Alternatively, download the document via the following direct link -
David Blore, BSFG Vice President
for BSFG Committee
Alternatively, download the document via the following direct link - David Blore, BSFG Vice President for BSFG Committee
0 Comments
A successful Swanpool Environmental Film Festival 2023 was presented to a full house on Saturday June 17th, 2023, at Swanpool Cinema.
The festival ran from 1pm until 9.40pm and included afternoon tea and dinner prepared and served by the Swanpool Catering Team and volunteers. The first two of our guest speakers have provided their presentations in pdf format to be made available on the BSFG website. Full details about the Festival Programme. Sue Lebish, Chief Executive Officer, Winton Wetlands titled her presentation ‘Winton Wetlands: A Story of Hope and Renewal’. Download Sue's presentation. The film screened in the first session was The Rights of Nature, A Global Movement. Watch the film. Professor David Karoly, Hon. Prof. University of Melbourne, Climate Council Australia titled his presentation ‘Update on Climate Change Science, Impacts and Solutions for Victoria. Download David's presentation. The film screened in the second session was Greenhouse by Joost. Our final session was introduced by Landcare Facilitator Claire Birch, https://www.landcarevictoria.org.au/donate. After describing the work of Landcare, Claire introduced Bertram Lobert from the Save our Strathbogie Forest Group, https://strathbogiesustainableforests.wordpress.com/. With support from group members Bert presented recent actions which have resulted in the cessation of logging in the Strathbogie Forest. Video supported the groups presentation. The final film screened was the Bob Brown film The Giants, https://www.thegiantsfilm.com/. The 2023 Festival was the 10th anniversary of the Swanpool Environmental Film Festival. Professor David Karoly spoke at our first festival in 2013. Thank you to the ongoing contributions from our supporters in enabling another successful Swanpool Environmental Film Festival in 2023. The $30 entry to the festival covers the cost of afternoon tea and dinner. The Benalla Food Co-op is in its 12th year of operation and currently has 65 members with over forty households shopping regularly.
The Co-op Committee remains unchanged, and it’s been a relatively quiet year. Our main business has been general housekeeping and running issues, with our aging vacuum causing the most trouble. This year we’re trialling earlier opening hours on Monday afternoons during winter due to shorter daylight hours and colder weather. This will commence in June. There’s a fluctuation in members’ shopping habits that result in some days being quieter than others. Just when we decided Thursdays were our quietest day, they became busy again. Our product list remains unchanged with 118 products. Members pay for their shopping via Square or cash. A majority of members use Square. Product procurement has an element of pot luck and sometimes what I order is not what you receive, and sometimes items are out-of-stock. Our efforts to remain vermin and pest free has been mostly successful with minimal stock losses. Ongoing monitoring and hygiene are required to avoid the problems we faced in 2021-22. Our ability to improve storage is hampered by space, however it’s been decided to purchase one extra cupboard. Thank you Christine for continuing to coordinate the shop roster, and Peter for ongoing management of the day-to-day accounts as well as the biannual stock take. In 2021 Christine was recognised for her 10 years of coordinator service and given a life membership. Thank you Wendy Baker for the rest of our accounting matters. Wendy reports a surplus for this financial year of $3,073.25. This is an improvement from the previous year despite our markup remaining at 20%. Thank you Graeme Greed for ongoing equipment maintenance, and Rhona who keeps members informed with news via her weekly email updates. Thank you Maren for ordering and packaging the herbs and to Sonia for allowing her front porch to be used for deliveries from suppliers. Thank you Kay Blore and Karen Nankervis who are improving our recycling efforts. Thank you to our 11 duty managers and 13 computer operators who take on extra shift responsibilities. Thank you to Louisa for developing a series of Co-op promotional templates for use on Facebook and to Beverly Lee and Peter Maddock for maintaining our Facebook and BSFG website presence and for tolerating my questioning as I attempt to get my head around the benefits of social media. Thank you to my husband Richard who unloads the pallet of produce each month and helps me store it. In closing, I would like to recognise all of you. Together we’re the Benalla Food Co-op community. The Coop is run by you, it’s a great team effort and you are the key component that keeps us operational. Co-op Committee: Susanne (coordinator), Christine (rosters), Peter (finance), Rhona (weekly up-dates), Karen (recycling), Tanya and Rosalie (Community Garden), Judy (BSFG secretary), Sonia (porch for deliveries) and Julie McPherson. Duty managers: Graham, Sonia, Tanya, Rosalie, Christine, Rhona, Joy, Robyn, Jack, Eleanor and Susanne. Computer Operators: Graham, Peter, Karen, Glenys, Simon, Stacy, Deanne, Jenny, Julienne, Maren, Marlies, Sally and Robert. Enquiries and feedback welcome via the BSFG website or our business email foodcoopbenalla@gmail.com Susanne Bennett May 2023 Foremost in my mind when writing this report, was the reality of how important it is for BSFG to continue to be a strong voice in our community, urging action on climate change and promoting sustainable living practices in so many ways. In the past twelve months, we have organised meetings with guest speakers and documentary films covering the topics of renewable energy, caring for people and planet in our health system, ways to make rental properties more energy efficient, the importance of trees in a changing climate, electric vehicles, battery storage systems, and the remarkable story of the Indian eco-activist, Vandana Shiva, in her battles to overcome the monopolies of the agricultural giant Monsanto. Our action groups have continued to evolve, and I thank all who have been involved in each of these groups for their enthusiasm and dedication to trying to educate and involve the community. There have been