Edition 5 finds us in October already and the weather is certainly warming up here in Queensland. We hope you are all healthy and keeping yourselves occupied. It is a great time to get out in the garden and plant some spring colour. The best flowers to plant for spring in Queensland are gardenias, alyssum, begonias, marigolds, cosmos and petunias. And don't forget your spring fruits and vegetables like citrus, passionfruit, bananas, lettuce, zucchini, pumpkin and tomatoes.

In the Spotlight this month is the man responsible for the beautiful scenery around Griffith University: Landscape Manager Alistair McInnes. Alistair has been doing landscaping on Griffith’s Gold Coast, Nathan, Mt Gravatt, Logan, and Southbank campuses since 1976, and is responsible for maintaining the bushland and all improvement work on the gardens.

“It involves maintenance of the grounds and ovals, and what I call ‘stewardship of the bush’,” Alistair says. “Our whole team is passionate about preservation of the bush and keeping a beautiful, natural environment for people.” So if you find yourself walking through campus and admiring all the lovely bushland, it’s all thanks to Alistair and his amazing team.

Although he has been here a long time, Alistair still looks forward to managing the gardens and bushland at Griffith. “I think it’s just a passion for it,” he says. “After all this time, I’m still passionate about what we do.” In particular, Alistair and his team are committed to creating a sustainable environment. “We’ve been practicing sustainability from the start. So on the Nathan campus we’ve only ever used native plants. We use very, very, very few chemicals, and we compost all our waste except weeds that can’t be used.”

And Alistair is also prepared to share some top tips on how to manage a garden. “You have to think about where you plant a tree,” he explains.  “You have to think about what it’s going to look like in the future, and it’s ultimate size.” If Better Homes & Gardens ever needs a new presenter, it should be Alistair. “The gardens [at Griffith] were built in the late 70s, and they’re ready for updating and improving now,” Alistair says. “It’s about trying to get a consistent standard of landscaping across all 5 campuses, is what we’re aiming for at the moment.”

One piece of landscaping Alistair is particularly proud of is Frog Hollow, on Griffith University’s Gold Coast campus. “Nobody really realised at the time that the landscape section there revegetated from the dirt,” he explains. “I created a creek through there, and we actually revegetated all of that area.”

Another interesting fact about Alistair and his team is that most of them are trained fire fighters as well. “The other part that we have to do is control burns in the forest,” explains Alistair. “Some of us are Level 2 fire fighters, [and] we could potentially be in charge of a team anywhere in Australia.” And in fact, that has happened throughout Brisbane and on Stradbroke Island, where Alistair spends time when he’s not working at Griffith. “One night we actually saved a nursing home down in Karawatha,” he says. “There was a wildfire, and we literally had our backs up against the nursing home, putting the fire out.” Great job!

And of course, Alistair has some funny stories to share about his time working at Griffith. “On my first day here, they put me on a ride-on mower, and I accidentally ran over a young eucalypt tree that had been planted on a lawn,” Alistair says. Oh no! But luckily, he had a solution. “So I ran out at lunchtime and bought some masking tape, and bound it all up and put it back together, and I didn’t tell anybody.” There is a positive side to this story. As Alistair says, “That tree now is a forest giant – it’s still growing on the humanities lawn, with a diameter of about 3 feet."

Sustainable Development Goals

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all 193 United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognise that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.                                

 
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Green Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea)

Sustainable living tip

Sustainable Food
 
Our food choices have a large impact on our carbon footprint. It is not only the food that needs to be considered but the production, packaging and transportation of the product as well.

As far as food is concerned, a large percentage of greenhouse emissions are attributed to animal products. Other contributing factors include travel, processing, farming practices, harvesting practices and business practices.

The further a product needs to travel the more emissions are produced whether it be by road or air. Much of this produce can be sourced locally which will minimise the ‘food miles’ a product travels.

Food processing uses valuable resources such as energy and water and creates waste which requires further processing. Imported products also require refrigeration and/or freezing and increases the demand on resources.

Farming and harvesting practices are important to the health of waterways and the endangerment of plant and animal species. The use of harmful pesticides and fertilisers, which emit greenhouse gasses through their production process, can lead to the contamination of waterways. Whilst harvesting with disregard to the survival of plants and animals can initiate the endangerment or extinction of species.

What can I do to reduce my emissions?

•    Eat less meat – less meat means less impact on the environment.
•    Purchase local produce rather than imported – local produce will be fresher and reduce the number of trucks on the road.
•    Consume less processed food –reducing your consumption of processed food, conserves resources and reduces waste.
•    Look for organic or sustainably harvested produce – choose products that are produced without the use of harmful pesticides and fertilisers which emit greenhouse gasses through their production process.
•    Support fair trade and ethical farming – by supporting fair trade, you are helping development countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships.