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Ruth Yeatman welcomes back Phil Bourne and Russell Fisher to continue exploring the big stories of our times. This program was re-recorded on October 5 so some of the events referenced may have developed further or have passed since that date. We began this series of reflective conversations this April and in just a few months our fast paced world brings more to the table for our attention and discussion. To name just a few examples: - massive ‘data centres' are appearing - including in residential neighbourhoods - with seemingly no regulation. Tech moguls are suggesting the need to put the brakes on AI development due to some unexpected ‘rogue actions' from AI run computers. Our children continue to be molested online via ‘social media’ despite recent legislation restricting use/access for under 16 year olds. Shockingly, in just 28 minutes after a young male joins more than one of the SM platforms his feed is being targeted with ‘manosphere’ and misogynist material! ‘The far right’ continues to gain popularity around the world, skillfully dividing societies to serve their political and greedy ends. ‘Migration’ is back on the table thanks to fear mongering by ‘the far right’. Whether it was our ancestors who jumped off the first ships or whether we’ve arrived more recently to this country, simply put, we are ALL immigrants except for the Aboriginal people who have been this country’s First People for over 65,000 years. Our settler ancestors don’t entitle us to live here more than recent immigrants simply because they ‘got here first’, 200 years ago. The three ongoing major wars not only continue their tragic destruction of all lifeforms and habitats in their wake, (human and otherwise), but the are increasing pollution that is accelerating the climate’s temperature to not only to reach 1.5 degrees, much faster than anticipated, but we are now exceeding it. According to the latest UN Environment Program (UNEP) report, titled, Limiting Overshoot, this is increasing the risk of triggering irreversible tipping points such as the collapse of major ice sheets, the dieback of the Amazon rainforest - known as ‘the lungs of the planet’, and the disruption of Atlantic Ocean currents. We’ve recently witnessed the terrible consequence of a melting glacier and subsequent rock collapse causing a devastating landslide in Nepal killing thousands of people, with many still unaccounted for. Phil, Russell, and I aim not to be distracted by any fear or reactivity that may arise in our conversation but rather take pause to discover what lies beneath the surface. We’re keen to bring discernment and scrutiny into the causes and conditions of these and other major events noting them rather as ’symptoms’ that often obscure the view of what’s actually going on underneath. What needs to be observed and learnt to ensure good health and safety for all beings and systems on this precious and beautiful planet to ensure we can thrive, not just survive…..? Join us as we take a deeper dive into the important back stories of our times. RESOURCES TO SUPPORT US IN THESE TIMES: Active Hope Training is a free international online course designed to strengthen our ability to make a difference in the world. Based on the book and online courses by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, it has received overwhelmingly positive results providing practical, heart-centered, and empowering tools to combat climate grief and eco anxiety. https://activehope.training Friends of the Earth Melbourne offers practical ways Victorians can get involved in the lead up to the next State Election. They also have ‘Together for Treaty’ core flutes in their 312 Smith Street, Collingwood office should you wish to hang one on your front fence or balcony. melbournefoe.org.au/vic_election_2026 Common Threads is a new First Nations let organization doing fantastic work raising awareness and offering trainings to harness the power of First Nations leadership, advocacy, and change-making to win transformative change. They invite us to sign a petition that will be sent to Jess Willson urging her to drop her party’s plan to dismantle Victoria’s treaty should they get into power at this next State election. togetherfortreaty.org.au/#sign-petition No Room for Racism Campaign was launched on the first weekend in October this year calling for an end to Racism and the end to racism and division in Victorian politics. The launch marks the beginning of a statewide campaign led in collaboration by Common Threads commonthreads.org.au and Democracy in Colour https://democracyincolour.org in the lead-up to the Victorian elections.  GetUp is currently training people in having conversations with people we struggle to find something in common with, especially people who sit on the ‘far right’ of life in general. GetUp offers a guide with practical tools for talking to people about the upcoming Victorian Election reminding us of the values to bring to the conversation like Fairness, Honesty, Agency and Care. They offer ways to handle objections and provide a link to resources that help prepare for such conversations. You can find the Guide by googling: getup.to/convo-guide And it’s well worth a visit to the First Peoples Assembly of Victoria’s website now under the name of  Gellung Warl, the statutory body created as a consequence of Australia’s first Treaty being signed and then legislated in the Victorian Parliament at the end of 2025. https://gellungwarl.org/  Russell Fisher, an ecologist, strategist, educator and adventurer. He has contributed to many social, economic and environmental justice causes in different parts of the world for over half a century, and has held a number of senior roles including being a past president of Environment Victoria. Russell’s focus is in helping leaders, teams and communities create the space to cut through complexity and tackle their most stuck challenges. His main work is with leaders and teams on strategy, leadership development, culture and innovation. Russell is a passionate cyclist and bushwalker, and has recently moved to Gippsland’s south coast.   Phil Bourne was born and bred in Melbourne. In 1981 he completed a bachelor of applied science (Occupational Therapy) before working in support services for people with an intellectual disability. Phil moved to the Seymour area in 1984 to co-found Commonground, an organisation supporting social and environmental justice by hosting, facilitating, and generally supporting groups working in these areas including asylum seekers, aboriginal, peace keepers, and environment groups. hil has also worked in local community development including being the inaugural Community Development Officer at Mitchell Shire, and a volunteer on groups such as The Seymour We Want, Mitchell Youth Affairs, Seymour Neighbourhood Renewal Project, and BEAM - Mitchell Environment Group, and Allies Supporting Treaty Seymour. Phil spreads his time between Commonground and a developing eco village at Cape Paterson.

