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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE January 13, 2008
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| December 31, 2007 |
Sydney, Australia – Learning How to Step on the Earth Lightly – Workshop for Sustainable Living |
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| Living Schools educator Faith Thomas introduces participants to the web of life which we are all a part of |
When Peace Boat docked in Sydney, Australia, a group of participants headed to the inner city suburb of Glebe to visit the Glebe Community Garden and take part in a workshop to learn skills for sustainable living. While many of the activities took place in an old church that doubles as a yoga center, the real action took place in a large garden at the back of the church which is home to dozens of different kinds of plants, including flowers, vegetables and herbs. The workshop was held in collaboration with Living Schools, a Sydney-based organization of educators for sustainable living. Upon arrival, participants were welcomed by educator Faith Thomas who has dedicated the past decade of her life to reconnecting people to nature and educating people how to live a sustainable life. ‘There’s a really amazing connection to the earth that as adults we seem to have lost. Children are in awe of the environment and animals, but as adults we become numb. I want to reconnect people with nature to regain a sense of wonder,’ she said. |
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| Participants planted flowers and trees to create natural habitats for predators in order to keep the garden in balance |
For the first activity, participants discussed the role and function of various creatures. A frog, for example, is connected in the web of life in many ways. If it became extinct, there would be no food for snakes but there would be an increase in mosquitoes and flies. Participants also discussed the essential role of birds who eat berries and then excrete the seeds, thereby allowing another berry bush to grow. ‘Some kinds of plants won’t grow unless they go through a particular kind of bird,’ explained Ms Thomas. ‘If you take one part out of the game of life, everything is affected,’ she added. Participants were then given some small flowers and trees to plant in the garden. These would act as homes for predators such as frogs and lizards, so that chemicals would not have to be used. ‘We think that the web of life is out there, that we’re not connected to it, we actually, we are a part of it. If it doesn’t survive, then we don’t survive either,’ explained Ms Thomas. |
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Roger, Palms Australia representative and the owner of the Fair Trade Coffee Company, Sydney’s only fair trade café, explained to participants why fair trade coffee is the best option for businesses and consumers |
For lunch, it was a short stroll to Sydney’s only fair trade cafe, the Fair Trade Coffee Company. In addition to tasting a range of organic and fair trade products, participants were treated to a talk by the café owner, Roger, who is also a representative of Palms Australia, an international volunteer non-government organization (NGO). Through this, participants learnt about the fair trade of coffee, the world’s largest selling commodity. ‘Fair trade coffee is the best choice because workers get a fair price. In developing countries, growers receive less than 1 percent of profits, but fair trade pays a base amount which allows the growers an income so they can have access to health and education,’ he said. |
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Participants make a worm farm by placing mulch in a specially made container. The worms breakdown organic matter, thereby reducing waste |
Back at the Glebe Community Garden, participants learnt about soil and green waste recycling. Outside, Ms Thomas asked participants to sit on the grass and think about the creatures that we couldn’t see living in the soil underground. ‘Underneath each of you, there are more living creatures than humans on the entire planet,’ she said. She also made the point that nature has its own way of breaking down organic material and that there is no waste in nature because it’s all incorporated back into the system. Human-made waste, however, such as plastic bottles, doesn’t have their own system and disposing of such items by burning them creates negative effects such as greenhouse gas emissions. ‘However, we can develop a different way to dispose of organic things. We can create compost by using fruit and vegetable scraps which are broken down by bacteria,’ explained Ms Thomas. She then demonstrated how to make a worm farm, which is a smaller, more manageable version of a compost heap and is an ideal way for those who live in apartment buildings to dispose of green-waste. |
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| The thriving Glebe Community Garden which is watered through an irrigation system that uses natural rain water caught in tanks |
Participants then returned indoors where they discussed water efficiency, harvesting and reuse. ‘Everything we eat, buy or use is going to end up either in the soil or water,’ Ms Thomas told participants. Although a water cycle exists in nature, the urban environment does not have a good system for water preservation. In Australia, the largest portion of household water use is for the garden. In order to reduce this, Ms Thomas advocated putting tanks on roofs to catch rainwater which could also be used for toilets and washing machines. |
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| Participants ended the day by planting vegetable seeds which will grow at the garden |
The last part of the workshop involved discussing how we can cut down on manufactured food which creates a lot of waste through packaging and wastes energy through distribution. ‘If we grow things at home, then we can make a difference,’ commented Ms Thomas. Participants then planted vegetable seeds into small cups filled with soil which will be grown at the garden. As they washed their hands and got ready to leave, Ms Thomas said, ‘I hope this has inspired you to go home and make a positive impact.’ |
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