Local Environment Heroes

Have you got a favourite sweater that's starting to get holes? Perhaps you’re trying to save money on clothes and keep garments out of landfill? In this episode, Visual artist Dr. Hanna Hoyne will show you some valuable tips and tricks for mending your clothes in a colourful and beautiful way! Visible mending consists of renewing imperfections using multiple hands-on techniques and revitalising your favourite clothes so you can keep them in your closet.

Join Cid Riley from Global Worming Canberra and learn how to establish a worm farm, how to improve your worm farming skills and how to use the product at the end, hopefully inspiring you to spend more time with your worms and more time in your garden!Note: This podcast was recorded on-site; some background noises can be heard during the episode. If you would like a second resource, please click here for our YouTube video with Cid. You can find more of Cid’s expert tips on his Instagram or on our YouTube video.

Fiona Buining and Michael Wilson have a background in permaculture and have over 30 years of experience growing their own vegetables and fruit. Their quarter-acre block has over 50 fruit trees, vegetables, chickens, bees and working rabbits. Join Fiona from Ainslie Urban Farm and learn how to grow your own food! In this episode, Fiona covers starting plants from seed, what to grow and when, establishing a bed, growing in raised beds or pots, fertility, watering and crop protection. You can find more of Fiona’s expert tips on her website, on Instagram or on our YouTube video.

Join Paris from Canberra By Bike for a conversation on active travel in Canberra! In this episode, we chat with Paris about the benefits of choosing a bike over your car, acoustic and electric bike types and active travel groups in Canberra that you can join today.You can find more of Paris on his website, on Instagram or on our YouTube video. 

Join Lish Fejer from Green It Yourself (GIY) and learn how to be in control of your household energy! In this podcast, we chat with Lish about some simple but effective energy-efficient changes that you can utilise in your own home, which will make you more comfortable, save you money, and allow you to be in control of the energy you use in your house.You can find more of Lish's expert tips on her website, on her Instagram or on our YouTube video.

Join Julie, the founder of ACT for Bees & Other Pollinators, for a buzzing episode where we learn about our native bees. This video will focus on the importance of our native bees and pollinators and guide you on what to plant to attract them and provide the perfect habitat. You can find more ACT for Bees & Other Pollinators expert tips on their website, Instagram, or our YouTube video.Check out their Canberra planting calendar here.

Fiona and Julie are back with Season 3 of Local Environmental Heroes. This series is all about food. In this opening episode, Fiona and Julie discuss all of the amazing guests they have interviewed for this series

Lucy is a Canberra based food writer and qualified chef with a passion for food sovereignty and sustainability. SHe is currently finishing her first book which documents her year of internships all over Australia in the food industry.Julie and Fiona have a fascinating chat with Lucy about food sovereignty and learn about how eating seasonally is connected with knowing the growers and improving people’s cooking skills.

Philippa is the Garden Specialist with the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program at Majura Primary School. She is a trained horticulturist and supports students to grow, eat and enjoy fresh food.Fiona and Julie recorded this episode on site and were lucky enough to be taken on a tour of the garden and meet the chickens! This conversation was an amazing opportunity to hear (and see) firsthand how the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program supports young people to grow, value and enjoy fresh food (and to create their own compost). 

Andy De Groot is a chef and the founder of Queer Food, a sustainable catering company and food retailer run by Trans* and Queer* People. Andy has an incredibly strong belief in the power of community inclusion and he works to celebrate and honour queer histories and stories through food. Andy chats to Fiona and Julie about the power of using food to tell stories and foster community connection. He generously shares his insights on how he balances a commitment to sustainability with a need to regenerate himself. “I think that even if people reach out to one local producer and change one thing that they're buying with, it's like getting bulk milk from somewhere or going and getting your fresh produce box from a local supplier. This can add up to make a big difference in the long run.” 

Amy Blaine is a co-founder and volunteer for the Ainslie Community Pantry. She’s passionate about meeting the needs of the local community through building social networks that share and distribute food, seeing food as an integral part of our social fabric.In this episode, Fiona and Julie are blown away by Amy’s endless enthusiasm for the work she does. Listen to Amy talk about increased demand for the services of the street pantries and the incredible volunteers who are working with her to deliver a service that really shows how to build a community and care for each other. 

Aaron is the owner operator of Dreamtime Connections a business he has built to share Indigenous Culture and native foods with the community especially schools. Aaron’s vision is for every school to have a bush tucker garden. Fiona and Julie chat to Aaron about the role of native plants within the local foodscape, and here all about his incredible education initiative in local school connecting students with native foods.

