Stories From: Community

Second-hand bookstore and social enterprise RoseyRavelston has moved to Lawson-town. While the core of their business remains the same, the move has prompted adaptation and diversification, which has opened up new collaborations and opportunities for the business and the community.

The story of Lithgow Environment Group is a saga spanning nearly two decades of their heroic struggle against fire, local habitat destruction, weak government legislation and in particular, irresponsible mining practices.

Bundjalung Yaegl woman and Bullaburra resident, Janelle Randall-Court, has a long history of working creatively to inspire people to care for Country. We interviewed her after watching her give a cultural presentation for Greening Australia’s Cooling the Schools Project.

Volunteering offers mutual benefits for the helper and those helped. Along with a sense of empowerment, purpose and contribution, it can give us skills for the workforce, new friends and social connection. While this list is by no means exhaustive, it offers a wide range of options for where to help out in our local community.

Music, creativity and sustainability all come together at Glenbrook Rotary Markets every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month, and recently the organisers from the Rotary Club of the Lower Blue Mountains showcased their continuing commitment to waste reduction by hosting a creative Trash to Treasure Competition for local Lower Mountains kids.

Pollinators are critical for life on earth. As we face a biodiversity crisis in which we’re losing plants and animals at an alarming rate, the Rotary Club of Blackheath and Planting Seeds have collaborated on the B&B Highway pollinator program.

The gift economy is a win-win-win for people and their communities, preventing waste while saving money and building community goodwill. What's not to love? Explore the options for giving and receiving in the Springwood area and the Blue Mountains more widely in this story by Gabiann Marin.

Boomerang Bags Blue Mountains is part of a global, grassroots movement replacing single-use plastic bags with sustainable recycled fabric alternatives: one sewing bee at a time. The volunteers were hard at work when Belle Butler visited the group to find out more.

Led by First Nations students and community, Blaxland High School has established a native food garden and students are using crops grown in the garden as ingredients in food technology classes. The school received injections of expertise from many quarters including an Aboriginal-owned social enterprise to learn about and embrace the use of native plants for cooking and sustainability.

Blue Mountains City Council hosted the local Binfluencer Awards to recognise and reward those who are working to encourage and increase waste avoidance, reusing or recycling in their local communities.