Saltgrass

In this episode of An Environment for Change I speak with Chris Hooper about the Castlemaine Repair Cafe.  She has been running a monthly Repair Cafe in Castlemaine for over a year and they have saved over 600kg of waste from being thrown out; objects, clothing and mechanical items that can now live to see another day.  I speak to Chris about how it all started, how it works and where it is going. I also spoke to some of her repair volunteers, who talk about what it is like to be a repairer, why they do it and some of the things they have been asked to repair.

A laughter filled chat about very serious issues; the importance of small scale diverse farming providing for local markets.  Sas and Mel have been farming veggies on their patch of land in Harcourt, subletting from the Mount Alexander Fruit Gardens, for several years.  In that time they have doubled thier size and then doubled again, all the while learning and sharing with their local community. 

In this episode I speak to Katie, who has been running the organic orchard Mount Alexander Fruit Garden for over 20 years with her partner Hugh, and Ant, who is set to start running the orchard as Katie and Hue retire.  The conversation ranges over topics from the hidden benefits of organic farming to the exciting new ways young farmers like Ant are starting to organise.

In this episode of An Environment for Change I speak with Ginny, the force behind Boomerang Bags Castlemaine.  She and a group of dedicated volunteers have been following the Boomerang Bags model; sewing and offering upcycled cloth bags to the public of Castlemaine in the hopes of helping us all transition away from plastic bags and towards more sustainable options. 

In this episode I speak to Lucy Young about her ongoing campaign to make Castlemaine a plastic bag free town. We talk about the ins and outs of running a campaign, the personal reasons behind working so hard for sustainability and what we can do to replace plastic bags in our lives.

This is the second episode of eight in a series about sustainability in Central Victoria. Brought to you by MAINfm and the Mount Alexander Shire Council and created by Alison Hanly.