Josie’s primary role is co-CEO & co-founder of Food2Soil, an innovative circular economy business that makes biologically alive fertiliser from fermented commercial food and coffee waste, transforming waste destined for landfill into soil gold. Fiona chats to Josie about her journey as a dietician, her passion to reduce waste and how her life experiences have contributed to the formation of her business. They also talk soil health -how crucial nourishing soil is to producing healthy plants, and healthy people. 

Julie and Fiona managed to sneak in a quick visit to Sam’s farm for this recording. This meant they met the magical fig tree which you will hear Sam speak about so fondly in this episode. 

Be inspired by listening to Naomi talk about how community gardens future proof our food systems and why more support for urban localised systems is so critical.

After a career in film, theatre, television and radio, Gabby Millgate has put all those communication skills to work in Early Childhood Education. She is now the Nature Pedagogy lead educator at Woden Valley Early Learning Centre, the first role of its kind in the ACT. Julie and Fiona chat to Gabby about the role of nature (and chickens!) within’ learning environments, and hear from Gabby about why our children’s environments should be more than plastic entertainment and containment complexes. (Series Final)

Zoe and Fred are young farmers at Majura Valley Farm. With the support of their families, they practise regenerative farming techniques with impressive yields. Fred and Zoe are local food advocates, both with farming and art backgrounds, together they create, grow and nurture sustainable farming practices in Canberra and beyond.Fiona chats with Fred and Zoe about what regenerative farming actually is, and how we can support local farmers. She hears all about what’s growing a stone's throw from Canberra’s city centre.

A wiradyuri woman, Kate grew up in the creek behind the family home and still spends lots of time in streams, even if many of them are now storm water channels. She completed her PhD in Indigenous water sciences (decolonising streams: a confluence of Indigenous and western sciences) at the Fenner School of Environment & Sustainability. This research required extensive time in the local storm water system, trialling Indigenous science-based infrastructure. She is now incorporating Indigenous water knowledge and practices in her work- boldly decolonizing water management approaches, particularly in terms of streams.Fiona and Julie ask Kate about modern day (dis)connection with where our water comes from and goes to- and what that means for our natural environment. A fascinating Indigenous perspective on Canberra’s waterways.

Kate Flood AKA @Compostablekate is a compost coach based in NSW. Through social media and a new book, Kate shows people how to compost effectively in the comfort of their own home. Julie and Fiona talk dirty with Kate, chatting about why composting is such excellent climate action.

Dr Katherine Trebeck is a political economist, writer and advocate for economic system change. Katherine has Bachelor Degrees in Economics and in Politics (University of Melbourne) and holds a PhD in Political Science from the Australian National University.Julie chats to Katherine in this episode asking about what a wellbeing economy is and why it matters.

Scotty Foster is a solar powered, radio broadcasting, organic growing, co-operative creating, earth and people-protecting worker from Canberra, Australia. Scotty is powering CoCanberra, creating a co-operative commonwealth, through community groups, and on Community Radio- 2XXFM98.3 with the ‘Behind the Lines’ show.Julie and Fiona chat to Scotty about co-operatives, permaculture and society. Scotty reflects on the importance of getting organised and cultivating imagination as keys to finding some of the solutions for a better, fairer future.

Elle Lawless is the Executive Director of the Conservation Council, Elle has environmental and climate advocacy experience at both the local and national level. A diversity of experience including growing up in regional NSW has formed a deep passion for ecological justice which has seen Elle campaign on the frontlines and with not for profit organisations. Fiona and Julie chat to Elle about her experiences campaigning for the environment, her environment heroes and find out what her favourite animal is!

Ryan Mcgee is a Primary School Sustainability Teacher- inspiring her community to observe and respond to nature by living more sustainably.Fiona and Julie chat to Ryan about her experience communicating practical sustainability behaviours throughout a school community and beyond. Ryan reflects on the role of gratitude and active hope in creating change in a challenging world.

Dr Bjorn Sturmberg is a Research Leader in the Battery Storage and Grid Integration Program, as well as the author of kids book Amy’s Balancing Act. Fiona and Julie ask Bjorn about renewable energy and find out about some of the challenges and possibilities for a sustainable future.

Weedy AKA David Trood is a prize-winning travel and commercial photographer who pushes the boundaries of visual  storytelling. His passionate narrative of people and nature, shines through in his YouTube channel -The Weedy Garden. Julie and Fiona chat with David about his experience setting up an incredible permaculture inspired edible garden, and his movie documenting the process Down the Carrot Hole.

