It’s that time of year again…
As the Christmas break approaches everyone at the ACT-Otherwise team have been extremely busy.

In the last month we have run out first sustainable training workshop for young Canberrans aged 15-25. We had 25 enthusiastic young people attend 3 sessions in the Griffin Centre on Wednesday nights, to learn about diverse subjects like their Ecological Footprint, the Life Cycle of everyday objects, Culture Jamming, and Greening small groups. Even more exciting, we had several innovative projects emerge that our participants will be working on in the coming months.

Such projects include:
• A sustainable rock concert, a totally carbon neutral event to see local music, promote recycling, waste reduction and other green messages.
• An update of the ACT green guide last produced in 2003, to distribute to local households and be hosted online to ensure Canberrans have access to sustainable living options.
• A craft and sewing group that will promote using second hand materials and reworking old garments, giving free lessons on sewing and mending to ensure Canberrans get the most out of their clothes.
• A sustainability program for schools, to help send the message out to young people in Canberra

Many other ideas emerged, that he participants will be integrating into their personal lives, and the groups they are part of within their communities.

Supporting these projects is our brand new blog at http://ozotherwise.wordpress.com/. Check it out for sustainable consumption tips, links, and to see what our workshoppees are up to!

2007 will see the ACT Otherwise team supporting all of these projects, and also running another training course in a local Canberra High School, and possibly in a local Scout group.

We will also be attempting to secure fore funding to keep the momentum going over the next few years in the local Canberra community.

Get involved in ACT Otherwise and volunteer your assistance for future topical training and mentoring for our young people, join our steering committee, register your interest for future sustainability and Train-the Trainer workshops that we may be running in the future or find out more about the project. Contact project officer Julia Collin on Julia@cet.org.au or (02) 6257 6321.