This week on EarthChat, Jill Grant discusses the return of soft plastics recycling to Australia and the exciting implications of having a method of dealing with this waste stream again. Australia produces around 70 billion pieces of soft plastic (the “scrunchable” light coverings used in packaging such as chip packets, wrappers, biscuit packets and even bubble wrap and cling film). Prior to November 2022 a company called REDcycle was taking these plastics and doing a great job in converting them into other formats and taking them out of landfill.  Unfortunately the supply outstripped the infrastructure and storage capacity to deal with it and the company folded. However, since the establishment of Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia (SPSA) and a series of innovative new companies investing in the conversion of the waste, we are back on track to deal with this in a constructive way.   Woolworths, Coles and Aldi are collecting packaging again and some Councils are running their own pilot programs to get the supply growing so that new products can be made from the waste plastic including packaging that can be recycled many times, an aggregate that can be used in concrete manufacture (significantly reducing carbon outputs and even a technology for converting the plastic to biofuels. This will significantly improve resource recovery and overall environmental outcomes.   Case studies at several sites in Australia and potential actions for Mitchell Shire residents to participate at home. work, school and other venues will be discussed in more detail.   SHOW NOTES Legacy REDcycle plastics processed as industry calls for more consumer buy-in - ABC News https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-19/soft-plastics-recycling-redcycle-capacity-consumer-demand/106750142 Soft Plastic Stewardship Australia (SPSA) www.spsa.au An independent, not for profit scheme to overcome long standing challenges on soft plastic recycling. SPSA was granted an 8 year exemption by ACCC in November 2025 from certain competition laws so that the industry can re-establish.  It is allowed to collect and recycle used soft plastic under a voluntary scheme Members include over 40 brands and retailers Aims include to provide convenient instore and kerbside access) to around 70% of Australians with over 700 collections points across 5 states and territories (NSW, ACT, VIC, QLD, SA) and 12 Councils in 3 States piloting kerbside collection Report “Efficiency, Productivity and resilience: further integrating recycling into the broader manufacturing supply chains”   Global Stewardship Playbook – a 7 part webinar series offering expert advice on the critical success factors for recycling and producer responsibility systems using case studies and learnings from Europe. iQRenew https://iqrenew.com Mission to accelerate the transition to a resilient and circular use of resources by valuing waste and diverting materials away from landfill and closing the loop on recycling ti create new manufacturing opportunities and and job opportunities Recently constructed a recycling and manufacturing plant on the NSW Central Coast (at Kundle Kundle near Taree) where soft [plastics can be recycled and glass can be turned back into sand at their virtual quarry in Wyong Resin 8 Australia www.resin8circular.com.au This company which is co-founded with the Sustainable Concrete Group (SCG) produces 10000 tonnes of Resin8 concrete aggregate per year using hard to recycle soft plastics to produce a net zero carbon concrete aggregate. Currently scaling up and servicing Melbourne, Victoria but with plans to make partnerships in regional areas and products are available in smaller quantities eg 20kg bags for home concreting applications. Woolworths Soft Plastics Recycling is now available in over 700 stores Find Soft Plastics Recycling Near You | Woolworths https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/about/sustainability/recycling/soft-plastic Find Soft Plastics Recycling Near You | Woolworths https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/about/sustainability/recycling/soft-plastic Eco Bin www.https//ecobin.com.au Manufactured using recycled plastic and able to keep being recycled. Made in Melbourne and assembled locally using NDIS workplaces. Suitable for schools, homes, Government and business offices, healthcare, hospitality, environmental education organisations like CERES, Little Sprouts etc and donate bins to pre schools and primary schools across Australia to raise awareness and better recycling behaviours in the community. How to Recycle Soft Plastics in Australia (2026 Update) https://www.ecobin.com.au/blogs/blog/recycle-soft-plastics soft plastics recycling images at DuckDuckGo https://duckduckgo.com/?q=soft+plastics+recycling++images&t=samsung&ia=web Plasmar https://www.plasmar.com.au Uses both hard and soft plastics to create 100% and 100% recyclable products including fencing materials, sleepers, posts that are durable and longlife. The company issues a Certificate of Chain of Custody or Audit trail that proves the origin of the source materials. Licella https://www.licella.com Award winning Advanced Recycling Company - Licella Holdings Ltd https://www.licella.com/advanced-recycling/ Plastic waste to oil conversion process which creates sustainable biofuels. RecycleMate www.recyclemate.com.au Waste and Recycling made easy – lists stores and councils participating in soft plastic recycling Mitchell Shire Recycling Initiatives www.mitchellshire.vic.gov.au Look under Home/Residents/ Bins, Rubbish and Recycling A-Z waste and recycling guide – covers all potential wastes and how to safely and efficiently dispose of it. Soft Plastics are not currently able to be collected in kerbside bins but Petstock can take back clean petfood bags for recycling and Wallan and Seymour Resource Recovery Centres are taking polypropylene seed, fertiliser, stock feed and grain bags under the Bag Muster Program https://www.bagmuster.org.au an industry led collection and recycling program for soft plastic agricultural inputs, committed to recycling 100 % of collected bags to reduce waste and contribute to the circular economy. Mitchell Shire is investigating the potential for further soft plastic recycling over the next 12 months.

