The Greening of Gavin | Sustainable Living in the Suburbs

My guest this episode is Jennifer Richards who blogs at Beyond the Trolley, and has begun producing a podcast called Turn Me Green.

You can find her first episode here; http://www.beyondthetrolley.com/2013/11/turn-me-green-podcast.html

We have a great chat about her experiment to avoid supermarkets for a year and what the outcomes of that challenge were.

Food security, local food production and backyard chickens are also discussed in depth.

A great interview with a very passionate sustainable living practitioner, which I know you will enjoy.  Thanks for sharing you knowledge and experience with us Jennifer.

If you are interested here is an ABC radio interview that Jennifer gave a while back.  She further explains why she started shopping beyond the trolley!

If you enjoyed the podcast, please pop over to iTunes and rate it and leave a review. You can also do the same within Stitcher Radio if you use that service.  It would help me out so much, and elevate the ratings so that others can find out about the podcast and learn about sustainable living in the ‘burbs.

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So, now you have listened to the podcast, what do you think about the state of food security where you live?

Are we growing more and more dependent on supermarkets that import food or screw over farmers, or are you trying to source food more locally?

As I am currently writing a new eBook titled Suburban Food Farm, I thought it would be good to talk each month about what food is growing in my garden to help me stay motivated and focused.

This month, I talk about what is growing in my part of the world in October. I give tips about what to grow when, and a little about companion planting. I also talk about how my fruit trees are progressing at this time of year.

I just love talking about what is growing in my garden.  This will be a regular series each month, to help you learn how grow some food of your very own.

I hope you enjoy the first in this series titled “Suburban Food Farm – October”.  What are you waiting for? Get out there and go get your hands dirty and grow some food today!  You will not regret it.

If you enjoyed the podcast, please pop over to iTunes and rate it and leave a review. You can also do the same within Stitcher Radio if you use that service.  It would help me out so much, and elevate the ratings so that others can find out about the podcast and learn about sustainable living in the ‘burbs.

You can subscribe to the show via RSS or iTunes or Stitcher for your portable device.  Just use the subscription buttons below.

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So, to finish off, I have a few questions for all you food gardeners out there.  Are you just about to plant your vegetable garden with this season’s crop?  What are you planning to sow and plant?  Do you plant heirloom varieties?  I would love to hear from you.

On the show today is an interview by a couple of gents from the Massachusetts Climate Action Network, Rob Garrity and Ted McIntyre for their regular podcast “Climate Hawk’s Companion“.  We discuss how I got into sustainable living, why I started the blogs and podcasts, and the current state of affairs regarding climate change action in Australia.

 

It was a great interview, with lots of interesting topics.  Thanks fellas, I had a great time.  Talk again in six months time!

 

You can get more information about their network at their blog and podcast. http://massclimateaction.wordpress.com/

 

Don’t forget that if you have any questions or comments, you can leave me a voicemail using the tab on the right hand side of the blog. Also, if you think you have a sustainable living story to tell, drop me an email (listed on the side bar) . I would love to have you on the show. 

As always, I am always up for an interview as well if you have a podcast about green things!

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did recording it!

Also, if you wish to receive the show on your portable apple device each time I release an episode, you can subscribe via iTunes using the big blue button.

I have two very special guests on the show today, Greg Foyster and Sophie Chishkovsky, who rode their bicycles from Melbourne to Hobart, then up the east coast of Australia to Cairns; that’s over 5000 km (3107 miles) and eight months of peddling.

If you are a regular reader of the blog you would have remembered their visit which I documented in this post titled “Simple Lives“.

 

But why?  Well, in Greg’s own words :

“Now, at 28 years of age, I want to explore this simpler way of life as an alternative to the “rat race”. And the best way to explore living simply is to actually do it. That’s why we’re travelling 3000 kilometres up the east coast of Australia, visiting simple living communities and camping along the way.”

It was a journey of discovery, and a very good method of gathering material for a book.  A book which has recently been published titled “Changing Gears – A Pedal-Powered Detour from the Rat Race”.

During the interview we discover more about what motivated them, interesting people they met, and what they really got out of it.  They also wrote a blog as they were travelling which you can visit at www.simplelives.com.au

 

By the way, Greg and Sophie are soon departing on a bike book tour from Melbourne, around country Victoria, through Canberra and finishing in Sydney.  If anyone would like to put them up for the night, then please drop Greg and email at [email protected]

 

For more details about the book and the bike book tour check out their website at this address; http://simplelives.com.au/book/

Enjoy the interview.

If you enjoyed the podcast, please pop over to iTunes and rate it and leave a review. You can also do the same within Stitcher Radio if you use that service.  It would help me out so much, and elevate the ratings so that others can find out about the podcast and learn about sustainable living in the ‘burbs.

You can subscribe to the show via RSS or iTunes or Stitcher for your portable device.  Just use the subscription buttons below.

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Until next time, stay green and keep keen!

This weeks episode is the start of a mini-series that I have titled The Failing Suburban Experiment. This particular episode is all about car dependency and what may happen to suburbs without them. I give you the good, bad and the not so ugly view of energy descent.

If you enjoyed the podcast, please pop over to iTunes and rate it and leave a review. You can also do the same within Stitcher Radio if you use that service.  It would help me out so much, and elevate the ratings so that others can find out about the podcast and learn about sustainable living in the ‘burbs.

