Eat less meat. From the point of view of our body’s health, meat should be a supplement to, not the basis of, our diet.
Eating less gives you the opportunity to seek out organic or specialist butchers with more interesting meat. That has the added benefit of promoting better meat production.
Use meat better. What about the bones? Collect them, throw them in a pot, cov-er with cold water and simmer for two hours. You have produced a fantastic base for all types of soups.
Eat different meat. Check the range of offal and unusual cuts at your local butcher. Check out butchers who specialise in Australian and game meats — kangaroo, rabbit, hare, duck and venison. Try kosher and halal butchers. You can find camel, goat and donkey as well as your Aussie standards. Vegan hamburgers, synthetically grown in laboratory conditions, are now available.
Your Life Your Planet will be available in bookshops within weeks. It emphasises the importance of walking, not only for your physical and mental health, nor just the reduction in carbon emissions that occurs by leaving the car at home, but also for the opportunities is provides you to change the world by discovering any, or all, of these local treasures.
An established garden on the nature strip
Edible weeds
Foraging for wild plants is fun, nutritious and surprisingly productive. There are plenty of online groups to help you identify the best plants and recipes to make the most of them.
Established locals
That little old lady who struggles to put the bins out every week? Give her a hand and pick her brains about the history of your street and the secret places that only she knows about.
Keen gardeners
The best gardens are usually kept by people who love plants and love sharing their knowledge and the abundance that comes from it. A short chat might lead to armfuls of cuttings, compost and fruit.
Nature on the strip
Someone has navigated the byzantine council rules and grumpy neighbours to create a vibrant, abundant garden on the street. Pick their brains, and spare plants, but dial before you dig.
Landcare projects
Look out for intense plantings by creeks, railways and freeway verges. Find the sign for contacting the community group that does the work. Meet your neighbours and beautify your neighbourhood.
Community composts
… or gardens, orchards, kitchens … Spot the activity on public land that is run by local volunteers. A good way for apartment dwellers to get your nature fix, to grow big plants or just to work together.
Guerrilla gardens
Some public activity is unofficial, it just appears in the middle of the night and, if its well done, gets left alone by council. Planting in roundabouts, freeway verges and vacant lots is fun and productive.
Miyawaki forest
A special form of public garden, named for its Japanese pioneer and passionately adopted in northern Europe, these mini-forests are very dense, productive and highly pleasurable.
Unpicked fruit
An ageing resident, indoor tenants or an owner who does not recognise a plant might leave fruit on the vine (or branch). Knock on the door, pick and preserve, then take some back. What a bonus.
Knowledgeable elders
Local First Nation folk sitting in the park? Don’t look the other way. introduce yourself as local and ask if they are prepared to share their knowledge. Be prepared for some teasing. It’s only fair.
Don’t forget. If you want a personalised message in your autographed copy of Your Life Your Planet click Buy YLYP Now, right now.
Use Christmas or your birthday to encourage people to gift a cause instead of you. “Hey instead of buying me another decoration to put on top of my window pelmet box, make a donation to PayTheRent.”
From little things, big things grow: Vincent Lingiari accepts a handful of the Centre’s iconic red sand from Prime Minister Gough Whitlam
In Australia, First Nation people die eight years younger, are 12 times more likely to go to prison and earn two thirds of the average Australian. This systemic racism against them is not only inhumane, it denies a thousand centuries of accumulated knowledge about living sustainably on this continent.
Pay it forward. ANTaR, PayTheRent, Reconciliation Australia and IAHA are all organisations that welcome your financial support.
Reality check
Check out the causes you want to support. Some charities do not get the money to those in need and some forms of aid result in unexpected outcomes. Voluntourism, for example, can increase costs for locals.
Chain saws, hedge trimmers, lawn mowers and vacuum cleaners consume energy, make noise but do the job. Use them sparingly, preferring manual tools instead. When you really need them, get them from a tool library.
As discussed on the Generator many times since 2006
Appliances to make our morning coffee or warm our feet before bed proliferate. We fork out another hundred hard-earned dollars so the latest gizmo can save us one and a half minutes of unnecessary effort, which we spend on our derrieres complaining that we don’t get enough exercise.
Leaf blowers cross the line. Pick up a broom and move those lawn clippings along. Get real, good planetary citizens. Let the Zen calm of sweeping transport you into the zone enjoyed only by the universe’s best sweeper, you.
Identify a plant that is doing well in your garden that you are happy to see more of. Pick a corner of your nature strip that is not driven or walked over regularly and get the shovel. The dirt might be hard, so dig deep and add a lot of organic matter into the hole before you plant. Dig up one of the plants from your garden and move it to your new spot.
The point of using an existing plant like that is you know it will actually grow and it costs you nothing in case someone protests, rips it out or calls the style police to discuss your taste in tubers.
If you want to plant trees, dial before you dig so you know you are not planting on a gas pipeline.
Check out where the powerlines are and the height of your planned street tree.
Find a food tree that does well in your area and does not need a lot of care. Source a seedling and plant it.
Look up Miyawaki forestand plant a mini forest outside your front fence.
Reality check
Check that the food plant you are about to install is not a noxious weed or the sworn enemy of your local Landcare group. Coffee and Brazilian cherry are great street trees that provide food but spread quickly and are often unwelcome.
Council may want you to register what you are planting.
Talk to the neighbours. Councils generally respond to complaints. Avoid grumpy neighbours and stay under the radar. …
