The one-stop spot for all things sustainable, the Eco Living Festival, will return to the Randwick Community Centre as a free, family-friendly, one-day event that brings together stalls, workshops, demonstrations and live performances on Sunday 18 September 2022, running from 10am to 3pm.

“The Eco Living Festival is one of the most popular events on Council’s calendar and celebrates all that is green and sustainable,” said Randwick Mayor Dylan Parker. “The one-day event brings together sustainability experts, local businesses that create sustainable products and workshops that demonstrate the small but important eco changes we can each make. It’s also a great chance for people to connect with each other and be inspired by the great things happening in our area.”

This year’s festival will include zones that focus on demonstrations, sustainable kitchen workshops, a volunteer’s village as well as a bike valet and mechanic. There will also be kids’ activities and entertainment, food trucks, a coffee cart and bike’n’blend smoothies.

Electric vehicle bulk buy

The Randwick Electric Vehicle Bulk Buy will officially launch at the Randwick Eco Living Festival. It will offer residents across the Eastern Suburbs access to a range of new or quality-checked, low mileage used electric vehicles starting at around $20k. Residents can register their interest in participating, which will give them a month of no-obligation information sessions, events and test drives. Residents will then have the opportunity to purchase an EV – either a second-hand, affordable Nissan Leaf or a brand new EV from Hyundai or Polestar. Vehicles ordered by November are expected to arrive around April 2023, which is less than half the current time of many EV deliveries to Australia.

More information: goodcar.co/randwick

Performances

Archibald Prize-winning artist and musician Blak Douglas will present Did U Know, a 30-minute demonstration of the Didgeridoo, filled with facts and fun. Dog Trumpet, the band of former Mental as Anything members Reg Mombassa and Pete O’Doherty, will also take to the stage to play their eclectic blend of rock, psychedelic folk and semi-abstract blues.

Workshops, talks and demonstrations

A host of speakers will be on hand to share new and challenging ideas, such as how we can use our shares or superannuation to protect our climate future; how to combat the rising costs of living by joining a food box cooperative; why native bees are important in urban ecology and how to keep a beehive; an introduction to scrumping, the art of hunting down food growing in public places; and the launch of the revised edition of permaculture bible Earth Restorer’s Guide to Permaculture by author Rosemary Morrow.

Sustainable Kitchen

Long lost skills that are coming back into vogue will be taught throughout the day. Fermenting and pickling food is not only great for gut health, it provides a variety of food available outside of their growing seasons, and dehydrating food can drastically reduce food waste. Join sustainable powerhouses Margaret Mossakowska from Moss House and Mitch Burnie from the Adamama Project to learn some new essential kitchen skills.

Better biking

There’s something for everyone when it comes to bikes. Cycling enthusiasts will love having access to bike mechanics who can help work out any issues with their two-wheelers and people new to cycling will have the chance to test ride bikes and improve their understanding of bike safety. There will be a selection of balance bikes as well as kids’ and adults’ bikes. For those who prefer to be stationary the popular Bike’N’Blend will be back, providing people with the chance to blend their own smoothies using pedal power.

Volunteer’s village

Community spirit will be alive and well in this section of the festival. Gathered in one place will be a smorgasbord of volunteer opportunities for people wanting to donate their time or skills to local organisations. Opportunities range from wildlife rescue organisation WIRES, bush regeneration group Friends of Malabar Headland, food cooperatives Thoughtful Foods and Organic Buyers Group who pull together weekly organic food boxes.

Kids entertainment and activities

Mic Conway, the voice of The Wiggles' Wags the Dog,  will be presenting his very special show Rubbish, a highly original performance about the three Rs - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - and features junk musical instruments, magical trash, juggling, newspaper ripping, puppetry, singing and dancing. The RRRR Pirates encourage their crew to do the right thing with waste, whether its recycling, reusing, reducing or rethinking what can be done to decrease the amount of rubbish that ends up in the ocean. Play School's Abi Tucker will present a a puppet show for children which is all about recycling. The King and Queen of Green will present a fun workshop about reducing waste to landfill by using composting, recycling and worm farms.