Australians have become more concerned about climate change after the recent floods in Queensland and northern NSW. Journalist Stephanie Tran said in her Guardian article that climate change has topped the list of local issues that mattered the most to voters in the 2022 election, with focuses mainly on “natural disasters”, “food securities”, and “transitioning the economy away from a reliance on fossil fuels”.
While urging the government to take action on the issue, many residents in Melbourne are also shifting to a more sustainable lifestyle through package free shopping, urban farming and paper recycling. Photo taken on June 2, 2022 at CERES Environment Community Park.
Gram Sustainable is a bulk food store in Fitzroy, Melbourne, that aims to minimise the use of plastic packaging. Dry products such as dried fruits, nuts, grains, flour, and spices are stored in lidded metal buckets and jars with ingredients and price labelling.
Hand sanitisers and clean tongs and scoops are available to ensure food safety and avoid cross-contamination of ingredients.
Customers can either bring their own reusable containers or use the paper bags offered in-store to select the products they need and weigh them separately at the checkout. Reusable cloth bags and glass containers are also available for purchase. Photo taken on May 19, 2022.
Lauren, a staff member of Gram Sustainable, said the store purchase most of its basic products like flour and rice from local suppliers to cut down shipping emissions and plastic packaging.
“A lot of our suppliers do either use paper bags for things like the granolas and that, or cardboard boxes for any of the reusables and the fridge stuff,” she said.
However, certain products such as magnesium salts and spices from overseas still require plastic packaging for shipment. Photo taken on May 19, 2022.
A customer entering Gram Sustainable store on May 19, 2022.
Lauren said more locals and tourists are visiting the store since Melbourne started to open up again. “They come into here, and they’re like ‘well, what a good idea!’” she said.
She said she thinks there is increasing awareness of the climate change issue, but people are still finding ways to integrate sustainable options into their life.
Just 800 meters away from Gram Sustainable is another bulk store that sells packaging-free food ingredients and household products. Friends of the Earth Food Co-op and Café is a not-for-profit enterprise operating in Collingwood since the 1970s. By selling bulk groceries and local produce in re-fillable plastic containers and jars, they promote sustainable consumption and ethical food production.
The store is a campaign under Friends of Earth Melbourne, an environmental social justice organisation with offices worldwide. The upstairs of the store is a campaign space where members hold meetings on topics including climate actions, sustainable cities, and anti-nuclear energy. Photo taken on May 19, 2022.
A cabinet at the corner of the store offers free donated jars for customers who did not bring their own. Customers are required to weigh their empty jar before filling in the ingredient. Each ingredient has a unique product code for customers to label on their filled jar as they bring it to the counter for checkout.
Journalist Anton Nilsson said on ABC news that bulk buying to reduce plastic waste has become “somewhat of a trend” in Australia as more and more “specialist stores popping up around the country”. Photo taken on May 19, 2022.
Len Rhodes, a volunteer and supporter of Dr Monique Ryan on the 2022 election day at Kew Primary School.
Mr Rhodes said the climate change issue is probably the most concerning issue for residents in Kooyong. “I did quite a lot of door-knocking in Kooyong, and I found that was probably the number one issue that people mentioned,” he said.
Dr Monique Ryan is an independent candidate running in the Victorian seat of Kooyong. She has been criticising the government for not taking “real action on climate change” on Twitter. One of her key policies is to build a “strong economy based on clean energy”.
CERES Community Garden is an urban farm in East Brunswick, Melbourne that has operated for 40 years. It provides space for local members to grow food for their families and for visitors to learn gardening. The project aims to educate people about the importance of urban food growing in increasing food security. Photo taken on June 2, 2022.
A report realised by Farmers for Climate Actions in March 2022 says climate change is putting Australia’s food supply at risk. The author Stephen Bartos said in his report that empty supermarket shelves “will become a more common experience for Australians as the impacts of climate change worsen”.
Posters inside CERES Community Environment Park to educate visitors on the importance of paper recycling. Photo taken on June 2, 2022.
CERES Community Environment Park offers environmental education to both children and adults through excursions, incursions, workshops and courses. Their education programs aim to teach the community about the need to take climate action and to explore possible solutions to increase sustainability at school and home. Their workshops include “creating and implementing a zero-waste policy in schools”, renewable energy education activity, sustainable gardening and more.
Brad Dwells, member of The Greens at Kew Primary School on the 2022 election day.
Brad Dwells said he thinks there isn’t enough awareness around the climate issue in Melbourne. “I think what we really need to do is put pressure on politicians to move these issues forward as a nation,” he said.
The Greens is a left-wing political party in Australia. They have been advocating for replacing coal and gas with 100% renewable energies and developing a renewable export industry.
Mr Dwell said he thinks manufacturing things with electricity generated by green technology is a “huge” industry available, and that Australia has “a lot of opportunities” to “lead the world in solar technology”.
