More than 50 residents gathered at the Hydro Majestic last night to toast the launch of the Blue Mountains Environmental Sustainability Network.
The network is designed to help share information and tips about projects, plans, initiatives, success stories – anything that people in the Mountains are doing to live more sustainably.
One of the prime movers behind the network, Shirley Lewis, aka the Baglady, said the network was about connecting like-minded individuals and groups.
“As Baglady, I’ve been working for a year or two on a claim that we in the Blue Mountains are leaders in living ASAP – as sustainably as possible.
“There are many examples of this for example the ever-expanding Food Co-op, renewable energy, permaculture, community gardens, land-bush-swampcare, food rescue and sharing.”
Speakers at the evening included Cr Don McGregor, who outlined council work on restoring of wildlife habitat and its efforts improving water quality at Glenbrook Lagoon and Jamison Creek in Wentworth Falls.
He also spoke of council’s partnership with three schools on environmental matters, and said council was attempting to reduce its emissions by upgrading the lighting in both Katoomba and Springwood aquatic centres.
Marina Brown, who created the Rubbish Room at Winter Magic and other festivals, Susanne Rix, who has organised the first Edible Gardens Festival in the Mountains (on March 3 and 4). Kindlehill school, Boomerang Bags, the Get Up Macquarie Action Group and others also elaborated on the dozens of projects in the Mountains.
There were also representatives from the Lithgow Environmental Group and others from the Hawkesbury.
MPs Susan Templeman and Trish Doyle spoke of their personal commitments to living sustainably. Ms Templeman, whose house was destroyed in the 2013 bushfires, said building a new house had allowed her to incorporate passive solar design principles which distribute solar energy heat in the winter and reject it in the summer.
BMESN has set up a partnership with The Big Fix, a quarterly newsletter and online resource which publishes positive, solutions focused stories from around the world.
