It is a privilege to write my first letter as President of Sustainable Living Tasmania. Through its various identities and transformations, SLT has a proud history, but the commitment to make a positive contribution to a sustainable environment, both locally and globally remains the same. In 2019, Sustainable Living Tasmania made major changes, recognising that it was no longer sustainable as it was, and would need to transform into a volunteer-led organisation. This transformation is now complete, our finances are stable, and the sustainability consulting social enterprise is making a positive financial contribution to SLT, thanks to the efforts of our lead consultant Todd Houstein.

This now gives us the opportunity, but also the responsibility, to use the resources at our disposal, particularly your support, to deliver on our mission, a more sustainable Tasmania. Climate change remains the greatest challenge of our time and one we cannot rely on governments to fix. Individuals and communities have the power to act to reduce emissions and to protect vulnerable ecosystems, to look out for our neighbours, large and small. With sustainability at hand, and the shock of COVID-19 receding, the Board is working to finalise our strategy and priorities for where we are best placed to help.

In the meantime, we continue to support partners, such as Thriving Tasmania and Sustainable Living in Kingston and stand ready to support new partners and groups with good ideas to make Tasmania and the world a better place.

I would like to thank the Board, our supporters, consultants and donors for being with us on the journey and I look forward to sharing our strategy and priorities for the next chapter in my next letter.

Kind regards
Alexis Wadsley - President

‘Embracing the Cracks in the Pavement’
Turmoil and uncertainty seem to abound everywhere we look as people feel increasingly insecure about their futures and grieve the loss of faith in our crumbling institutions. But what if the current disruptions to our political, economic and social systems hold the potential for the emergence of an economy that can not only provide for the wellbeing of all people, but is centred on tackling the biggest ecological challenges that threaten our very existence? What would this regenerative economy look like and where is it emerging across the world? And what would it take to tackle the political dynamics in this country that continue to relegate so many positive initiatives to the margins?  

About the Speaker
Amanda Cahill is the Chief Executive Officer of The Next Economy. She has spent over two decades supporting communities to manage economic change across Asia, the Pacific and regional Australia. The focus of her work at The Next Economy is to support regional Australian communities to develop more resilient, just and sustainable economies. Most of this work involves supporting communities to transition to a zero-emissions economy by supporting all levels of government, industry, workers and community groups to understand and manage different aspects of the energy transition. She is regularly sought after as a media commentator and has contributed to a range of film and television projects including the 2040 movie and the recent series Fight for Planet A.

Amanda is a 2020 Churchill Scholar, has a PhD in Human Geography from the Australian National University, and associate positions at The University of Queensland and the University of Sydney’s Policy Lab.

Sustainable Living Tasmania has been involved with the Richard Jones Memorial Lectures from the beginning of the trust fund that commemorates Dr Richard Jones’ contribution to ecological understanding and political action. Check the website for more information.  

This year we have been busy helping Tasmanian charities to reduce their energy bills, make their buildings more comfortable, and generate renewable energy. It has been wonderful to apply our specialist knowledge to assisting these organisations who do so much for our community. We were able to do this thanks to sponsorship from TasNetworks. Hear what the charities had to say:

"The education and advice we received from our consultant Todd through the Sustainable Living Tasmania initiative has been invaluable.  Not only did Todd impart so much knowledge on the day of the site audit, but the detailed report and follow-up meeting was way above any expectation I had.  We received a number of recommendations for improvement to implement across our site (small and large). One of the wonderful things that came out of the report and through my conversations with Todd are the ideas I have been able to pass onto staff to instigate in their homes.  Thank you so much for your time and knowledge." - Angela Abbott, Chief Operating Officer, Colony 47

"Thanks Todd and Sustainable Living Tasmania. You did a great job listening to all of our information and concerns and giving them consideration in your solutions report. It's really valuable to us. Every dollar saved is a dollar we can use to provide support to homeless men." - Stephanie Meikle, CEO, Bethlehem House

Do you know a business or other organisation that would benefit from an energy audit or carbon footprint? Delivering these services does some good while earning us an income that we invest into making Tasmania a leader in achieving sustainability. 

Sustainable House Day has again been held in September, this year was an online event, which gave us the chance to inspect homes in every state. Explore houses here.

This annual event is run by renew. Renew provides expert, independent advice on sustainable solutions for the home to households, government, industry and corporate clients.  Their youtube channel contains recent talks and home reviews. 

Also, the Your Home website (Australian Government) is a well organised resource for a large range of sustainable building information.