Green thumb festival returns

CLEAN living across the region will once again be celebrated when the Bendigo Sustainability returns later this month.

Thirty stallholders will be at the Garden for the Future to educate visitors on their unique sustainable products and practices.

Gardening Australia’s Millie Ross will be the main attraction, with the professional horticulturist, garden designer, and writer presenting her creative approach to horticulture.

Festival organiser Liz Martin said after last year’s festival was restricted due to COVID-19, she expects this year’s event to be bigger and better.

“We could only have 1000 last year and I’m sure we’ll have more this year. Millie will be popular, we’ve got such a great variety of people,” she said.

“It’s all meant to inspire us and teach us to live more sustainably and save energy.”

Executive director of Biolinks Alliance, Sophie Bickford, will also be on the main stage talking about the collaborative conservation efforts taking place in Central Victoria.

Saffron growers from Dunolly and sustainable beekeepers from Goornong will educate people on their unique practices, while groups such as the Australian Plants Society and the Bendigo Field Naturalists Club will share simple ways to care for the environment.

“There’s a lot we can do,” Ms Martin said. “Even though it might be small things, we can do a lot. We can save a lot of plastic in our environment, we can stop rubbish going into landfill.

“The main thing we want people to take away is the fact we can all live more sustainably. There’s so many exciting groups we can join, products we can use, to save the climate and save the planet.”

The Bendigo Sustainability Festival will be held on Sunday, 27 March from 10am to 3pm at the Bendigo Botanic Gardens’ Garden for the Future. Entry is a gold coin donation.