Aldinga

Photos and text by Michael Robertson

Aldinga Arts Eco-Village

Recycle Bins

Event: Aldinga Eco-Fair, Late 2004.

Image: Three bins with signs on them which say, rubbish - recycling, rubbish - general, and rubbish - food scraps. A large flag close-by creates a festive atmosphere.

In Adelaide, most local governments provide households with recycling bins to take glass and plastic bottles and other containers, as well as food and drink cans.

Some councils provide recycling bins for garden clippings.

Food wastes must generally be composted on site. Many households do not, or have no garden to, compost their food waste, and so their food scraps end up in landfill, adding significantly to their volume, and to their tendency to generate methane.

Composting Workshop

Event: Aldinga EcoFair, October 2006.

Participatory gardening events yank people from their televisions (etc) and into the the community - to meet people, learn skills, and see where food comes from before it appears in the supermarket.

Gardening workshops are one way that local councils can engage their citizens in (green) infrastructure development, rather than simply maintaining parks and gardens with professional staff. If people are involved in creating their own neighborhood landscape, they experience more ownership and control of their situation, and are more likely to care for people and property around them.

Percussion Workshop

Event: Aldinga EcoFair, October 2006.

Particants, each drumming simple rhythms, together create complex rhythms.

Participatory music events allow non-musicians to create fantastic music for themselves, albeit under expert direction.

2008.8.26