Sustainability the star of holiday program

WITH help from a VicHealth Reimagining Grant, Ballarat Youth Services are engaging their young community in sustainable, waste-free living.

Youth development officer Katja Fiedler said activities last month and throughout April have been or will be green-focused.

“We’ve started No-Waste Cook Club webinars with Open Table, a not-for-profit focusing on community support around food security,” she said.

“A couple of weeks ago we learnt to make dips without waste, and last week we made fruit crumble in no time out of any fruit, whether it was a little bit old or not pretty anymore.

“We also learnt about food storage, how to plan meals, how to plan to go shopping, compost food, and ways to reduce your produced food waste.”

Young people were taught that a carrot can return to a crunchy, fresh state when it’s rehydrated in a bowl of water, and that carrot tops can be eaten.

This coming Wednesday, 7 April from 5pm on Zoom, participants in the No-Waste Cook Club will gain tips about best fruit and vegetable storage.

A visit to Hivemind Community Apiary will teach young people about backyard beekeeping basics on Friday, 9 April from 1pm to 2.30pm.

The following Tuesday from 2pm to 4pm, Girl Space Ballarat will run a beeswax wrap-making workshop with upcycled fabrics at the Ballarat Library, to reduce plastic use.

For those interested in raising seedlings, an origami pot workshop will run at the same time.

BYS is looking to facilitate jam-making and urban food-growing workshops, and a trip to the Ballarat Tool Library next term.

Registrations for all events are via linktr.ee/BallaratYouthServices. BYS runs programs for 12 to 25 year olds.