This week on EarthChat, Tim Budge chats with Georgie Purcell, the Animal Justice Party’s MP in the Legislative Council. The EarthChat focuses on Georgie’s work in Parliament, her representation of this big electorate and the important policies of the Animal Justice Party and why they matter for all people in this region. This is the second conversation in our series talking to sitting MPs about their policies and how they are seeking to represent our region. Georgie Purcell is the Animal Justice Party Member for Northern Victoria in the Victorian Legislative Council, having been elected in 2022. A passionate advocate for animal welfare, she has spent more than a decade campaigning on issues including ending puppy farming, banning jumps racing and protecting native wildlife. Before entering Parliament, Georgie worked in union and communications roles and served as Chief of Staff to Victoria’s first Animal Justice Party MP. Holding a double degree in Law and Communications/Politics and admitted as an Australian lawyer, she is committed to advancing animal protection, environmental sustainability and stronger representation for young people in public life. Read more about her here.

This week on Earthchat Marie Gerrard chats to to Una Hobday about a Rotary project that has developed an extensive data bank of native foods suitable for children in danger of malnutrition. In consultation with local gardeners and farmers, the foods have been selected for their nutritional value and local availability. These plants are suitable to be included in community gardens including school and kindergarten aid programs. Check it out on the website “Food Plant Solutions.”

This week Meredith Budge chats with Inaam Barakat, OAM about what it means to be an older migrant, caring within and across communities. Inaam was born in northern Lebanon and moved to Australia as a teenager. Across her life, she has been a committed humanitarian, feminist and advocate for seeing the good in all cultures and in all people. She was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in recognition of her community work with refugees, asylum seekers and many others over the years. In accepting the Award, she said, “This country gave us a great opportunity. I was a young woman when I migrated with my family and I'll do anything to protect my country.” In her work, she is resolute in reaching across cultures, difference and prejudice. She was also recognised as an Ambassador for Peace by the Universal Federation for Peace in 2022. On EarthChat, Meredith and Inaam chat about making the most of opportunities to care for others, for social justice and for never giving up in the face of adversity.

This week Marie  Gerrard chats with Ian Dempsy about the most important issues facing us due to environmental damage. They discuss the damage being done but also possible actions to mitigate them. All on this week's EarthChat.

Jaclyn Symes is the State Labor Member for Northern Victoria and the Minister for Environment, Energy and Resources, Climate Action and the SEC. She is also this week's guest on EarthChat, part of our series of talking to sitting local MPs about their vision for the region and how it aligns with BEAM's commitment to a thriving community for a healthy environment. Jaclyn is a born and bred local, and in our conversation, we explore her early influences, her passion for the local region and how she plans to make positive changes for the residents in its many towns. Find out her thoughts about the Goulburn River and we discuss the need to protect biodiversity, restore habitat and make our landscapes more resilient to climate change. Given her energy portfolio, we discuss the clean energy transition and making sure regional communities share in the reduced costs, jobs and investment it creates.

