Welcome to our latest member newsletter

It seems many of our members had trouble accessing the newsletter on their phones, so we are sending it again in a different format.  Apologies for the double-up, but we wanted to ensure you were all able to read all of our exciting news, invite you to our upcoming events, introduce you to one of our valued board members and to share what others are doing to help us makes changes that enable is to live more sustainably in Tasmania. 

We are also keen to help promote your sustainable living events in our future newsletters so make sure you follow the links at the bottom of this newsletter.  

Thank you for being a member of SLT.  Your support is much appreciated.

Winter greetings

I’ve just come in from a few hours hard work in my winter garden, pruning the fruit trees and watching the wattle birds, parrots and silver-eyes coming in to finish off the remaining apples. I planted the fruit trees (way too close together) nearly 28 years ago and not realising that they would grow so big! That work is my way of creating a wholesome, healing space in every day. The daffodils and the garlic are up and there is still broccoli and herbs and always kale! So all seems well with the world.

At the same time, I am reading ‘Welcome to the Great Unraveling’ (Post Carbon Institute, 2023) and re-watching Professor Will Steffen’s lecture at the 2022 Fenner Conference, both of which point to the ecological boundaries we humans have crossed. So the work we are doing (SLT and you, our members and supporters) to help ‘the transition to a more resilient, equitable and sustainable world’ is more and more important.

That is why Sustainable Living Tasmania is inviting sustainable living groups and organisations to join us for a one day gathering in August to work out what are the key issues for us in Tasmania and how we can best work together. There will be more news on this soon.

Let’s take care of one another and our beautiful island. I hope I will see you at our Food for Thought webinars – another great conversation coming up on transport.

Margaret Steadman
President

The 2023 TASMANIAN YOUTH CLIMATE LEADERS PROGRAM has been launched with conferences in Hobart, Launceston and Burnie attracting over 300 students.

Students and the Implementation Team are now working towards student-led projects, with support from expert mentors from a range of backgrounds, before reconvening in September. 

The Tasmanian Youth Climate Leadership Program is a collaboration within the Education for Sustainability Tasmania network by the University of Tasmania and Sustainable Living Tasmania, and is supported by the Tasmanian Government through Renewables, Climate and Future Industries Tasmania.

Special thanks to Brad Mashman, Managing Director of Recover (Tas) Pty Ltd, for his insight into the future of plastics in Tasmania during our June on-line session. 

Thank you also to all the members who tuned in.

And what a worthy winner 'Kitty' is!

Congratulations to Erin from Brighton Public School, who took out the People's Choice Award at the Waste 2 Art Schools Competition and Exhibition as part of the Big Weekend of Sustainable Living Ideas.

The competition attracted entries from students throughout Hobart, all creating amazing 3 dimensional sculptures from waste.  These creative entries redefined and challenged the way we look at waste.

Next time you are in Brighton - look for this sign (image above) out the front of Brighton Primary School thanks to the generosity of our corporate partner, Flying Colours Group.

Each month we will feature a profile about one of our hard-working board members to give you all a chance to get to know the diversity, passions, interests and backgrounds of our board members, and to gain an insight into what drives a person to put up their hand and volunteer to be a part of our vital team. Who knows - you might like to join them!

It is our pleasure to introduce SLT Board Member ...

Oren’s interest is in strengthening community and individuals through sharing the practice of art and music. He has over 20 years of experience in the arts, entertainment, media and museums sector as a technical specialist, project manager and entrepreneur, working as a freelancer, in partnerships and in all levels of government. As a passionate sound designer and engineer, Oren’s ambitions in an increasingly noisy world is to use technology sustainably, so it can help connect people while minimising the impact of its pollution on the environment.

Growing up in Israel and experiencing the tragic outcomes of senseless violent conflict, Oren is committed to bridging cultural and ideological gaps through promoting respectful dialogue, collaboration, compassion and compromise.

After living in Melbourne for 12 years, Oren moved to lutruwita (Tasmania) in 2020. He is now proudly growing vegetables in the garden and enjoys hiking and rock climbing while learning about the unique challenges and opportunities of living near the pristine wilderness of lutruwita.

And why is he a member of the SLT board?

'I’ve been a volunteer on the board of SLT for almost year now, and had the chance to work with wonderful people who care about this place, and the community.

I hope that members see the value in the work we do and that we all treat each other with kindness when facing the local and global environmental challenges impacting our lives, the wildlife, and the prospects of future life'.

SLT invites you to be a part of the virtual audience for the July Food for Thought E-Forum.

Listen as Professor Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtain University, Rachel Hay, Projects Officer, Australia ReMADE and Anton Vikstrom, Director, Good Car Co, lead a discussion on Transport for sustainable Living in Tasmania.