Diego Bonneto- “The Weedy One” grew up on a dairy farm in northern Italy when it was still common practice to collect the wild produce of the land. Now living in Australia, Diego is passionate about telling the story of plants and runs regular walks and workshops on plant identification, role modelling what  valuing the commonly marginalised looks like in action. His recent book Eat Weeds, a Field Guide to Foraging is an excellent resource for those interested in learning more. Julie and Fiona chat with Diego about his experiences foraging, his book and ask him what is his favourite weed?

Canberra Environment Centre (CEC) welcomes you to a whole new season of the Local Environment Heroes Podcast with Julie Boulton and new host for Season 2 Fiona Veikkanen. With guest Dr Holly Trueman- insect scientist and Executive Director of CEC.

Julie and Ryan reflect on what they have learnt from the incredible people they have interviewed in season 1 of the podcast and discuss some exciting developments for season 2.

Dan Fitzpatrick owns and operates Megaflora,  a boutique construction company based in Canberra.  He focuses  on the importance in the relationship between materials, the built form and our environment.  Dan takes sustainability seriously and chats to Julie and Ryan about how  best to design and build a sustainable home and why Australian singer John Williamson is an environmental hero.

Corey Tutt is a proud Kamilaroi man and the founder of Deadly Science, an organisation bringing science and technology to remote schools around Australia.  Corey works to inspire Indigenous children to believe in themselves and understand their environment for the benefit of Australia and all its people.  Corey sat down with Julie and Ryan to talk about his time spent working as a zookeeper and alpaca shearer, what inspired him to start Deadly Science and why we shouldn’t be in such a rush to fill the sky with satellites.  

Kelli Donovan is a Canberra based sustainable fashion designer and the founder and CEO of Pure Pod.  She designs ethical clothes and has a vision for a fashion industry that puts planet and people before profits.  Kelli has done her time in mainstream fashion and has seen firsthand the devastating effects that fast fashion has on both the environment and the people making the clothes.  Kelli sat down with Julie and Ryan to explain the ins and outs of ethical fashion, the difference between a fashion victim and a slow fashion enthusiast and her fashion centred environmental heroes.  

Sarah Reid is the ACT representative of the Australian Conservation Foundation Council and the newly elected President of the Conservation Council ACT.  Sarah is passionate about working with the local community to achieve the climate goals that will provide a better future for out children.  Sarah sat down with Julie and Ryan to chat about climate conversations and the importance of community environment groups.

Hannah Moloney is a landscape designer, permaculture educator and bestselling author.  Her enterprise ‘Good Life Permaculture’ and her recent book ‘The Good Life’ focus on education for a better world and radical hope in the face of a climate emergency. Hannah chatted online with Julie and Ryan about the intersection of gardening and activism, permaculture as a way of life and the joy of goats. 

Olympia Yarger is the Founder and CEO of Goterra, an insect farm based in Canberra.  Olympia started Goterra with a focus on insects as a sustainable livestock feed and soon realised that the amount of food waste required to keep the insects provided an opportunity for the business to transition into waste management.  Olympia chatted online with Julie and Ryan during the Canberra lockdown (audio quality warning!) and talked to them about maggot farming, the problems with food waste, her environmental heroes and what insects actually taste like. 

Siwan Lovett is the Director of the not-for-profit Australian River Restoration Centre, an organisation she established after undertaking a Winston Churchill Trust Fellowship in 2008. Siwan’s work focuses on research and science communication and developing future leaders. She has a PhD from the Australian National University in public policy, majoring in sociology and administration and is the founder of finterest, a website dedicated to telling stories about Australian freshwater fish. She sat down with Julie and Ryan to talk about radical hope, why more meetings should happen in kayaks and why we need to elevate feminine leadership traits in river management.

Rebecca Vassarotti is a member of parliament in the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly representing the ACT Greens.  In 2020 she was appointed as the Minister for Environment and Heritage, Minister for Homelessness and Housing Services, and Minister for Sustainable Building and Construction.

Charles Massy gained a Bachelor of Science at ANU in 1976 before going farming for 35 years, developing the prominent Merino sheep stud ‘Severn Park’.  Concern at ongoing land degradation and humanity’s sustainability challenge led him to return to ANU in 2009 to undertake a PhD in Human Ecology.   Charles has authored several books on the Australian sheep industry including ‘Breaking the Sheep’s Back’.  His most recent book ‘Call of the Reed Warbler’ tells the story of a new and regenerative approach to agriculture and won the Scholarly Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the 2019 Educational Publishing Awards. 

Julie and Ryan catch up for a virtual Sunday afternoon hang out and chat about what they have learnt from the Environmental Heroes so far.

Karissa Preuss is the CEO of ACT Landcare, the peak body for Landcare groups in the ACT.  Karissa works with landholders wanting to manage their farm sustainably, community groups monitoring conservation efforts and stewardship groups improving ACT Government land.  She sees her role as supporting volunteers to care for country and is a firm believer that if we look after country it will look after us.