Does everyone have the same access to financial, legal and health benefits in today's society? Who will benefit from the massive role out of data centres? Does capitalism only work when socialism bails it out every ten years or so? Why is it that "too big to fail" companies are given absolute govt support, and also why does Australia's richest person also benefit from millions in taxpayer-funded support? Is all of this fair? Jacqui and Mark discuss all this and more on this week's EarthChat. Tune in!

FOE's Cam Walker joins Ruth to outline significant environmental issues for this next Victorian State Election. Cam will take us through the issues and then offer ways we can help to be part of the solution. Aside from the destructive and tragic cost for all species of the ongoing wars in Iran, Ukraine, and Gaza, the increased burning of fossil fuels by military forces is currently generating 5.5% of global greenhouse gases which is inevitably accelerating global warming thereby creating extreme weather events. Wild fires in Europe expose some of the global consequences of these extreme conditions. Here in Victoria, many are still reeling from last Summer’s bush fire losses, and now we are heading into an El Niño Summer with predictions suggesting this coming Summer will be even hotter than the last making significant parts of Australia extremely fire prone. Friends of the Earth and other active environmental organizations and groups campaign for a rapid transition to 100% renewable energy, ‘good’ jobs, and climate justice. This means we stop propping up aging coal and gas plants as well as ceasing our dependence on oil by electrifying our homes and locking in renewables, along with securing energy justice - a just energy system that will serve all communities and ultimately their environments with clean affordable power instead of adding to dirty corporate profit. Cam Walker will discuss how we can prepare for the emerging climate threat to Victoria’s ecosystems and biodiversity so we all can take action and support each other - especially those who need to work outside in the heat, including our precious food producers - as well as our wildlife and domestic animals, inner city and rural habitats. In a time when integrity and transparency need to be stridently and overtly upheld as critical values for driving legitimate organizations, FOE continues to independently and creatively persevere their quest for environmental and social justice for us all. They do this by heightening public awareness through education, creative resistance and actions, as well as advocating for social and legislative change through research, policy submissions, press releases, letters, petitions forums, and much more. Increasingly we are seeing Grass roots energy becoming essential to sustain and support community driven environmental and social enterprises such as Friends Of The Earth, (FOE). Join us to see how you can help. Cam Walker is Friends of the Earth Australia’s campaigns coordinator. Cam has been active on environment and climate justice issues for more than 25 years. He has lectured in environmental politics and change theory at RMIT University and is currently working with Victorian communities to protect farmland from unconventional gas and fracking, as well as new coal developments. You can follow Cam’s Twitter feed at @Cam_Walker. All donations to Friends of the Earth Melbourne are tax deductible: https://www.melbournefoe.org.au/donate    FOE strictly screens all financial support and refuses funds from unethical corporate sectors like fossil fuels, mining, and armaments. FOE continues to sustain its existence and activism through a mix of community donations, including individual support, membership fees, social enterprise like running community spaces and the Food Co-op in Collingwood, and philanthropic grants. To view FOE’s history of achievements since forming in 1973: https://www.melbournefoe.org.au/history

This week on EarthChat, Tim Budge talks with Dr Lynne Kelly AM, a science writer and Adjunct Research Fellow at LaTrobe University. After a secondary school career, Lynne returned to university to complete a doctorate, astonished by the way Indigenous cultures manage to memorise and teach a vast amount of practical information, all without writing. Over the past decade, she has focused on the use of story, music, place and art as mnemonic devices for vast amounts of information about the environment. Her books include The Memory Code, Memory Craft, The Knowledge Gene and two books written with Aboriginal co-author, Margo Neale, Songlines: the power and promise and Songlines for Younger Readers. She uses these techniques herself for learning languages, remembering bird species and has twice won the Australian Senior Memory Champion title. On EarthChat, Lynne and Tim will explore the memory methods used by those who depended on their memories for everything they knew: oral cultures including Aboriginal Australian, Native American, Pacific and African societies. We will explore Lynne’s big question, “How the hell do Indigenous elders remember so much stuff? Read more about Lynne here and here.

This week, new EarthChat host Meredith Budge welcomes Clare Claydon as her first guest. A long-time, Central Victoria resident, Clare has spent her life working in community development across education, refugee and migrant support, adult learning, agriculture, Landcare and environmental projects. Having grown up in Ghana, Uganda and Kenya, and later lived in Papua New Guinea, she brings a rich global perspective to her life history and her personal and professional work. Retirement has only deepened Clare’s community involvement. She collects Indigenous seeds to support native revegetation and hosts a monthly First Nations Learning Group, helping participants learn about First Nations history and caring for Country through Indigenous knowledge and practice. What makes Clare tick? Find out and join Meredith and Clare as they explore Clare’s remarkable journey and her passion for the environment and thriving regional communities.

