From Sonya Wallace from the Sunshine Coast Energy Action Centre

These are truly unprecedented times for us all. The world is having to face up to the consequences of years of reliance on fossil fuels as a cheap energy source. We are facing a future of climate and energy uncertainty. Our dependency on oil as a cheap energy source has left us in a vulnerable position. We are reliant on the very thing which is causing such significant environmental damage.

And you are probably thinking will this affect me? Yes it will. What can you do about it? Well the answer is plenty. We need to act collectively and we need to act now. This is a time for a war-like response we need resources, funding, people and action. Every day, every choice you make has consequences. This is where you can make a real difference starting right now. Make choices that help you move from oil dependency and create local resilience. We will be transitioning to a lower energy future whether we want to or not. It is far better to ride that wave rather than to be engulfed by it. Here are a couple of examples of what you can do.

Food

We all eat, yet what impact is your dinner having on climate change and how dependent are you on fossil fuel for getting that food to your table?

Research by CERES in Victoria found that 29 items (dairy, meat, fresh food, legume products and processed goods) purchased at a supermarket in Victoria had travelled a total of 70,803 kilometres. That’s three times around Australia’s coastline.

So each shopping trolley passing through checkouts across Australia has the potential to have the equivalent fossil fuel use and carbon emissions of you getting in your car and travelling almost twice around the equator.

This tally of kilometres known as food miles is something we should all be considering when we shop.

Buying locally grown, in-season, organic food is one of the most important things you can do to combat climate change and to help prepare our region for the flow on effects of peak oil. By supporting these systems now and increasing demand in the region for them, you are creating a consumer demand for locally grown food and significantly reducing your household ecological footprint. Help build the systems now that will support us in the future and that strengthen our communities.

There are many ways you can access fresh local food; farmers’ markets, community supported agriculture programs, organic food co-operatives, bulk buying with neighbours, school and community gardens, neighbourhood food growing co-ops and growing some (or a lot) of your own food at home in your backyard.

Buying organic food is also an important choice you can make. Non-organic food relies heavily on the application of fossil fuel-based fertilisers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides to feed the soil, manage pests and treat fungal and weed problems. As fuel prices rise, so to will the flow-on effect the food you buy. Organic food production does away with the need for these.

Organic soil is supported by using compost, worm castings, green manure crops and crop rotation methods. Pests are managed predominantly without sprays, but if anything is applied the product is certified organic and safe for human consumption.

Your consumer choice can make a difference. Support local solutions to energy issues. A decentralised, diverse, resilient food supply system will help us manage a smooth move from oil dependency to local resilience. Ask for local and buy local.

Waste

Fifty percent of what goes into the average wheelie bin in Australia could (and should) be composted on-site at a household level.

When putrescible waste, that is waste likely to become putrid (for example, kitchen and food scraps), is added to wheelie bins it goes on to create big problems. The waste is picked up by a large truck, which runs on fossil fuel. It is then taken to a landfill site and dumped. Landfill sites are compacted and the waste then becomes anaerobic. Anaerobic putrescible waste produces methane. Methane is around 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. There is also a great risk of pollution leaching into waterways from landfill.

About 50 per cent of the contents of the average wheelie bin could be composted.

Here is another way you can make a real difference. Learn ways to manage your household’s compostable waste on site set up compost bins and worm farms. Reduce landfill, reduce methane in the atmosphere, grow your own soil and put that back into your garden and grow your own vegetables and herbs. Simple, easy-to-do solutions for your family.

Transition Sunshine Coast

These are just a few of the many ways we can all individually and collectively do something significant about climate change and peak oil. If everyone makes changes it does make a difference.

In September 2007 the Sunshine Coast was recognised as Australia’s first Transition Initiative and the first outside the British Isles. The movement is taking off around the world as people and communities get together to act on climate and energy issues. The solutions to these problems go beyond what can be covered here in this article, but you can be part of those solutions.

Transition Sunshine Coast offers Australia’s only community education courses in energy descent action planning. Whether for your own home, your local neighbourhood, your community or for the entire region, energy descent planning is a structured and proven way to action real strategies across all areas of our lives that are being affected by fossil fuel use. Food, transport, water, waste, energy, health, communication, buildings, agriculture, infrastructure, development, education, governance, land use, natural ecosystems, employment, finance, culture, arts, heritage — its all there and it all needs to be addressed.

Community action is the way forward on these issues. We must all work together, make the necessary changes, demand and support change at all levels of government and work collectively and collaboratively toward a better future. But we must act now. Let the decision makers know what we can and should be doing.

Be part of the solution

Transition Sunshine Coast and the Sunshine Coast Energy Action Centre will be presenting a range of courses and facilitation workshops later this year to assist and support the community in preparing for climate and energy uncertainty. Using the established models of transition initiatives, re-localisation and permaculture, we will explore, discuss, plan and enact strategies to move our region and our supply systems from oil dependency to local resilience. From learning how to compost and worm farm, to contributing to a regional plan for reducing our energy use and dependence  join SEAC and Transition Sunshine Coast and be part of the solution.

We will be supporting the establishment of Transition Towns across the Sunshine Coast.

Transition Initiatives are based on four key factors

1. That life with dramatically lower energy consumption is inevitable, and that it’s better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise.
2. That our settlements and communities presently lack the resilience to enable them to weather the severe energy shocks that will accompany peak oil.
3. That we have to act collectively and we have to act now
4. That by unleashing the collective genius of those around us to creatively and proactively design our energy descent, we can build ways of living that are more connected, more enriching and that recognise the biological limits of the planet.

Strategies for climate change and peak oil

• Community-driven solutions
• Transition initiatives
• Energy Descent Action Plans
• Climate-friendly communities
• Community supported agriculture
• Diverse and robust organic food supply systems
• Energy appropriate transport solutions
• Land trusts
• Credit unions and local economies
• Locally owned, decentralised energy supply companies
• Small decentralised solutions generally
• Not overextending limits of eco-systems
• Social justice and equity
• A strong emphasis on community education and empowerment

Further information: visit the Sustainability Hub