Mia Swainson is passionate about leadership and waste reduction.  She has worked in government, politics, international development and the non-profit sector and now runs her own boutique management consulting company. Mia is current Chair of the Canberra Environment Centre and of Zero Waste Revolution and her personal challenge to reduce the household waste of her family of five to almost nothing is proof that living a cleaner, greener and simpler life is within everyone’s reach.  Mia sat down with Julie and Ryan to talk zero waste, passionate leadership and how all of the world’s problems could be solved by inner peace.

Fiona Buining runs Ainslie Urban Farm where she grows microgreens in green houses in her backyard for local restaurants and cafes. Fiona’s property has over 50 fruit trees, nuts, berries, vegetables, two beehives, chickens and working rabbits. Working with teenagers as a teacher she has seen first-hand the physical and mental health benefits of learning to grow food. As a grower she has observed an unmet demand for locally grown fresh food. Fionais passionate about growing and is inspired to create pathways for future food growers in urban areas. Fiona was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2020 to investigate urban farm ventures that provide vocational pathways for aspiring food growers. Fiona believes that growing good food is one of the most positive actions people can do for their own health and to heal the planet.

Brook Clinton is the founder and operator of Capital Scraps Composting, a not-for-profit social enterprise motivated by the direct climate benefit and wider social benefits of composting at the community scale.  Brook has a PhD in biodegradation and most mornings she can be found riding around the suburbs of Canberra collecting household food scraps before stepping into her day job as the Executive Director of the community organisation SEE-Change.

Chris Dennis is the man behind Two Before Ten cafes.  From humble beginnings in Aranda Shops to a network of cafes across the city, Chris has made an effort to make business decisions that are in line with the UN Sustainable Development goals.  This has led to the purchasing of an industrial composting machine to deal with organic waste, a truly seasonal menu and a quarter acre urban farm providing fresh produce directly to the kitchen.  

Edwina Robinson is the founder of The Climate Factory, a social enterprise that is empowering people to plant the planet.  In 2020-21 Edwina created Canberra’s first urban community micro-forest which has transformed a dusty, weedy park in Downer into a dense pocket of native vegetation.  There are now community funded micro-forests popping up all over Canberra and Edwina’s mission is to build a micro-forest in every urban hotspot in Australia.   Julie and Ryan sat down with Edwina to chat about her mission to cool the suburbs, the importance of working with community and why she will never live in a tiny house again!

Julie and Ryan chat with Dr Kate Ringvall about how circularity can assist in removing the word 'waste' from our vocabularies.  Dr Kate has been a leader in the sustainability field for more than 25 years.  From her first job as a graduate in a recycling processing plant in Fremantle to becoming the Sustainability Lead for IKEA Australia, Kate has worked for all levels of government, large corporations and universities to implement and integrate sustainability principles and practices.  She holds a Master in Public Policy and a PhD in Planning and has most recently founded her own consultancy focusing exclusively on the circular economy.  Dr Kate describes herself as a ‘solutionary’ who is driven to cultivate her multiple ‘creative, strategic, and systems thinking skills in order to address the underlying causes of entrenched and interconnected problems’.   

Professor Mark Howden is Director of the Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions at the Australian National University.  He is also Vice Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and a member of the ACT Climate Change Council.  He has been a major contributor to the IPCC since 1991 and shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with other IPCC participants and Al Gore.  Alongside this Mark is a keen gardener and jam maker who forages for wild plums and rides his bicycle to work.  He sat down with Julie and Ryan at the Canberra Environment Centre to talk about his work, his heroes and the simple things we can do at home to lower our emissions while maintaining a positive outlook on life.

Dr. Robert Costanza is a professor of ecological economics and Vice Chancellor's Chair in Public Policy at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University.  Dr. Costanza's work focusses on breaking our societal addiction to growth, replacing GDP with a measure of wellbeing and integrating natural and social capital in our economic decision making.He is co founder and past president of the International Society for Ecological Economics, and founding editor of the society's journal, 'Ecological Economic'.  He currently serves on the editorial board of ten other international academic journals.  He is also founding editor-in-chief of 'Solutions' a unique hybrid academic/popular journal and editor in chief of 'The Anthropocene Review', and an ambassador of the 'Wellbeing Economy Alliance'.

Centre Director Ryan Lungu and sustainability professional Julie Boulton have both some microphones and are on a mission to interview their local environmental heroes.   Get to know your hosts in episode 1 and watch this space for future interviews with Canberrans who are getting things done in the filed of sustainability.