EarthChat

All Things Waste. S24, Ep14

This week, Ruth welcomes back Grace Davis-Williams who is our Regional Waste and Resource Recovery Education Officer in Mitchell Shire. This role is part of a collaborative project between Mitchell, Murrindindi and Strathbogie Shire Councils who came together in 2018 to provide a regional approach to waste education, a critical tool for supporting waste management strategies and sustainability.Grace has been straddling her efforts to minimize waster over three shires for the last six years. A big undertaking. She somehow fitted in giving birth to Benny but now returns to work determined as ever to raise awareness of how we can improve our waste practices.Her priority list includes the reminder to us to keep recycling loose in our bins - a big problem in Mitchell Shire where up to a whole truckload of recyclables is sent to landfill each week because people keep bagging their recyclables before putting them in their yellow bins. Put them in loose!And then there’s the battery challenge. Batteries are a problem for the environment. Supermarkets have special receptacles where people can dispose of their batteries. Grace is holding a webinar on 17th April about why they are such a problem for the environment and what we can do to help.The good news is that Victoria is definitely pro recycling - around 98% of Victorians are trying to recycle. Join us to learn how we can do it even better especially in Mitchell Shire where we have one of the highest contamination rates in the State and the highest in the region. See here for a huge range of local workshops and events.

Restoration - The Future of Forests. S24, Ep13

The end of logging in native forests by VicForests raises the wonderful opportunity for us to think of future prospects for these tree communities in Victoria.This week on EarthChat, Tim and Marie talk with Paul Macgregor, forests campaigner for BEAM, and committee member of the Victorian Forest Alliance, about the importance of restoring these forests to biodiverse splendour and cultural richness. 1.8 million hectares of state forest, once reserved for logging, now face a brighter future.Trees and forests will now have a chance to grow old and mature, providing greater habitat for rare animals, and reducing forest flammability. Biodiversity can expand. Carbon can be sequestered. Air and water will be cleaner. The cultural uses of forests and their plants by First Nations can be respected, explored and shared.But after 200 years of logging, clearing, tree monoculture and inappropriate fire regimes, there’s a lot of work to be done to help these forests restore to their full potential as living communities. Paul, Tim and Marie discuss the ways in which we can do this.

On the Ground - a Regenerative Farmer for 30 years and growing, S24, Ep12

On this week's show, Peter is joined by an old friend, Annemaree Docking. She's a hands-on, small-farm landholder who's been practising sustainable farming for 30 years. She is also a former Vice President of the BEAM Committee.Annemaree was raised on a suburban block in Doncaster, on what was then the outskirts of Melbourne, very much a fringe suburb in the 1980’s, apple and pear orchards were giving way to quarter acre Aussie dreams while Annemaree grew up riding horses where the Eastern Freeway and townhouses now preside. The changing landscape left its impression on her.She is currently a PhD candidate with Deakin University researching Regenerative Agriculture Systems.   Her Regenerative Agriculture for Climate Resilience project considers the concept of regenerative agriculture and its potential to support transformative change of peri-urban agriculture and landscape for greater climate resilience of cities and regional centres. Annemaree is the Principal Consultant of her new business project Thriving Rural.

Climate Safe Rooms – retrofitting to create refuges for heatwaves and extreme cold. S24, Ep3

"Climate Safe Rooms" is a Climate retrofitting project to create refuges in low-income households during heatwaves and extreme cold. As our weather bobs around all over the place, and the expected extra hot and dry summer has become a mix of deluge and high humidity, local action on climate has many faces.This week, Peter is joined by the Mitchell Community Energy's President, John Thompson, who is fired up about Seymour being the springboard for community action that contributes to the recently adopted Mitchell Shire Climate Emergency Action Plan: from linking with the Seymour Buslines EV bus pilot; to direct action making inefficient homes more liveable when the mercury hovers above 40°C for a week.We are also joined by Geelong Sustainability chairperson David Spear with some insights into the Climate Safe Rooms project. The Climate Safe Rooms project was funded by the Victorian Government to retrofit one room in a vulnerable household to be comfortable in extremes of heat, and cold. This has clear health benefits to the householder, and energy savings. An energy audit, door and window seals, a solar system and a reverse cycle split system are amongst the changes introduced by this pilot project.  Geelong Sustainability are award winners in innovative local action on climate. Is this the path for Seymour?
 
 
Join Peter Lockyer and John Thompson on EarthChat this week for good news to meet challenges to climate in our local community. In just one hour, you may gain an insight to change your life forever. Or close to it.

Getting people involved in environmental action. S24, Ep2

We are a powerful force for nature! How do we get people involved in environmental action?
This week on EarthChat, Tim and Ruth talk to Don Vogt, a long-term environmental activist and convenor of the ACF Inner Melbourne Community Group. Don is a tireless and committed community leader and he dedicates most of his week to organising events, recruiting new members and further strengthening this powerful local group. They plant trees, get AFL footballers involved, run workshops, lobby politicians and do lots of local clean-ups. Don shares some of what he has learned in getting people involved and some of the challenges he has faced along the way.

Volunteering for the environment along Hughes Creek. S24, Ep1

Continuing the theme of the importance of volunteering for the environment, Vanessa and Tim will be talking about Vanessa's recent experience working along Hughes Creek near Avenel, and how this relates to an endangered fish species, the Macquarie Perch, that can still be found in this creek.
You can also read more about it online on The Country News at this link (subscribe or access articles for free for one month).

A virtual tour of Mount Rothwell and the Western Treatment Plant, S24, Ep11

Vanessa and Ruth discuss Vanessa's recent adventure discovering two very different habitats for native animals.They discuss the largest feral predator-free ecosystem in Victoria, Mount Rothwell, and the sewage treatment lagoons of the Western Treatment Plant, otherwise known as the Werribee sewage farm. Want more information about either location? Read about Mt Rothwell here and the Western Treatment Plant here

The Mitchell Climate Emergency Action Plan – why it matters. S24, Ep10

Marie and Tim chat to Brendan Garrett about Mitchell Shire Council's Climate Emergency Action Plan. We talk about how to reduce our carbon footprint and meet our carbon net zero goals. What are the practical steps we can take? You can read the Plan here.

Is your super invested ethically for the future of people and the planet? S24, Ep9

Tim and Ruth talk to Dr Rosemary Kelly about superannuation investments, international treaties prohibiting weapons which cause indiscriminate civilian deaths, climate change and fossil fuels and how funds apply screens when investing. Find out why this might be important for your super. An important conversation on the International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation.

Good news from Mitchell Youth Services. S24, Ep8

Seymour now has its own Youth Development Officer. Ryan Hutchison joins Ruth along with the 2 other Youth Development Officers for the Mitchell Shire, Tara Kinsey & Kris Johnson. They fill us in on what the Council is offering Youth aged 12 - 24 throughout the Shire.