitely help those people. I also do retreats as well. So we’re doing a retreat on the 18th to the 20th of October in Queenscliff. I’m collaborating with Betty Cicciuti who’s written ‘My Vegan Cookbook’ and also Melbourne Lifestyle Medicine. So that’s Dr. Malcolm McKay and nutritionist Jenny Cameron. So they also have Plant Based Health Australia as their organisation. So we’re collaborating and anybody can come. It’s, yeah, from Friday to Sunday. So we’re doing that. We’ve actually run 12 health immersion programmes in Anglesey before that have been six days long. And we have one lady that flew down from Queensland and she had just been diagnosed with diabetes.
And in four days of eating whole food plant-based, she was able to reduce her medication by two thirds. So you can imagine how happy she was. Another fellow halved his in just four days. So it does happen very quickly with diabetes. But the good thing is that we have a doctor on board to check all their blood work as well. So they know to reduce their medication.
But yeah, I am available. You can contact me at anita@surfcoastlifestylehealth.com.au.
It’s my passion to teach people how to incorporate more plant-based foods into their lives. I love doing them. I love meeting people. I love chatting with them and I love hearing how they’re going, a week, two weeks, months down the track, how they’re feeling better. I got a message a few weeks ago, one fellow who did one of my cooking classes, he also did a health immersion. He said he’s off his blood pressure medication, he’s no longer type two diabetic and he’s lost 16 kilos and he’s in his 60s. So I think that’s pretty fantastic, just with food alone, not with medication. it’s really very significant, the benefits. It makes my heart sing, actually.
Mik:
Well, Anita, thanks so much for sharing this with us and our listeners. You certainly made me very interested and curious to come for this cooking class happening on the 22nd of September.
Where do people go if they [want to] sign up?
Anita:
So it is available on Humanitix and they can basically just click on the link there and register that way.
Mik:
And apart from that, we can also put all the information, including the link to where you can sign up in our show notes, as we usually do on climatesafety.info.
Yeah, urging people to sign up, people can cook along with us. If they feel like they don’t need to cook alone, they can watch and sample the food. But we encourage anybody, if you cook or you don’t cook, you’re curious, come along and be part of it. It should be a great day.
Mik:
That’s all we could fit in this plastic-filled Hour. And what a wonderful hour because of your enthusiasm, Kirsty. Thanks for spreading some plastic joy instead of the misery around the doom and gloom about that we’re all being swallowed up or that plastic is coming into our veins.
Kirsty:
Yeah, no, it’s good. When you look at it, yes, it is a big problem. But when we look at the things that we can do, we always need to look at the things that we can do and just act on them.
And if you ever feel overwhelmed, like, my gosh, all these things, I really think, just do one thing, pick one thing and do it well. Do one thing. Yeah. Even if it’s just picking up some rubbish.
Yep. That’s a start. And if you do that one thing and you think, do you know what? My day didn’t go as planned and I didn’t do as well as I liked. It doesn’t matter. You’ve had lunch. You can start again. You’ve woken up. You can start again. It’s just one of those things.
I really think that when we step away from this perfection that society puts on us everywhere and go right, progress, remember what we’ve done, remember what we can do and just go, well, you know what, let’s just do better next time. We all can do it.
And we will, we’ll do better. We will give you longer next time, Kirsty. Great to talk to you.
Thank you, fellas.
It’s been another really interesting show.
Yeah. And we can keep being the difference and be better.
SONG
Michael Franti: ‘Brighter Day’
Parents for Future UK: ‘The Talk’
Yeah, we noticed you’ve been asking quite a few questions recently. We know that you’ve picked up some things from TV shows and movies, and we know you’ve been wondering how it all works. And we just thought it would be great to have a mature conversation and hopefully clear a few things up.
So, when a man or a woman, usually a man, usually a man, loves money very much, he will do almost anything to get it. Even if it means jeopardising the future of our planet. And sometimes to get money he will sell oil which is found deep underground. Now to get it he will put his pipe inside the ground and remove the oil at a speed that is pleasurable to the shareholders. Now there are several ways of extracting oil and this is by using all sorts of equipment and one’s methods may differ depending on how evil they are.
Like fracking?
Who taught you that word? It’s normal for the whole thing to feel a little bit dirty.
Okay, but where does the oil go?
Well, once it’s burned it’s turned into energy and the CO2 that’s left over acts as a sort of sweaty blanket wraps around the planet leaving it all, hot and bothered and melting the ice caps and leaving water everywhere and so it’s all wet.
And that’s bad?
Yes. Yes. And it’s important that you have all the facts before you do anything reckless. OK?
We just want you to be safe. So that’s why it’s really important to use protection.
SPF 50. No arguments. And it’s not all bad. Renewable energy sources are coming on leaps and bounds. So there is genuine hope that the world can turn it around in time.
And if they don’t?
We’ll tell you when you’re older.
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Events we have talked about in The Sustainable Hour
Events in Victoria
The following is a collation of Victorian climate change events, activities, seminars, exhibitions, meetings and protests. Most are free, many ask for RSVP (which lets the organising group know how many to expect), some ask for donations to cover expenses, and a few require registration and fees. This calendar is provided as a free service by volunteers of the Victorian Climate Action Network. Information is as accurate as possible, but changes may occur.
Petitions
→ List of running petitions where we encourage you to add your name
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Live-streaming on Wednesdays
The Sustainable Hour is streamed live on the Internet and broadcasted on FM airwaves in the Geelong region every Wednesday from 11am to 12pm (Melbourne time).
→ To listen to the program on your computer or phone, click here – or go to www.947thepulse.com where you then click on ‘Listen Live’ on the right.
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Podcast archive
Over 500 hours of sustainable podcasts.
Listen to all of The Sustainable Hour radio shows as well as special Regenerative Hours and Climate Revolution episodes in full length.
→ Archive on climatesafety.info – with additional links
→ Archive on podcasts.apple.com – phone friendly archive
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