It’s been a busy week already and it’s only Tuesday. One of the challenges that we face is that it is really easy to come across like you believe that you’re the only one doing anything to change the way we live. This is not only arrogant but it’s simply not true, there are loads of people doing loads of cool stuff. Unfortunately there’s no lobby group, there’s no singl
e vision or approach so it’s really easy to be dismissed as an isolate or ‘extremist’. Anyway I’m pretty excited that we are now part of the Sustainable Blogs Linky Lists. This lists all sorts of blogs dealing with
- Suburban and Urban Homesteading;
- A Country Plot: Out of Town Homesteaders/Self-Sufficiency;
- Parents Living Sustainably;
- Frugal & Low Consumption Living;
- Crafty Hand Made;
- Real/SOLE Food;
- It’s All About The Garden;
- General Slow, Sustainable or Simple Living
I believe the button at the top of this post should take you there but in case my tech skills have again let me down check them out at http://sustainablesuburbia.net/sustainable-living-blogs/.
As well as linking in cyberspace we’ve also been linking locally with our second street barbecue.The weather didn’t exactly do us any favours but the lightning and thunder kept things interesting and the rain (for the most part) held off. On my very random count I think we had about 50 people attend, with four tables full of food to share and two barbecues in full flight. Nikki hired a badgemaker from the local community house so names were not an issue and everyone was welcomed and engaged right from the outset.
The way that we organise these is simply to get a pack from our local council which involves some ideas and guidance on things like OH&S and insurance. I know that there are differences in what councils will do but ours provided road closures and insurance at no cost, all we needed to do was get the agreement of the residents to close the street. We ask everyone to bring their own stuff, a table and chairs if they have one and something to share. This is a great way of ensuring that everyone owns the event and also means that people think about what else they need to bring. So one family brought the
cricket set, another brought stickers and temporary tattoos for the kids, the elder stateswoman of our street (a very sprightly 92) provided lolly bags (in serviettes) and our next door neighbour provided a stereo, barbecue and an umbrella.
It was a fantastic day and the kids loved having the street all to themselves to ride their bikes and play with balls. There where lots of great discussions including some ideas to have local plant share, to have a communal bread baking session and also to look to ‘permablitz’ a number of our nature strips.
The next step is to continue the energy and think about what we can grown, share and build as a community rather than a connection of individuals. But I’m sure we can get better at this so let us know, how do you connect with your neighbours or what do you think might work to bring people together out of their boxes.
A Life of Treading Lightly 