many articles during the past year in the Ensign dealing with the issue of waste management, and I know that these articles will continue to materialise. It is a testament to the fact that there are many people in our community who feel very strongly about these issues, that we have had marvellous attendances at most of the events we have organised. A highlight for me personally was listening to Dr Greg Moore's talk on trees in our urban landscape, and their importance in a changing climate, with an enthralled audience of around 130 totally engaged for almost 2 hours with his talk and answers to questions. I just hope that our recording of that presentation has since been viewed by Councillors and officers at Benalla who were unfortunately unable to attend the meeting, as it is information such as that given by Dr Moore that is critical to shaping policies that will help us mitigate and cope with climate change effects. Occasionally, I revisit the transcripts of the presentations that the four student leaders of Benalla P-12 College made in 2021, when we urged Council to declare a climate emergency. I do this because it helps to remind me of why we are fighting to create a better and safer future. Each year, there are many young people who stand out in our community as potential future leaders, by their actions, and we hope that they continue to utilise those gifts of leadership, wherever they choose to live. We as the older members must encourage them to take up those leadership roles. I have been challenged by my four years as President, as I have needed to try to be informed across a wide array of sustainability topics, some of which I will readily admit that I am no expert in! However, the one thing that I have been certain about is the need for the world community to urgently halt the advance of climate change, and the profligate use of the Earth's resources. Someone recently asked me why I write letters to the paper - did I get some sort of self-satisfaction from doing so? Well no - I write when I hear or read about an issue or action that needs more serious attention than it was being given, and usually on behalf of the youth who don't read the newspaper, but directed to the older folk who do. Finally, my sincere gratitude to the committee and all others who have given so much of their time to the causes espoused by BSFG over the past year, and a special mention to Peter and Bev for their work on our websites, and Ian for his Newsletter production, each of them over many years. Peter Holmes - May 2023 Other reports presented at the AGM include:
Benalla Food Cooperative Environmentally Sustainable Development Renewable Energy Benalla Wastewise Benalla Web Team We would like to invite you to our AGM on Thursday 25th May 7.30pm at Benalla Uniting Church. The focus of the meeting will be our guest speaker from Indigo Power, Donald Mace. Don will speak about the 100% Renewable Community Blueprint, derived from their work in Yackandandah. Don is very familiar with the principles that drive success in Yackandandah and part of his talk will include the story behind Totally Renewable Yackandandah. Denis Ginnivan who assisted Russel Klose in our EV talk in March, and has been involved in TRY from its inception, will also be present to contribute to the discussion. Indigo Power is a local community owned energy provider and a certified social enterprise. Its commitment to renewable energy has placed Indigo Power at the top of the rankings in Greenpeace Australia's recently published Green Energy Guide. This is a rare opportunity to learn of a local success story in community renewable energy and the possibilities for other communities. We hope to see you there. Judy Schwarzman Secretary, BSFG BSFG/REB Community Forum on Solar Panels and Batteries - "A most informative session" David Blore3/5/2023 A very informative seminar was hosted last week by Renewable Energy Benalla (part of BSFG) at the Benalla Uniting Church on solar panel and home battery installations. Brad Foletta, Director of Solargain Wangaratta, spoke on Solargain's experience in solar panels, batteries and solar hot water systems, with around 3000 installations in the North East over the past nine years since Solargain was established. Brad and more than half his staff are Benalla locals, so the company knows the local area intimately. Brad made mention of noted engineer and thinker, Saul Griffith, and his mantra “Electrify Everything” for combatting the use of fossil fuels for power and addressing climate change, as one of the key drivers for Solargain’s work across our region. Brad spoke about the current state of solar, developments in output and reliability of solar panels in the last decade or so, and demonstrated the significant cost savings on power bills for households who install panels (especially with the various subsidies available to offset installation costs). He then expanded on the related topic of home batteries. Brad spoke about; adding batteries to an existing system and how this works; the types of systems now available (self-consumption, partial backup, full backup and full off-grid systems); warranties and monitoring, and outlined the subsidies available for home battery installations. Brad highlighted a couple of key messages to the attentive audience:-
Brad and his team fielded many questions from the attendees, who appreciated his clear and knowledgeable presentation on a complex topic.
David Blore Renewable Energy Benalla An Action Group of BSFG BSFG/REB members and supporters are invited to a Community Forum about Solar Panels and Home Batteries at 7:30pm, on Thursday 27th April at the Benalla Uniting Church. Brad Foletta from Solargain Wangaratta will be speaking to inform us of the latest developments and state of play in this area, covering these aspects:
Attendance is free, but for catering purposes, please book your place using the Trybooking link https://www.trybooking.com/CHLUE We look forward to seeing you at this forum which promises to be very informative. Judy Schwarzman Secretary, BSFG |
BSFG News
Regular updates on sustainability issues of concern to BSFG members in Benalla and North East Victoria and on key events in the BSFG calendar. Search for articles here...Swanpool Environmental Film Festival - from 2015 to 2023 (click on 'previous' at end of page to go to earlier reports)
|
|