Sustainable Neighbourhood News and Events
|
Become a Young Leader
Are you a young person looking to connect with your community and get practical experience in engagement, sustainability and other skills? We are looking for enthusiastic people to help us foster a more sustainable Lake Macquarie. Find out more 
|
Waste to Art - Selected works
View selected works from the 2018 Waste to Art exhibition at Charlestown Library from 3 June to 10 August 2019. Find out more. 
|
Cake, conversation and Lake Mac's water quality
Join the June Sustainable Neighbourhood networking event on 29 June, where we will focus on lake ecology and water pollution. Find out more. 
|
|
Nature Play Forum
Explore opportunities for school-aged children to experience nature based learning, irch in nature time, movement, culture and community. 29 May Find out more. 
|
Plant giveaway
Come say hello to Cardiff Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group members at their stall at the Cardiff Community Festival on 4 May. They will have native plants to give away and all sorts of great green ideas to chat about. 
|
Holmesville garden gatherings
Share the joy of gardening with the friendly crowd at the Holmesville Community Garden, on the first Wednesday and fourth Saturday of every month. Find out more. 
|
|
Repair Cafe coming to Cardiff
Bring your bike, small hand tools or clothes in need of repair to the April Repair Cafe on 22 April. Find out more. 
|
ANZAC Day wreath making
Learn how to make an ANZAC Day wreath using repurposed materials and local foliage Monday 22 April Find out more. 
|
Plastic free Toronto
Find out how the Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group are changing their town to single use plastic free. Find out more. 
|
|
Waste to Art 2019
It's time to start thinking about your creations and collecting materials for the 2019 Waste to Art exhibition. We are excited to see what you come up with for our exhibition in October. Find out more. 
|
April Boomerang Bags workshop
Don't forget the Boomerang Bags sewing bee coming up on Sunday 28 April. Join this friendly bunch for a sociable sewing bee between 10am-2pm. Find out more. 
|
|
Annual Report 2018
We are proud to publish the Sustainable Neighbourhoods Annual Report 2018. The report summarises our achievements and activities in the 2017-18 financial year. Find out more. 
|
Join the reuse revolution
The Alliance is running a series of pop up education booths at local shopping centres between 8-13 April. Can you help for an hour or two, to talk with shoppers about alternatives to single use plastic? Find out more. 
|
Strategic Plan 2018-2023
Our Strategy details the direction and actions we are taking to ensure we continue to be an effective organisation that is focused on our vision: Neighbourhoods that are empowered to live sustainably. Find out more. 
|
|
Boomerang Bags workshop
Volunteers have been making about 40 bags a month at these friendly workshops in 2018. This year the workshops will be held on the last Sunday of the month, 10am-2pm Find out more. 
|
Morning tea in the garden
Join the friendly bunch at the Holmesville Community garden for a morning tea on Sunday 31 March to celebrate Neighbour Day. Find out more. 
|
Wyee Neighbour Day
Meet your neighbours and find new friends with a plant swap, BBQ, cakes and community on Sunday 31 March, at the Wyee Community Hall. Find out more. 
|
|
Harmony Day tree planting
Cardiff Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group members were at a local gym open day in March to and help with a tree planting activity. Find out more. 
|
Autumn crop swap
Neighbours shared and swapped their excess garden produce at the Greater Charlestown Sustainable Neighbourhood Group's autumn event on Saturday 23 March. Find out more. 
|
Twilight picnic in the park
The Cardiff Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group celebrated Harmony Day with a community picnic in March. Find out more. 
|
|
Picnic in the park
Neighbours had a lovely time together at the February Picnic in the Park. Have a look at the photos. 
|
Cake, conversation and water conservation
We enjoyed plenty of cake and conversation at our first networking event for 2019. We heard from Hunter Water about their water resilience and conservation measures, and challenged our construction and group work skills. Find out more. 
|
|
Toxicity and chemicals
The Morisset and Peninsula Sustainable Neighbourhood Group discussed how to keep your family and the environment safe from possible toxins at their February meeting. 
|
Alliance Board meeting minutes
Do you want to keep up to date with decisions and actions of the Alliance Board? The monthly meeting minutes are usually emailed to those interested the day after the meeting. Please let us know if you'd like to join that email list. The approved minutes are also available here. 
|
The psychology of climate change
One of our members sent through this interesting resource from the Australian Psychological Society discussing how to help people understand climate change, how to cope with it, and how to get involved in effectively addressing climate change. These fact sheets along with the climate change empowerment handbook are available to download for free. 
