"From little things, big things grow." State Member of Parliament for Bundaberg Jack Dempsey wasn't kidding when he made this statement at SustainaBundy's Annual General Meeting on Monday. The relocalisation group, which is working for a sustainable Bundaberg, had its first informal get together of 8 people back in July 2007. They welcomed about 700 attendees to their World Environment Day Celebration on June 1, 2008.
"To do nothing is to ignore the obvious, and I congratulate SustainaBundy on their objective on making Bundaberg a better place for future generations," Mr Dempsey said. The day after the AGM, Mr. Dempsey and his family became SustainaBundy members, bringing the group's financial membership up to 54 people. The MP also took delivery of several SustainaBundy guidebooks and "got local?" stickers to sell in his office. "I particularly support their buy local program, which encourages people to support our local growers and manufacturers," he said.
At the Annual General Meeting, members and guests viewed a slideshow of all of SustainaBundy's activities in the past year, including movie nights to educate on the topics of peak oil and climate change, garage sale parties to promote "buying second hand first," the release of the group's guides and stickers, the first SustainaBundy permablitz, the SustainaBundy Farm Gate Buying Group and the World Environment Day event.
The permablitz was particularly popular amongst the group members - it's a permaculture backyard blitz, where members come together to transform a standard backyard into a productive food forest. Permaculture involves mimicking the patterns and ways of nature to create sustainable, permanent agriculture and permanent culture: systems that don't rely on inputs of chemicals, pesticides, fertilisers and fuel. Permablitzes offer garden and permaculture learning opportunities for participating members, and a measure of self reliance in the face of escalating food and fuel prices for the homeowner. SustainaBundy currently has three certified permaculture designers amongst its members and others will become certified before the end of the year, making more frequent permablitzes possible.
The SustainaBundy Farm Gate Buying Group is in its infancy, as members coordinate with one another to purchase fresh, local meat, fruit, vegetables and nuts directly from producers. This generally yields a better, tastier product at a significantly reduced price, while directly supporting local growers and reducing the community's contribution to climate-changing transport emissions. SustainaBundy is trialling their first farm gate buy this month with local pig and cattle farmer Robert Doyle.
SustainaBundy intends to continue all of these activities into the coming year and has plans to add new ones. They'll begin an equipment share, where members will be able to use group-owned items such as a box trailer and a mulcher, eliminating the need for members to own their own. SustainaBundy will also initiate a renewable technologies bulk buying program. The concept, which has proven successful in Maleny, Brisbane, Ballarat and other locations, involves members coming together to buy items such as solar hot water heaters, solar panels, wind turbines and more in bulk from local suppliers at a reduced price. The group is also enthusiastic about the idea of a summer food and music festival, to highlight the tastes and talent of the local region and to attract younger members to SustainaBundy.
A new SustainaBundy management committee was voted in at the Annual General Meeting. SustainaBundy founders Dean and Andi Hazelwood stepped down as president and vice president and now move into advisory positions. In addition, Mr Hazelwood will coordinate the equipment share program and Mrs Hazelwood will continue as media coordinator. Former secretary Jacqui McLucas takes over as SustainaBundy's new president, Jacki McCarthy is the group's new secretary, and Carol Sweeney will maintain her role as treasurer. Two new positions have been created, with Alana White taking on the position of renewable bulk buy coordinator and Ann Jarman as movie night coordinator.
SustainaBundy's next event will be a two hour climate change solutions workshop with Alison Rickert, a presenter trained by Al Gore and the Australian Conservation Foundation. The workshop will take place in late July or early August, visit www.sustainabundy.org for regular updates and to get involved.