What if the impact of your efforts to save the planet and plant trees could be seen from space? How exciting would that be? Tony Rinaudo is someone who spent 18 years in West Africa seeking to support farmers to regenerate forests and fight desertification. The program, called Farmer Managed Forest Regeneration, has been responsible for growing 200 million trees and reforesting 6 million hectares - about the size of Tasmania. Tony has received many awards for his work, including as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and the Right Livelihoods Award. He is a special guest on EarthChat this week, talking to Tim Budge about his work across many countries and the importance of trees for the whole planet. Get more information about his wonderful book  from the publishers here. Read more about Tony Rinaudo here, here and here.

This week, EarthChat hosts Mark and Jacqui are talking about the environment impact of data centres. It is generally accepted that they will use significant amounts of energy and water. There will be costs and impacts. AI will require multi-gigawatt power and millions of specialized GPUs. Tech giants are building facilities that stretch over a million square metres. However, what will be the actual costs and benefits to humanity, our environment and social structures with all these developments.

Ruth is joined by Dr Greg Moore OAM, a Senior Research Associate from the University of Melbourne, and EarthChat regular, Cath Olive from the Euroa Arboretum. They join her to talk about the latest data collected from this year’s bush fires in Victoria with a focus on the dire consequences of tree loss, particularly old growth trees whose important tree hollows provide much needed habitat for native wild mammals, birds, insects, reptiles and amphibians…. Trees are major keystone species - a single tree is an eco system in its own right. Take tree hollows as just one aspect of the system, for example. We now know we’ve lost 50% of these vital life giving hollows in these latest fires. Such a loss is extremely critical because trees take anywhere from 100 to 300 years to form hollows in their trunks, making them a largely irreplaceable resource. How can we help? Cath talks about the work "The Arb" is doing not only producing hollow replacements with nesting boxes, but other ways to counteract such losses along with prevention education, like the ‘Trees on Farms’ project. Dr Moore will talk about fire-wise gardening, and explain why removing vegetation has a huge impact, citing examples of increased heatwave and wind affects, along with doubling storm damage generally. He will clear up any misinformation about planting exotics in place of eucalyptus, citing Oaks as an example, which burn vigorously if exposed to fire. Dr Moore is concerned that we are trying so hard to control our natural environment and explains how this is contributing to heatwaves becoming a bigger killer than any of the other natural phenomena except for pandemics.  We must acknowledge that we are creating an environment that’s allowing global warming, and act to mitigate the causes where we can, including reducing the heat island effect to keep our cities and towns cooler to lower the instances of heat-related illness and associated medical costs. Greg Moore is a Senior Research Associate, University of Melbourne, Burnley, was Principal of Burnley (1988-2007) and Head of the School of Resource Management (2002-007). Interested in horticultural science, revegetation and ecology, Greg specializes in arboriculture. He was inaugural president of the ISA Australian Chapter, and has been a member of the National Trust’s Register of Significant Trees since 1988 and chair since 1996. He served on the Boards of Greening Australia (1988-2012), Trust for Nature (2009-2017) and is on the board of Sustainable Gardening Australia and TREENET (Chair 2005-2019). He has written three books, seven book chapters and 200 scientific papers and articles. He was awarded an OAM in 2017 for services to the environment, particularly arboriculture. And a reminder about Cath Olive, She is the Development Manager (and much more) of the Euroa Arboretum …. Cath has worked in environmental education and landscape restoration in the Goulburn Broken catchment for the past 28 years.  She is passionate about plants, people and wildlife – working to balance the needs of community and farmers with positive environmental outcomes.  She is inspired by biodiverse landscape restoration and working alongside Traditional Owners in managing country. camping and my dad and I would go plant hunting. The natural world is where I am happiest and content. I have been lucky to have been able to share this love of plants for the last 30 years through my various jobs, generally on Taungurung country – currently at the Arb. Important links: Dr Greg Moore recommends having a good look around the many free resources on the not for profit TreeNet website which supports Urban Forest Research & Education for Communities:- treenet.org Dr Moore will be speaking at an event in Euroa on July 22 from 9.30 - 12.30 venue to be announced - please check the Euroa Arboretum website closer to the date to find out its location: - euroaarboretum.com.au/. And take a good look around at their many offerings while you’re there.

This week on EarthChat Marie chats with Ivan Carter on the detection and control of Serrated Tussock, the working party tasked with its detection and control and the impacts of it. How do we dispose of Serrated Tussock, what are suitable herbicides for controlling it? What help is available to farmers who detect it on their property? Check out the Working Party website for more information https://serratedtussock.com/