Another day, another protest

  These past few weeks I’ve found myself part of three community protests: first greeting the dawn with anti-fracking campaigners at Bentley in Northern New South Wales, then rallying with more than 8000 other citizens at Sydney’s March in May, all of us reeling from the just-released federal budget, and then pounding the city streets […]

Sunshine Coast Local Knowledge

There’s a page on GoodIsBetter called Local, which is my spot for sharing fabulous discoveries from where I live. Now that home is Sydney, here’s an archive of what used to be in the Local List when local was the Sunny Coast in Queensland: The Lane at Palmwoods (http://www.facebook.com/thelaneatpalmwoods) and Renae’s Pantry (https://www.facebook.com/RenaesPantry) Friday afternoons/evenings and […]

Stepping up

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has” – Margaret Mead Imagine where we’d be without those thoughtful committed citizens.Imagine where we could be if more of us felt okay about joining them. I’ve been held back countless times from stepping up. Correction. I’ve […]

"In Sydney, the forest speaks Polish at Easter"

…and Diego Bonetto listens. Last weekend, I had the privilege of participating in an edible weeds walk on the Cooks River. Led by Diego, about fifteen of us spent an enthralled couple of hours discovering some of the culinary and medicinal gems that typically just disappear below our shoes. Some of these weeds are comfortable […]

Sustainable house. Sustainable food. Sustainable life.

Michael Mobbs is a national treasure. I learned about him, and his micro-revolution, earlier this week at a Transition Bondi event in Sydney. He’s a recovering lawyer who has taken his inner-city house off the grid. Yes, that’s right. Disconnected from the sewer system. Disconnected from the water supply. Disconnected from the electricity grid. And, […]

From Food to Farm

Recently, I was fortunate to be part of the first ever working bee/farm tour organised by the amazing food co-op I’m a member of. We visited our main supplier, a farm just a handful of kilometres away from where we all live, on a cold, rain-sodden mid-April morning. Farmer Darren walked us around parts of the farm. We learnt […]

Recovery, food miles and a little place called Dagun

Shopped at the most inspiring little market yesterday, in a tiny Mary Valley town called Dagun. This market is a testament to community resilience, re-emerging as it has from the distraction, exhaustion and trauma that ravished the Mary Valley during the Queensland Government’s campaign to submerge it under a mega-dam in the mid-2000s. You can see more about those years by clicking here. The […]

Getting practical

In the summer of 2010/2011 I made a pact with myself to get better at things. Practical things. You see, my home state was 75% underwater, and I was hard-pressed to garner any practical skills to help out with the recovery mission. I’m never going to be a bobcat driver or a carpenter, so I made a list of other useful […]