it’s the little things that count!
December 19th, 2006
An enthusiastic crowd attended the opening of Landcare Monto’s Sustainable Living Expo at the Monto Historical and Cultural Centre last Saturday Night. Guest speaker sixteen year old Lauren Kirk, was there to encourage all young people to take action at this critical time in our Environmental History.
Lauren says that young people have the opportunity to ‘turn the tide’ on environmental degradation by participating in research, restorative and protective environmental projects. In fact, Lauren was one of the founders of the group ‘Aussie Kids: Turning the Tide’. The group is based in Gladstone. Lauren and her co-founding colleague were thrilled to be asked to speak at a conference in New York earlier this year.
The former Monto girl was also honoured with the 2006 Young Queenslander of the Year Environmental Award. Having met a mind boggling number of world leaders, and having exposure to incredible opportunities in learning about our planet, Lauren’s message was simple :
“It’s the little things that count!” “You can do things like use calico bags for shopping instead of plastic; switch lights out in your house when you’re not using them to reduce energy consumption, use cleaning products which are phosphate free, and less polluting to the waterways.”
CEO of the Burnett Mary Regional Group for Natural Resource Management, Mr David Brown, was there to open the event. Mr Brown expressed his interest for BMRG in building partnerships with Landcare, Catchment, Local Government, and Community groups. “We can’t do all the work ourselves” Mr Brown said, “it is about growing partnerships that lead to on ground results that is our focus.”
Landcare President, Les Turner was very positive and urged the group to continue to engage youth, “they are the future” he said. Mr Turner praised the efforts of the organising committee, in particular the iniative of Len Horrocks, and creativity of Glen Baker and Michelle Gleeson.
The expo will remain open until 20th of January 2007.