Growing eco movement

The Lismore Community Garden volunteers believe growing your own food and reducing transport costs associated with food distribution is one of the biggest single things every individual can do to ward off man-made climate change.

As part of the 10/10/10 Global Day of Action against Climate Change, the Lismore Community Garden is hosting a Global Day of Eco Action this Sunday, October 10, to teach people how they can help reverse human-induced climate change.

“Chemical food production and food miles contribute a huge amount of carbon and chemical pollution to the atmosphere and soils,” Lismore Community Garden volunteer Wayne Wadsworth said. “By producing food locally we can reduce food miles and grow food in healthy, organic, chemical-free soil. We are what we eat, so by making food waste and plant waste into compost and adding minerals, we can grow healthy mineral-rich food which has great health benefits for the local population.”

The Lismore Community Garden was established by Rainbow Region Community Farms, the Northern Rivers Social Development Council and Lismore City Council. Now, thanks to local volunteers who plant and weed, mulch and water, the community garden on Brewster Street is flourishing and there’s plenty of room for further growth.

“The Lismore Community Garden is a living and working example for the sustainable use of water, energy, land and food, based on localisation principles, making the site into a place of wellbeing for everyone in the community,” Wayne said. “We have plans in place for the garden to collect its own rainwater, produce surplus solar, wind and biomass energy and grow healthy organic food. Making the site carbon negative is part of the vision.”

The Global Day of Eco Action will feature information, demonstrations and preparation of no-dig garden beds using biochar.

“Biochar turns woody plant ‘waste’, which often goes to the tip or is burned on farms, into stable carbon,” Wayne explained. “By turning waste into biochar and using the charcoal in gardens, the carbon is locked up in the soil as a conditioner and a corresponding amount of carbon is removed from the atmosphere. A win-win for humans and Mother Nature.”

The Lismore Community Garden is located on the corner of Brewster and Magellan Streets, Lismore, and the Global Day of Eco Action will start (fittingly) at 10.10am.

For more information on the event, phone Peter Luckett on 6624 5213 or email contact@rrfc.org.au.