Contact Monica Winston:
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Out time is up

I am a community development and sustainability worker, mother of one adult son and have been a local resident of Torquay for the last 1.5 years. I work and live on Wadawurrung Country and acknowledge that sovereignty of this land has never been ceded. I am proud to be standing as an Independent Candidate as part of an all-female Alliance – Put Climate First – for Torquay Ward in the upcoming Surf Coast Shire Elections.

I have 14 years’ experience in building highly regarded sustainable community networks in Surf Coast and Geelong. Such as Geelong Sustainability of which I was a founding member, Transition South Barwon of which I was also a founding member and Transition Streets Geelong which is growing daily.

I started and lead with support the successful group Transition Streets Geelong that helps people find interested neighbours to share the journey to reduce their use of water, energy, waste, use sustainable transport and buy or grow local foods.

We had 25 groups prior to covid and many of these people and groups as well as the 1.7K members on our Facebook group and database are still in action in a whole range of ways eg creating edible gardens and Grow Free Carts, attending online TSG program meetings, establishing a new community garden, sustainable retrofitting of homes, educating themselves with the bulk buy of Retrosuburbia and the Seed Savers Handbook, installing water tanks and looking at behaviour change ways of reducing waste and consumption and more.

We have received thousands of dollars of grants over the last four years from both local and state governments and been voted a flagship project of the City of Greater Geelong’s Community Zero Carbon Action Plan.

One thing is clear, the time to take practical proven actions is now. Our time is up. We need the people in our governments to take immediate action to address the climate emergency. Globally governments currently spend 8% of the budget propping up fossil fuel companies and this needs to stop.

We can do this and reach zero emissions by 2030 whilst increasing our self-reliance and quality of life. We can build a strong and sustainable economy for this century.

There is no scientific or technological reason why we cannot do this, only political will. We have the scientific and technological reasons and solutions to act. We simply need to add political will.

We acted immediately with Covid19, and we can do it now with the climate. Put climate first – in all decisions.
~ Monica Winston

www.putclimatefirst.org

Bio

Monica Winston is a leader and educator in sustainability working in Geelong and Surf Coast for 14 years. She co-founded groups such as Geelong Sustainability, Transition South Barwon and Transition Streets Geelong and has spent time on the committee of the Surf Coast Energy Group . She’s a meditator and wellbeing enthusiast. She is committed to solutions that are winners for people, species, environment and economy.