Highs and lows, yet always in action

It’s impressive how many highs and lows a month can pack. From the heartbreaking Amazon fires and avoidable deforestation about to happen in Victoria, to our little group getting to the next stage of the prestigious Melbourne Awards! In doing so, we hope to be recognised for our efforts to bring practical education and environmental solutions to Southbank, while also seeing many members wanting to act and get more involved. One of the things I love most about this group is how members are always ready to spring into action and focus on solutions rather than staying stuck on the problem; one that feels too-big-to-handle at times, leading to denial and inertia. It’s well established by now that in order to not reach the point of no return, every one of us needs to take action and reduce our footprint, while applying pressure to government bodies and companies to do better. We as a group have decided to participate in the Global Climate Strike, on September 20, 2pm-4pm outside Treasury Gardens. While acting on an individual and community level is important, it’s just as important to work in solidarity and show in great numbers that we are demanding immediate action to mitigate this crisis before it’s too late. The City of Melbourne has already taken a significant step, declaring a state of “climate and biodiversity crisis”. We now need state and federal governments, along with industries, working hard to reduce our country’s carbon emissions and polluting practices to do something about it. We hope to see more of you join the strike, and even get your company to pledge support for workers that want to participate at notbusinessasusual.com.au. After all, if the “big four” banks and giant Atlassian can make that commitment, surely other companies can too. Another way to lend support is by helping the Djab Wurrung embassy (dwembassy.com) protect 3000 old-growth trees (some 800 plus years old and of great cultural significance), from getting unnecessarily cut down. Apparently, experts identified another solution to expand the Western Highway, which will cost far fewer (younger) trees’ lives and thus, releasing less CO2, cost less money, and still address driver needs. We’ll keep posting a range of actions and activities on our Facebook page to help counterbalance the massive amounts of CO2 released from the Amazon fires; fires that scientists predict will continue for months. Onto some good news! Our group is proceeding to the next stage of the 2019 Melbourne Awards! These awards are City of Melbourne’s highest accolade for contributions made by Melburnians to our city by helping to make it a world leader. It humbled us to find out that we were in the running for the environment category award. It provides us an opportunity to share the knowledge of a garden functioning as a place to “gather-round-the-fire”, creating a vibrant community where environmental solutions are shared, behaviours are changed, where we motivate each other on this challenging journey, and create educational opportunities for the wider community. Not to mention all the local organic vegies produced, reducing our food’s footprint and absorbing, instead of emitting, CO2. September will continue to be a month of gardening, harvesting, and neighbours meeting. As you’ve probably seen, there’s plenty now ready for harvesting. Look for the green rocks that will show you what’s harvest-ready and always pick enough for one meal at a time. We’ll also have a spring vegies planting day in late September/early October. Watch our Facebook page for the exact date. How to harvest Leafy greens (spinach, rainbow chard, etc.) cut leaf low at the base of its stem, only cutting large external leaves. Turnips: take them whole and don’t forget to eat the leaves which are packed with antioxidants. Rocket and broad bean leaves: cut a few leaves sparsely from various parts of the plant. Anything else you want to harvest, just email us for instructions. Upcoming meet-ups are on Saturday September 14 and 28, 10am at Boyd. Come join us and do some gardening, harvesting, and more. About the group A solutions-focused community group of Southbank residents working to bring positive change in sustainability practices and education to our neighborhood, while building a wonderful community of like-minded people. Reach us at [email protected] or facebook.com/SouthbankSustainabilityGroup  Artemis Pattichi - Southbank Sustainability Group