Summary page of the 2015 Sustainable Living Festival
8 Adelaide Road, Gawler South SA 5118
Click here to view the 2014 Sustainable Living Festival YouTube video!
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A fun festival that will change your life
All welcome, Free, Stalls, Talks, Workshops, Activities & Demonstrations
Against a backdrop of huge challenges posed by economic downturn and climate change, the Sustainable Living Festival in Gawler offers a hundred ways of living well, living cheaply and being part of the solution to our environmental problems.
This free Community Festival presents inspiring speakers, stallholders with insights and products to save you energy and money, and lots of environmentally friendly, fun activities and all of that with colour, live music and passion for the Planet!
Now having its 5th birthday this family event attracted over a thousand people last year.
Coordinator Sara Loechel of the Gawler Natural Resource Centre said: “The terrific activities for children will be a big drawcard this year with heaps of prizes rewarding creative thinking in the ‘Un-JuNk! – Recycle/upcycle’ competition. We are hosting an exhibition of all the entries at the festival, aiming to inspire and enthuse people of all ages, to think about and reduce what goes to waste.” This competition is still open (see the Gawler NRC website or Facebook for more info).
Children will also be delighted with the Mobile Junk and Nature Playground! A playground built and designed by kids, for kids from natural and discarded items, giving them a chance to engage in active play and express creativity. There will be basket weaving activities with the experts from Basketry SA as well as face painting and henna tattoos by Lovebirdy Body Art. A bicycle powered smoothie maker brought to you by Transition Gawler & Smooth Revolution will wear big and little kids out and provide a yummy drink!
The Electric Vehicle Association will demonstrate how electric cars work and discuss the savings possible with their compact cars. Visitors can compare them with electric bikes, cargo bikes and bike maintenance advice from Micycles.
After some scrumptious food from the Outdoor Cafe, Alchemy or the Rotary BBQ people may like to visit the Permaculture Association, Down to Earth Sustainable Solutions and Transition Gawler stalls to find out about solar and water strategies, discover how community gardens work and how South Australians can grow more food than anyone thought possible, in their own back yards.
The amazing Bokashi system for creating liquid fertiliser, composting techniques and worm farming will show visitors how to convert all waste into fresh food.
The Green Cleaning talk with Pam Marshall of the Self Sufficiency Shoppe will demonstrate how families can get rid of harsh, unhealthy chemical cleaners and adopt a range of natural, cheap and effective cleaners and beautiful, natural skin products will be available to try and buy. There will also be information about eco- friendly hairdressing and products by Shabby Scissors, as well as holistic beauty and healing advice on products and services by Fifth Element.
Speakers include internationally-acclaimed author Lolo Houbein. An inspiring and passionate woman, who wrote the fascinating book ‘One Magic Square’ and was co-founder of Trees for Life SA. Her talk, entitled ‘Grow for your life’ will explain how easily we can change our lives to put less burden on the Planet and the secrets of effective land conservation.
Animal lovers will be able to discuss how they can help at the Guardian Angel Animal Rescue stall.
Items using recycled and salvaged materials and resourceful skills will be available at The Salvage & Save Shop (Finding Workable Solutions), and Willo’s Men’s Shed.
Transition Gawler’s Garden & Produce Share will be held as part of the festival, enabling people to swap any excess fruit, vegetables, herbs, jars, egg cartons, seeds, tips and tricks or anything else to do with gardening and food!
Other fantastic, fresh and dried food will be on sale from The Food Forest and Footeside Farm, who will be giving a demonstration on how to use native foods in your cooking.
Children and adults will have the opportunity to hold a python or freshwater crocodile, or both! Ben Horton, owner and operator of SPADE Snake Catching and Education and his team will introduce the snakes found in the area and offer expert advice.
Gawler Mayor, Karen Redman, described the festival as very informative and lots of fun and commended local businesses such as Gawler Mitre10, Gawler Books, Sanders Fodder & The Food Forest for their generous sponsorship of this free community event.
Come and join us for a day of fun, food, entertainment and information.
