A huge success

Yesterday was the second Hills Garden and Environmental Expo, B2s schools annual major fundraiser. It was a great day but really tiring; it was the earliest bedtime i've had for a while. We finished icing and wrapping the organic chocolate cupcakes to sell at B2s class' sustainability stall where they showcased their schools new recycling programme and sold local organic produce provided by parents; home grown eggs, vegetables, cakes and the like. I was pretty pleased with these as they were pretty eco; brown paper pans, fully organic/biodynamic with organic green tea icing, cellulose wrapped on recycled cardboard boxes for trays. B2s Montessori sustainability group then joined other school sustainibility groups to each do a powerpoint presentation in competition for the Mike and Claire Bossley Prize for achievement in the 2008 Hills Sustainability School Project.

It was fantastic to see the all the schools projects, developed solely by the kids and implemented by the schools under guidance from the class groups and evaluated by the kids themselves. It was inspiring to see them all working as teams, having brainstormed ideas, consolidated and followed through on a practical sustainability project.The future is in good hands.


The speakers invited in for the day were crowd pleasing. Sophie Thomson from Gardening Australia spoke on sustainable gardening, Ian Dolman spoke about 'life beyond the door snake' and retrofitting your home for energy and water efficiency and Liddy Dolman spoke on 'a beginners guide to eco living' and how to start and my fave was Tim marshalls talk on 'Organic gardening, Organic Food Production, Food Supply and Food Security'. It was a whizz bang talk, full of politicing and was very well attended. The atmosphere was very carnival like ( minus the noisy side show alley and fairy floss), very chilled, jazz and strikers playing all day and lots of interesting stalls showcasing all things sustainable and environmental; water wise products and information, native plants and vegetables for sale, regeneration and renovation ideas for your home and garden, home food production displays, wind turbines, solar displays and wandering fauna rescue teams. there was heaps of positive living going on! Thousands of people came through the gates so it was a rewarding end to a years planning and hard work by the Montessori Expo Committee. You shoulda' been there!