Resident of Seddon, black belt in karate and conservation volunteer.
Childhood passions turning to professions
I come from a background in environmental conservation. It’s a childhood passion. That’s me in my nostalgic photo, standing in front of my backyard, all 110 acres of it in Tamworth. It’s where it all started, as I’ve always planted trees and had an appreciation for biodiversity from a young age.
I believe the environment needs to be biologically diverse. It’s important to understand why biodiversity matters, and it’s to do with our habitat. We can’t just have human-friendly species like cows, sheep or a paddock of grain. There’s no diversity. Everything needs to rely on one another, helping each other. In an ideal world, we have chooks eating snails, producing poo which fertilizes the crops, while different plants have a symbiotic relationship with each other.
We can no longer rely on old-school agriculture, where trees are cleared, fields are planted and fertilizers and pesticides are used. There is mass pollution and mass species destruction; it’s killing all the biodiversity.
I was 12 when I moved to Canberra, following my parents. My friends had no idea what it means to be a country kid, who is in touch with the country. They didn’t have a connection with nature. I want to connect people with nature again.
My environmental science communication journey really started in 2011, at Canberra University as a mature-aged student, later moving to Swinburne University. In my final year, I dedicated my focus to anthropogenic climate change. This is man-made climate change, which began during the Industrial Revolution. It has sped up climate change, causing the unnatural release of carbon dioxide. It’s already happening as we speak. A process that takes thousands of years to process, is now witnessed over two hundred years.
We are living in this beautiful bubble in time and space, and we want to keep our species going. If we keep going the way we are going, the bubble will be a bit shorter.
The Paris Agreement in 2016 brought a lot of attention to other people as the USA pulled out of it. It enabled everyday conversations around the world, and people started taking action as the decision makers clearly aren’t. Local people and businesses, like Seddon Deadly Sins Cafe.
Since 2015, I’ve been volunteering my time to engage people in environmental sustainability conversations. I do it through social media, through my blog and by talking to people on the street. Australia is really slow in taking action, and I try to influence the people around me and to build that momentum. It has to start from the grassroots level, resulting in a change of policies.
The world has already moved on, yet Australia is still stuck in the past with the use of fossil fuels, creating more mines to dig out coal. The vision makers have recognised that is time to change, and Australia has lost the edge. It’s knowledge that we’ve had for awhile, and we didn’t take advantage of it.
We live in two realities. One is the objective reality – the mountain, the oceans, the trees and other species. The other is a fictional reality – the stories we tell ourselves. It’s why we are a dominant species as this is what separates us from other species.
We could trade plastic and metal for other goods and services. We could jump on a bus and have an understanding that it will be a safe journey, without knowing the bus driver. We play these roles so well. I am a Scientist. I am a Bus Driver. I studied at this institution and live in this suburb. The natural world doesn’t see our fictional lines in the sand. I want people to get out of that fictional reality and come back to the objective reality.
What can people do to help fight climate change? I thought a lot about practical everyday things that people do so they feel like they are making a difference. My mission and purpose in life is to reduce my environmental impact and to help other people reduce theirs in their own way.
For example, I am doing Plastic Free July. Once your awareness starts growing, it just snowballs and you realise how much waste you produce. The toothpaste you use comes in a single-use container. Your shampoo, your conditioner, your snacks and even your muesli bars – all of them come in a single use container.
This is my challenge for July
However, not everyone can do that so I wouldn’t impose my own intentions and actions on someone else.
Seddon Deadly Sins Cafe are doing their own thing. They’ve cut off straws, they encourage their regulars to bring their own takeaway cup as you can’t recycle disposable ones. There is paper with plastic lining, which causes more waste.
It was a rush of blood to the head when I asked owner Chris if he would be interested in teaming up, and encouraging people to reduce single-use plastic. We talked about how we should do it, and realised National Tree Day was coming up. I came up with the idea to get people to plant trees – and there are events all around the country – and take a selfie with the planted tree. The person with the most tress planted, would get a free coffee from Seddon Deadly Sins.
To date, Seddon Deadly Sins has sold over 700 Keep Cups. To reach out to people and say ‘This is a basic step, to plant trees.’ It works for Seddon Deadly Sins as it gets people to reduce their use. I get people to plant trees, and the café gets people to bring their Keep Cups in. The environment wins, and we get an increase of awareness and education.
I was in Canberra for 20 years, and was the last person standing there as all my friends have left Canberra over the years. I love Canberra, and a lot of people don’t. It could be due to the number of trees there!
I wanted to follow my people as a lot of environmental scientists have big hearts. I call them butterflies. They see something shiny and go ‘Woooh, that’s a good idea.’ Unfortunately, they never finish that one thing and they would go from one thing to another. These are the people who would care about the environment and puppy dogs but don’t really get the message across sometimes.
Where I differ, is I hold true to my purpose. That focus comes from my karate training.
I got into karate when I was 20. I wanted to train and exercise but didn’t want to pay for it. I was a full-time karate instructor, and went door-to-door selling karate, recruiting people into my club. I trained for six months and got my blue belt in a non-contact club environment.
I really enjoyed the karate discipline and married it with my sales and engagement techniques into my own story and beliefs. When I moved, I didn’t follow my family but followed my friends instead. All my family is in Sydney, but all my friends are in Melbourne. Sydney is really superficial, competitive and really about the daily grind. There’s a lot of road rage and it’s not a nice town.
I came to Melbourne in 2012 and got back into karate in 2013 after 10 years away from the sport. I had stopped it previously as I was physically unable to continue.
I teach in a dojo in Northcote. It was the first suburb I moved to when I arrived in Melbourne. When the sharehouse I was in broke up, I moved into my girlfriend’s place in Ascot Vale, and I began exploring the West. There is life on the other side of the river, and it’s a fantastic commute into the city.
In 2017, when I got to black belt, I broke my rib. It was the fourth rib I had broken so I stopped training. Six weeks later, I flew into the Gold Coast for the Karate World Cup. I was against some pretty hardcore world champions. All I wanted was half a point, which was one hit, and I got it. Unfortunately, I suffered another broken rib during the event. So I took another break.
I’ve recently just gotten back into training and I haven’t stopped teaching in Northcote. I’m currently Shodan-Ho. At my next grading, I will be a Shodan, making me First Dan.
In September last year, my girlfriend found work in Geelong, and I ended up working in the Green Army. Members of the Green Army are conservation volunteers, supporting local environment and heritage conservation projects across Australia.
Over the last year, I have seen a lot of changes in the parks across Western Melbourne, so it was only natural for me to find a place to live and work while ensuring I am close to the city.
We both love our community in Seddon.
I have built up a good relationship with the Maribyrnong and Moonee Valley Councils and am currently trying to gain full-time employment in environmental science communication roles. I don’t want to keep planting trees and killing weeds; I would hate to miss out on not educating more people!
