A new book funded by the NSW Government's Environmental Trust highlighting the environmental practices of older Australians was launched on Friday 28 March.
Stories of Experience: Learning from the Environmental Experiences of Older Australians documents 24 stories collected from the senior citizens of NSW on previous green practices.
Ms Meg Bishop who led the project on behalf of the Council on the Aging (COTA) said that the project aimed to highlight a different way of thinking about a number of environmental themes such as energy use, waste minimisation, transport, biodiversity, water use and chemical use and broaden the general community’s knowledge and understanding of the older generation’s experience in protecting the environment.
"The stories highlighted in the book are from an era before the term 'environmental sustainability' was coined or even considered, but there can be no doubt that many of the actions described in the stories would be considered environmentally sustainable in today's terms.
And whilst the reasons for the environmental behaviours of yester year may be different the results or environmental benefits are the same. For example the story from Gloria Selwyn – 'Every last precious drop' – highlights the importance of saving water in a past era, but whilst the reasons for saving water back then might have been different from today, the consequences are the same. They offer us a new way of thinking about our current environmental problems.
Each of these stories is complemented by relevant information on the particular sustainability issue obtained from current experts and sources, including resources available through State and Local Government," Ms Bishop said.
The Stories of Experience project was a joint partnership between COTA and Real Options, a community education consultancy.
For further information or to buy the book please contact Real Options by:
