MVS Founders Logan Shield and Teresa Day were individually awarded with a Neighbourhood Spirit Award from Moonee Valley City Council. We are so proud and pleased to see their tireless efforts recognised publicly.

Both Teresa and Logan are passionate and staunch advocates for climate action. They care deeply about the environment and about making sure we ensure the planet is sustainable for generations to come.

Thanks to both of them for all the tiny tasks they do every week, calling meetings, writing letters, rallying groups, designing campaigns, balancing finances, organising events, calling politicians, lobbying Council, planting nature strips, applying for grants, collaborating with other groups, gathering evidence-based information on climate change and so, so much more. All this is done with good humour and spirit of friendliness and care. MVS would not function without you.

Congratulations to all other award recipients including The Glenbervie Stationeers who are auspiced by MVS and involves many of our members.

We have been enjoying engaging with lots of groups around Moonee Valley. In February we kick started the year again with the Moonee Valley Festival. In March we joined our friends at Avondale Heights Community Garden for their summer harvest, and then celebrated the opening of the Reimagining Moonee Ponds Creek Project down in Oak Park.

We are so thankful to the Rotary Club of Essendon North for a very kind donation to support our work in inspiring our community to care for Country and act on climate.

Valerie & Supriya (MVS Committee members) recently attended a Rotary dinner to share our plans for putting these funds towards our Five Mile Creek / Woodlands Park Litter Reduction Project in collaboration with Chain of Ponds and Maribyrnong River & Waterways Association as well as some additional signage and administration costs.

We really appreciate the generosity and feel inspired to continue our work.

The rethinking waste collective volunteers have recently installed a Container Deposit Collection (CDS) bin at The Palms Apartments in Essendon as a trial to work out the logistics of CDS collections in medium and high density dwellings. Those living in the apartments now separate out eligible containers. Rather than putting them in the yellow recycling bins they put them in a separate clearly market wheelie bin, which is emptied every two weeks by our volunteers.

The containers are cashed in through the CDS machines and all proceeds go to Moonee Valley Sustainability.  The CDS program is a great way for groups such as MVS to fundraise, so if you’re able to donate your 10 cents to charity, please do.  MVS is organising a free talk on how the CDS scheme works in a couple of months. Information will be on the website and Facebook page.

Not a member of MVS yet? Now’s the perfect time to join!
Become part of our vibrant, growing community and enjoy 3 months free membership when you sign up now. Plus, you’ll go into the draw to win a copy of Tim Forcey’s incredible book, My Efficient Electric Home.

Joining is easy — just visit our Membership Page HERE and choose your membership:

$25 for an individual

$45 for a family

Your membership helps us stay financially sustainable and independent, allowing us to continue our vital advocacy and campaign work without relying on grants.

Join us today and be part of the change!

Our ACTIVE Transport Collective have been part of a campaign calling for a safe link from the city to Moonee Valley and Footscray. In great news, the ‘Green Bridge’ was finally opened last week, however there is still more to be done to create better ways to access this vital link and to get around Moonee Valley safely.

For more information and to get involved contact activetransport@mvsustainability.org.au

From weeding by planting and making plants from plants to planting up nature strips across Moonee Valley, the HEALTHY Environment collective have been getting down to business.

Excitingly, Clare and Ruth have setup the Nature Strips Action Group Moonee Valley on Facebook for people interested in planting up their nature strips. The idea is to build a network of people who can support one another and help out with the digging and planting – many hands make light work!

JOIN HERE

If you are interested in supporting the environment through creating gardens for wildlife then you will not want to miss hearing Emma Cutting speak about her experience in helping to create more than 50 street gardens for biodiversity in Melbourne.

BOOK HERE

We are also circulating the following survey to find out how we can best support your efforts. The survey will only take a couple of mintues:

COMPLETE SURVEY HERE

Email Angela at angela@mvsustainability.org.au to find out more or get involved.

Launch of Waste Not Hub!

March marked the launch of our first Waste Not Hub! Held on the second Saturday of the month, this event is designed to bring together community members passionate about reducing waste and building a community and circular economy. Each month, you can look forward to a clothes swap, mending circle, waste collection, and a chatty cafe. In March, we also enjoyed a fun loose tea tasting session.

Organized by the Rethinking Waste Collective volunteers, this year we are focusing on organic waste (food and textiles) as well as polystyrene. We are always open to offers and contributions for content for this event. So get in touch if you have an activity you want support to deliver.

Please note: There will be no session in April due to a venue booking conflict. But we’ll be back on May 10th, from 10 AM to 12 PM at DWELL, 78 St Leonards Road, Ascot Vale.

We hope to see you there!

We want to raise awareness for the national level campaign of “Electrifying Everything for Everyone”. What better way to do it that through some “Sustainabil-i-Tea!

So we set about selecting a blend of tea as a community. We had 9 delicious teas to select from. We finally picked our top 3 and Morning Dew was the winner.

Shout out to Rewiring Australia, Electrify Canberra and Adore Teas for their ethically sourced tea!

Stay tuned on ways you can support this campaign. For more information and to get involved contact supriya@mvsustainability.org.au

Huge thanks to local landscaper Joel (from Vale Living) and Home Hardware (for the concrete) for helping mover us one step closer to our goal of creating a Cool Safe Space at Dwell in Ascot Vale. These posts will form the backbone of a ‘gree wall’ to be covered in an edible climber to help shade the western brick walls from the harsh summer sun.

One day, we hope to have created a heat refuge, running on clean renewable energy, for the community to use during extreme weather events.

Email Logan at logan@mvsustainability.org.au to find out more or get involved.

March was a busy advocacy month for us . It seems we had a lot to say and we wanted to share with you positions we have taken on a range of issues. See the following links to letters we have submitted on behalf of MVS.

1. Boeing Reserve – Objection to Installation of Fence
2. Five Mile Creek Neglect
3. Climate Emissions – Proposed initiatives for the Let’s Go Zero Community Carbon Emissions Reduction Program
4. No Glyphosate – Award Contract No. 100070 for Weed Eradication and Laneway Cleaning
5. Submission to Engage Victoria re Strengthening Planning Controls for Waterways

We would love to hear from you! There are many ways to get involved with your local community through MVS.

• Come along to an MVS event and chat with us
• Email us at info@mvsustainability.org.au
• Head on over to our  Membership page to become a member
• Fill out our Volunteer  form to let us know how you can help / get involved
• Join our Moonee Valley Sustainability Forum Facebook group
• Follow our Moonee Valley Sustainability Facebook page
• Follow Moonee Valley Sustainability on Instagram

Until next time…

Yours Sustainably