Dumaresq Creek Working Bee

by editor | 10 Jan 2018 | AURG, Event

Our next working bee will be a short morning one on Sunday 14 January to continue with our preparation for planting in February. Details for working bee are as follows: Time: 8.30am Date: Sunday 14th January, 2018 Location:...

Climate Council — Cities Power Partnership

by editor | 10 Jan 2018 | Energy

Here in Australia and all over the world, it’s local governments and communities that are leading the switch to clean energy. Our communities are full of local heroes who are busy getting on with the job. Town by town, city by city, these Australians are tackling...

December Party: Come celebrate 10 years of SLA @ Armidale Community Garden

by editor | 6 Dec 2017 | Event, Garden, Monthly Forum

It’s been 10 years since the conception of SLA — Come celebrate the milestone. Bring everything except a chair (we will supply). Everything being food, drink and nostalgic SLA cuttings and photos (preferably in a sleeved folder) to share. Here is a grab-bag of...

Book Launch: Fri 8 Dec — Water policy, imagination and innovation

by editor | 6 Dec 2017 | Event

Book Launch: Water Policy, Imagination and Innovation: Interdisciplinary Approaches (Routledge, 2018). Date: Friday 8 December 2017 Time: 2–3 pm Venue: Chancellery, Booloominbah. Refreshments included. Books available for purchase at exclusive discount rate. This...

3 hour river care working bee

by editor | 6 Dec 2017 | AURG, Event, Garden

We have decided to hold the Working Bee next Sunday as advised – start 8.30am, Morning Tea 10.00am and finish by 11.30. As many have advised they can’t make it on Sunday, we will discuss over morning tea when we might have a get together/planning meeting...

Sustainable Shopping: the eco-friendly guide to online Christmas shopping

by editor | 6 Dec 2017 | SLAM

Online shopping has recently smashed retail records worldwide, while its growth has continued significantly in Australia. With Christmas just around the corner, Australia Post expects this to be the busiest year it has ever seen. December is the largest buying month...

Video: Top 10 brands polluting our beaches

by editor | 6 Dec 2017 | SLAM

Every September, millions of people around the world participate in International Coastal Cleanup Day to take part in a larger effort to protect our ocean. Cleanups alone, however, will never solve the problem of plastic pollution in the ocean or on its shores. This...

By-election #StopAdani gathering with those knagging Nannas!

by editor | 30 Nov 2017 | AACSGaM, Event

We are being visited by a group of 5–7 Coffs Coast Nannas on their way home from a major Queensland protest against Adani. They have invited us to join them in front of Barnaby’s Office. P – L – E – A – S – E come along and have...

Armidale briefing: Land Clearing Legal Case

by editor | 30 Nov 2017 | Event

On Monday you’re invited to join a special briefing at 6pm and the Armidale City Bowls Club to hear about the legal case we’ve just launched against the Government to court to scrap its destructive land-clearing laws, and what the laws mean for nature. From...

Coal and gas update from the Narrabri front line

by editor | 30 Nov 2017 | AACSGaM

The NorthWest Gas Pipeline – a Trojan Horse for Coal Seam Gas in NSW While the eyes of the nation have been on the scandalous Adani Carmichael coal mine in Queensland, here in NSW there is an immediate and serious threat of new coal and gas projects and mine...

‘Political watershed’ as 19 countries pledge to phase out coal

by editor | 30 Nov 2017 | AACSGaM, Climate, Energy

A new alliance of 19 nations committed to quickly phasing out coal has been launched at the UN climate summit in Bonn, Germany. It was greeted as a “political watershed”, signalling the end of the dirtiest fossil fuel that currently provides 40% of global electricity....

Steps to make planter boxes and plant them out

by editor | 30 Nov 2017 | Garden, Local Food

Here are some photos on the steps to make the planter boxes/compost bins and tools/techniques to plant them out. The box dimensions are 1200 by 1200 by 900mm high, as large as any forklift pallet timber pieces are. I am 52 years old, always enjoyed growing vegies...

Tamworth Rally 26th November — The Future of Our Food Bowl

by editor | 21 Nov 2017 | Climate, Event

Hi Armidale folk, there will be a crew catching the train, attending the rally (which was moved back so you would make it on time) and then having lunch together 🙂 Hear from experts about the effects of climate change on agriculture, the potential for renewable energy...

Invitation: Free Information Evening With Australian Wind Alliance

by editor | 21 Nov 2017 | Energy, Event

Making renewable energy projects work for the whole community. A free information forum for landholders and neighbours living near large scale renewable energy projects, with lessons from projects around Australia. Understand contracts you may be offered and how...

Black Gully Music Festival 2017 Guide

by editor | 8 Nov 2017 | Black Gully, Event, Garden, Waste

Every year New England folk gather at Black Gully (behind NERAM) to celebrate community, music and biodiversity. Starting at 10.00am you can browse through the Maker’s Market and chill out with art, food, drink, nature and of course live local music. Kids art...

Progressive Cinema presents: Chasing Coral

by editor | 8 Nov 2017 | Event

Progressive Cinema presents: Chasing Coral at 6:30pm on Thursday, 9th November, 2017, at Kent House in Faulkner Street opposite Central Park, Armidale. Join us for discussion and community dinner after the film. Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an...

‘Spring into the Pilliga’: Pilliga Forest Trip 2017

by editor | 8 Nov 2017 | AACSGaM, Event

When: Friday, 10 November 2017 – 9:00am to Sunday, 12 November 2017 – 6:00pm Where: The Pilliga, North West NSW, return from Sydney, Newcastle and Northern Rivers. The Pilliga forest is the largest woodland in eastern Australia. It is a sacred place for...

A Day in the Life of Your Soil

by editor | 8 Nov 2017 | Event, Local Food

New England North West Regional Science Hub presents: A Day in the Life of Your Soil Soil organisms are very important for agricultural productivity and the health of natural environments. They influence how much water enters and stays in your soil, nutrient cycling,...

Australia is second worst in world for biodiversity loss

by editor | 8 Nov 2017 | Starfish

A new international study published in the journal Nature found that Australia is among a group of seven countries who are causing around fifty percent of global biodiversity loss. Using measures from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red...

Glen Innes recognised as renewable energy hub

by editor | 8 Nov 2017 | Energy, Starfish

Glen Innes is at the centre of the renewables revolution according to a recent ABC news article, which highlights the Sapphire and White Rock wind farms. Both are being constructed close to the town due to the ideal combination of high winds and grid connectivity...

November Forum: SLA Celebrates 10 Years

by editor | 2 Nov 2017 | Event, Monthly Forum, SLAM

Special Forum Thursday, 2nd November at 7pm Kent House, opposite Central Park on Faulkner Street Where to now? Ten years ago a large group of Armidale people were concerned enough about our future to create SLA. Are you still interested in how we might locally...

Between Art and Poetry: New Perspectives on Tablelands Flora

by editor | 2 Nov 2017 | Event

Join us for an Exhibition, Reading and Book Launch With Music by Alana Blackburn Friday, 17 November 2017 6.00–7.30pm Reader’s Companion 151 Beardy Street, Armidale Between Art and Poetry is a recent collaboration between botanical poet John Charles Ryan and botanical...

Kenyan government introduces toughest plastic bag ban to date

by editor | 2 Nov 2017 | Starfish, Waste

In the toughest crack-down on single-use plastic yet, the Kenyan government has introduced a countrywide ban on the production, sale and use of plastic bags, with penalties of up to four years’ jail or fines of up to $US40,000. Whilst critics of the ban say it will...

Millennials’ biggest concern is climate change & destruction of nature

by editor | 2 Nov 2017 | Climate, Starfish

Climate change was chosen as the top concern by nearly half of participants in the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Survey 2017. The survey included over 24,000 young people who responded in 14 languages. The majority of participants also agreed that humans are...

Support community investment in Sapphire Wind Farm and go in the draw to win an iPad!

by editor | 19 Oct 2017 | Energy, Starfish

Early results show strong support for community investment in the Sapphire Wind Farm but more expressions of interest are needed for this groundbreaking project to go ahead. Learn more and complete our online survey to win an iPad. Sapphire Wind Farm will undoubtedly...