[Pil-pc-oceania] Sustainable Manly: a busy weekend

[Russ Grayson]

SUSTAINABILITY BY THE SEA - Manly becomes a focus

Trade Winds teas and coffees, Oxfam, Action Against Poverty, Ethical
Accessories, Global Conduct, Manly Food Coop... fair trade came alive in the
Manly ferry wharf plaza last Saturday...

It is afternoon and the Fair Trade Fair organised by Manly Council has been
underway for some hours. Fair trade, reportedly, is a keen interest of
independent Mayor, Peter McDonald, a medical doctor who spent a couple years
working in a developing country. And busy it is as we walk through the
labyrinth of stalls, all well located to catch people entering and emerging
from the ferry wharf.

Crewing the Trade Winds stall at the head of the line is a face famliar to
many in Permaculture -  that of Jill Finnane. She and husband Michael, who
is here selling teas and coffees too, have long been associated with the
fair trade brand which sells teas from Sri Lanka and coffees from the PNG
highlands. For a permaculturist, being out here promoting a sustainable
economic initiative is more than appropriate, it is proactive and makes the
productive links between initiatives that the design system is supposed to
foster. 

What the Fair Trade Fair indicates is how the sector has grown over the
years since Trade Winds was one of only a few fair traded brands in the
country. It had certainly come of age... there are so many teas and coffees
here that a caffeine connoiseur, starting at one end, would have a year's
supply, maybe more, by the time they had bought a bag from each stall and
reached the other end.

Manly Food Coop, which operates a minimal packaging waste bulk foods store
on Whistler Street, has a range of goods on sale, drawn from its fair trade
inventory. Other stalls sell clothing, handicrafts or sell coffee
ready-to-drink.

At 4.30pm, the fun starts as dark grey clouds gather and a storm sweeps
over, dumping its heavy load on the plaza and giving the streets of Manly a
good rinse. We rush around, packing up damp Trade Winds brochures and moving
the merchandise to shelter. An eventful ending to a productive day promoting
the message that global trade can be made both fair and sustainable.

Thanks, Manly Council, for the Fair Trade Fair - it's an unusual but
appropraite initiative for local government to support.

.................................

Sunday, and at the other end of The Corso, on the ocean beach forefront,
Ocean Care Day is in swing.

The food coop's here, too, just as it was at the Fair Trade Fair, and
helping them out is local waste educator, Kelah Lam - who is happy that
yesterday afternoon's rain topped up her roofwater tank - and
Permaculturist, Rob Allsop. Rob, a local resident, is an illustrator who
produced the drawings for Rosemary Morrow's recently released new edition of
'Earth Users' Guide to Permaculture' and who is a photographer.

A hundred metres along the forshore walk, Beau Young, son of noted surfer
Nat, is part-way through his set of easy-going numbers, to be followed by
local band, The Ramblers, with their eclectic repertoire.

There's all types of environmental groups, Manly Council's sizeable
environmental education team, an organisation promoting their electric car,
Toyota with its petrol/electric hybrid vehicle on display, solar
photovoltaic technology from UNSW, solar hot water devices, the Coastal
Environment Centre from Narrabeen, further along the Northern Beaches, kid's
activities, art exhibitions and the environmental education crew from nearby
Warringah Council.

Just next to the food coop, though, is something new and interesting. It's a
caravan, painted brightly with what looks like idyllic scenes of... a food
forest. Here, wrapped around the sides of the van, ducks paddle, somebody
turns compost and fruit trees and vegetables flourish.

People come and go to look at the display inside. Emerging, they talk to the
crew at the table - Barbara Shields, a Permaculturist involved in starting a
community food garden in the area, Permaculture educator Penny Pyatt and
others. At the back of this mural-covered caravan is a sign which tells all:
'You are following the future - Permaculture'. What we have here is
Permaculture North's new promotional vehicle.

It looks like the caravan will be a successful venture for Permaculture
North, but moving the thing is the challenge. Young Kristen, his long blonde
ponytail bobbing back and forth in the cabin of the 4WD, follows my errant
hand signals as he attempts to reverse the tow bar below the coupling of the
caravan. One try, two.... three... and this time he's got it. Off he drives,
with that sign on the back to let the drivers of following vehicles know in
which direction they are headed.

It was a weekend of sustainability activities in Manly, a weekend that
reinforced positive relationships between community-based groups and local
government to show that, when both head in more or less the same direction,
all sorts of synergies become possible.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
RUSS GRAYSON
journalism, online content production, photojournalism, instructional
manuals, media services for overseas aid

PO Box 1045, Manly, NSW 1655 AUSTRALIA
info at pacific-edge.info
P: 0414 065 203
www.pacific-edge.info

TerraCircle international development team, Oceania
www.terracircle.org.au

Australian City Farms & Community Gardens Network
www.communitygarden.org.au
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