Start off the new year and a fresh decade by making positive changes to your way of living. Get inspired and find out how you can lessen your ecological footprint at the
Sustainable Living Festival.
Australia's first Sustainable Living Fair was a small event held in 1998 just outside of Daylesford. The concept was still in its early days but the groundbreaking event was deemed a success and triggered much interest. From these humble beginnings grew the Festival as we know it today: a major event which last year saw an attendance of over 124,000, proving that sustainable living is not just an idea for hippies but the way of the future for everyone.
Now in its eleventh year, the Sustainable Living Festival brings together people from all facets of the community that share a vision of sustainability for the future. The Festival will be comprised of two different programs: the Main Event and Local Events which will take place across the country. The Main Event will be held over three days, February 19th-21st, at Melbourne's Federation Square, and local events will run from February 6th - 21st at various times and locations.
This year, the theme of the Main Event is: Get Ready for the Safe Climate Decade. The huge program will consist of over 300 talks and workshops, over 100 expo exhibitors, performance art and film, and an education day for school groups. Talks will be held by some of the leading minds in this field and are guaranteed to challenge and provoke interesting debate. Exhibitors will include
Animal Liberation,
Australian Volunteers International,
Friends of the Earth,
Landcare Victoria, local universities plus plenty of delicious food will be on offer, including my personal favourite,
Jerry's Vegiburgers. A full listing of the program events can be found
here.
The Local Events Program provides a platform for individuals, communities and organisations to get involved and host and promote their own sustainability events, such as swap meets, community gardening and skill shares. The program of local events will run for two weeks at various places across the country and can be downloaded
here.
As this is a free community event, it relies strongly on volunteers. If you are interested in helping out at this worthy event there are a variety of volunteer roles available. Just click
herefor more information and how to apply.
Go and see what positive actions are taking place all in the name of sustainability and learn how you can make a difference.