You can subscribe to the show via RSS or iTunes or Stitcher for your portable device.  Just use the subscription buttons below.

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Until next time, stay green and keep keen!

Last night I had the pleasure of being invited onto a panel discussion at the Dancehouse in Carlton North. It was more of an open discussion than a panel, but still a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

We touched on many topics, and I was a little uncomfortable at the beginning, but I soon come out of my shell, and kind of hog the limelight at around the 10 minute mark. Although a little on the long side, I hope you listen through to the end. It was a very enlightening conversation.

Thanks to the Dancehouse team for inviting me.

Here is the description as advertised.

How Uncomfortable is Comfort?

Routines, habits, indulgent pleasures…in a word, reassuring comfort zones. But to what extent are they liberating or imprisoning? And how keen are we to needle our habits and challenge ourselves?

This month, Simone’s Boudoir delves deep into the world of comfort and its effect on our daily lives and how it shapes them, for better or worse. Housemate Performance Resident Victoria Chiu is joined by journalist Paul Ransom and sustainable living activist Gavin Webber – The Greening of Gavin, to discuss the pros and cons of a comfortable existence, our frustrations with our habits and our dependence on comfort.

Is there a right balance? And what lengths do people go to expel comfort or invite more into their lives?

This episode is all about stockpiling essentials. Things like food, water, cooking methods and the like that are good to have at hand during an emergency.

A while ago, I wrote a post titled Nine Meals from Anarchy, which talks about what might happen in an emergency. This podcast episode takes it one step further where I talk about essential things that you may need in the event of an emergency if the supermarket shelves become bare.

I also touch on a series of posts that I wrote a couple of years ago called the Be Prepared Challenge, collaborating with Bec from Eat At Dixiebelle’s.

Anyway, I hope that you gain an insight into why it is a great idea to have a small stockpile of sorts, in your own home.

Don’t forget that you can leave a comment about the podcast via this blog, or a leave me a voicemail question or comment via the gadget on the sidebar, which I can play during the next episode.

Happy Stockpiling!

If you enjoyed the podcast, please pop over to iTunes and rate it and leave a review. You can also do the same within Stitcher Radio if you use that service.  It would help me out so much, and elevate the ratings so that others can find out about the podcast and learn about sustainable living in the ‘burbs.

You can subscribe to the show via RSS or iTunes or Stitcher for your portable device.  Just use the subscription buttons below.

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Until next time, stay green and keep keen!

This episode is a great interview with Kate Flint, who recently starred on Gardening Australia. We talk about seed saving, and food security.

Also, here is the information about the rally that Kate mentioned and asked me to share.

Please read and spread this through your network of friends about Monsanto’s mandatory Seed Registration and the criminalization of Heirloom seeds which the EU is trying to get passed into law ….. a horrifying thought! Once this law gets past in the European Union it will only be a matter of time until it will be enforced in Australia as well. That this is happening makes me want to urge you to join the March Against Monsanto happening May 25th, everywhere around the world. 284 cities are participating so far, and more are being added each day. There will be protests in most Australian cities including Hobart (if you are not in Hobart please click the list below of participating cities) and I thought you might be interested in participating yourself.

Please click here for info on the Hobart Rally on the 25th of May:

http://www.facebook.com/events/490782504308370/

Click here to see the complete list of cities:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0Ah7h2ApbBPnpdGhOMElaSVg1QUQtRlJQWm1FaUZISlE&toomany=true

The official website for the event is: http://www.march-against-monsanto.com/

So get onboard.  Grow your own vegetables and save your own seed!

If you enjoyed the podcast, please pop over to iTunes and rate it and leave a review. You can also do the same within Stitcher Radio if you use that service.  It would help me out so much, and elevate the ratings so that others can find out about the podcast and learn about sustainable living in the ‘burbs.

You can subscribe to the show via RSS or iTunes or Stitcher for your portable device.  Just use the subscription buttons below.

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Until next time, stay green and keep keen!

This week I talk about saving water around your home.  I use the 5R’s method of saving this precious liquid, and many free or cheap methods to considers.  The 5R’s are Reduce, Repair, Retrofit, Rainwater, and Recycle.

With a growing population and climactic changes already impacting many parts of the world, it is just plain common sense to conserve as much fresh water as we can.

 

Enjoy the Podcast!  Don’t forget that if you want to ask a burning question, then leave me a voicemail, and I will use it in the next podcast!  If you want know anything about sustainable living that I have implemented around here, but were afraid to ask, drop me a voice mail.  It is dead easy!

If you enjoyed the podcast, please pop over to iTunes and rate it and leave a review. You can also do the same within Stitcher Radio if you use that service.  It would help me out so much, and elevate the ratings so that others can find out about the podcast and learn about sustainable living in the ‘burbs.

You can subscribe to the show via RSS or iTunes or Stitcher for your portable device.  Just use the subscription buttons below.

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Until next time, stay green and keep keen!

 

This podcast episode is about the essential skills and useful items that may be required during an energy descent.

The discussion is based on maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and I describe important considerations that you should act upon, now.

If you enjoyed the podcast, please pop over to iTunes and rate it and leave a review. You can also do the same within Stitcher Radio if you use that service.  It would help me out so much, and elevate the ratings so that others can find out about the podcast and learn about sustainable living in the ‘burbs.

You can subscribe to the show via RSS or iTunes or Stitcher for your portable device.  Just use the subscription buttons below.

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Until next time, stay green and keep keen!