SMART ideas for growing plants, saving on power bills, recycling clothes and even what to do with discarded crusts from kids’ sandwiches were on offer at the seventh annual Living Smart Festival at Speers Point Park on Saturday.
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Lake Macquarie City Council said more than 20,000 people turned out on a perfect spring day to gain ideas and inspiration to live a more sustainable life.
Council’s sustainability manager Dean Chapman said the event was a major success.
“This year’s program, which included outdoor yoga, eco styling workshops, cooking demonstrations, backyard inspiration, kids’ activities and more, seems to have really resonated with the public,” Mr Chapman said.
“The park was abuzz with excitement on Saturday and early feedback from visitors has been overwhelmingly positive. It’s encouraging to see so many of our residents embracing the kind of sustainable practices that the Living Smart Festival promotes.”
Thousands of Lake Macquarie residents visited the festival to collect their two free native plants as part of the council’s annual giveaway.
One of the surprise attractions was the roasting of vegetables using an ancient Aboriginal method called a kup-murri.
Daniella Chedzey explained the technique involves wrapping food in casaurina leaves and sitting it under paperbark before placing it on hot coals, and covering the lot with sand.
“This is probably the first time in 200 years that this traditional cooking method has been used here,” she said.
The festival is also about entertainment and fun.
Entertainers in costume, including some Star Wars characters, were doing the rounds.
One of the Star Wars crew, a Sand People troublemaker, fell victim to The Force – the NSW Police Force, that is.
Senior Constable Matthew Hanlon of Lake Macquarie Local Area Command got into the spirit of the occasion by posing for photographs with some Imperial Stormtroopers before agreeing to requests from patrons to pretend to “arrest that Sand People guy” so that they could take a photo.
Elsewhere, eco stylist and fashion blogger Faye De Lanty presented a fashion parade, showing patrons how second-hand clothes could be reworked into smart, contemporary ensembles.
Staples such as worm farms, sustainable energy companies, and organic food producers were again well represented.