|
|
Neighbour Day
Neighbour Day is coming up on Sunday 31 March. It's the perfect day to say thanks for being a great neighbour, connect with new neighbours, and feel part of your community. Visit the Neighbour Day website to register your event and download a free kit to help celebrate Neighbour Day. 
|
Register your Clean Up Australia Day site
Clean Up Australia Day is back again on Sunday 3 March. Register your site by Monday 11 February to ensure your event is included in Council’s Clean Up Australia Day promotions. Register a site, or contact Lucy at Council for more information. 
|
Year Planner
Happy 2019! We've updated our year planner for 2019. Take a look to see what's coming up and help plan your year. 
|
|
Plant and produce swap
Reduce food waste and enjoy a chat! Neighbours bought their excess produce or plants to swap with other gardeners in December at Whitebridge. Find out more. 
|
Wicking Garden Bed workshop
Learn how to construct a wicking garden bed to save water and maintenance, in Rathmines on 9 December. Find out more. 
|
Holmesville Community Garden
Enjoy a morning tea to help celebrate the freshly opened Holmesville Community garden on 24 November. Find out more. 
|
|
Waste to art
Challenge the way we look at waste at our Waste to Art exhibition. Check out the wonderful creations made for our 2018 exhibition. Keep an ear out for this year's exhibition details. Find out more. 
|
Waste free Christmas
Are you dreaming of some gifts you can give without the waste? Learn how to make beeswax wraps, body scrub, wreaths and crackers at this workshop in Cardiff on Saturday 18 November. Find out more. 
|
Sustainable Christmas workshop
Learn how to make beeswax wraps, reusable produce bags and the art of Furoshiki (fabric gift wrapping) in these workshops on either 20 or 22 November. Find out more. 
|
|
Celebrate Sustainable Neighbourhoods
We shared some afternoon tea and great ideas at our get together in November. Find out more. 
|
Beeswax wrap workshop
About 20 participants learned how to make their own reusable wraps to replace plastic food wrap in November at Rathmines. Read about how it went. 
|
|
Meet the Pelican Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group
Volunteers from Pelican Area attended the Pelican Foreshore Markets to seek input about upcoming community projects. Find out more. 
|
AGM and SGM
We held our Annual General Meeting and Special General Meeting in November, and updated our constitution. Find out more. 
|
Lake Mac Repair Cafe
We are running Repair Cafes in different locations on the third Saturday of the month. Bring along clothing you need help with, or just come along for good company and a cuppa. Find out more. 
|
|
Sustainable toys!
Neighbours in the Morisset and Peninsula Area got together in October to workshop sustainable gift ideas. 
|
Breakfast with the birds
Did you participate in this year's Aussie Backyard Bird Count? The folks from the Cardiff Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group helped get everyone involved with a breakfast BBQ in October. Find out more. 
|
Graffiti Removal Day
Volunteers helped remove graffiti at various sites in October. Greg Piper MP attended a site in Booragul with members of the Five Bays Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Find out more. 
|
|
Backyard food forest
We learned how to create a food forest for your backyard at the Dudley Community Garden's workshop, and then helped boost the native garden with a community planting bee in September Find out more. 
|
Car boot sale
We held another successful car boot sale in September, helping our community move towards zero waste. Find out more. 
|
Spring fair and grand opening
The Holmesville Community Garden was officially opened in September with a spring fair. Check out the photos from the day. 
|
|
Beeswax wrap
Learn how to make your own beeswax wraps. A great alternative to plastic cling wrap. Find out more. 
|
Follow us on Facebook
The Alliance has set up a Sustainable Neighbourhoods Facebook page! Like us, follow us and share our posts. 
|
War on Waste toolkit
This excellent toolkit has been created as part of the ABC's War on Waste. Download the toolkit from the ABC website. 
|
|
Pamper Care Project
Help us collect personal care products for those who need it most. Set up a local collection point or make a donation. Find out more. 
|
Barks and recreation
We are calling on all dog owners to be mindful of their responsibilities, and have produced a brochure to help clarify and reinforce the rules about dogs in public places. 
|
Plastic bag booths
We teamed up with Upcycle Newcastle to help shoppers switch to reusable bags. Find out more. 
|
|
Social media and website policy
We have updated our website policy to include guidelines for Sustainable Neighbourhood social media pages. Download the updated policy. 
|
Community gardens
We are now able to oversee community garden projects that are managed by Sustainable Neighbourhood Groups. 
|
Managing grant funding
We've developed a guide for Sustainable Neighbourhood groups about:
|
