The Sustainability Living Festival was awesome! I was very happy to be part of this great event where I was able to talk to a wide audience about the benefits of having hobbies and making crafts with recycled materials. It was a good turnout and many interesting things to see and learn.
Another huge highlight of the festival was hearing Michael Reynolds talk!!! He is the American architect who has developed a way to build houses (called earthships) with mainly recycled materials (tires, beer cans and glass bottles) that are completely sustainable!
Earthships can be built in any part of the world, in any climate and provide solar power, catch water, a contained sewage treatment and sustainable food production. He shared with us many of the projects that his team and him are currently involved in. I was specially moved by his work in developing countries like Haiti and Sierra Leone. I sincerely believe that his vision is completely futuristic! This man has come up with a solution that can improve the lives of many people in the future, where they can survive in adverse temperatures. These houses maintain a constant temperature even in extreme hot or cold weather. It can also solve many problems related to water shortage and it’s a solution for the ever increasing price of electricity! It is also a great way to recycle materials that we humans consume by the tons (Plastic Bottles, beer cans, tires)and  that otherwise would be wasted in landfills. I was really inspired by his views on sustainable housing for everybody…. and that prompt me to set myself a life goal: I will have my Earthship one day, and I know I will Love building it! Maybe it will look something like this one just closer to the ocean!
This Saturday 25th   I attended the Transition To Sharing Festival, to celebrate community connectedness, collaborative consumption & sharing culture! There was a summer harvest food swap – kids activities – cultural exchange – book swap & storytelling – worm farm & composting workshops – eco crafts – croquet, yoga & games in the garden. This wonderful  FREE event was hosted by The Sharehood & Transition Port Phillip.  I enjoyed the most delicious vegetarian lunch, and met some extremely cool people as always when I am at the Port Phillip EcoCentre.  If you haven’t been down there do visit and sign up to their newsletter. The volunteers there are amazing and their calendar is always filled with great workshops and activities!
I am so blessed and thankful to be surrounded with such a Nurturing  environment!