Category Editorial

EDITORIAL

Welcome to another issue of Pip. I am coming into my tenth year of publishing this terrific title. When I started Pip, my youngest child was a baby, we were living in our shed, building our house and I had a crazy idea to start a magazine.

I started this because I saw a gap in the market for a beautiful well-designed magazine that was both informative and inspiring, and covered all the different aspects of living a more earth-friendly lifestyle. I didn’t want it to be just another gardening magazine, nor did I want it to be a old-fashioned alternative-living magazine, I wanted it to be stylish and attractive and inviting to read. I wanted it to be full of lots of practical information that would not only inspire readers to live a more sustainable life, but also give them the skills and confidence to have a go.

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Editorial

robyn

Wow, what a time we find ourselves in. Now more than ever it is feeling like the world is in crisis. From recent flooding, to war, to the pandemic and just the general effects of global warming and climate change. It feels like we are reaching a tipping point.

But in the grips of all these crises we’re repeatedly seeing the power of community and how the support and generosity of everyday people to their fellow humans is what is making a difference.

Don’t get me wrong, we need governments to create change on a large scale, but it is at the community level that the most immediate effects are being felt.

In the recent floods, it wasn’t the governments and emergency services that made the biggest impact on saving those stranded on rooftops, it was individuals with boats who went and out and tirelessly saved people one by one from rising floodwater, often with only minutes to spare.

As we mention in our Harvest High feature on page 64, in Brisbane it was a local backyard grower who was able to add fresh produce to shelves of her local corner store after flooding caused her suburb to become cut off as an island. In Europe, it was the Polish families taking in the Ukranian refugees and providing them with shelter, when they arrived lost and with nothing.

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Editorial

In the face of climate change and all that is currently challenging our world, planting and saving seeds to grow food is one of the most powerful actions we can take.

An act of radical hope, it is taking control of how the food you eat is grown, you are actively reducing your food miles and you are stepping away from a system that values profit over the environment.

But you are also creating hope for the future. A future with greater food sovereignty, where food is produced more locally and shared among households, where we aren’t reliant on big companies that are destroying our soils and our environment in a bid to produce food at the cheapest price possible for the greatest profit. Instead, creating a future where it’s possible to regenerate the soil and our ecosystems while we grow food.

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Editorial

Robyn Rosenfeldt

What a crazy year 2020 has been. As I write this in May, we’ve faced the worst bushfires on record, affecting hundreds of towns and communities across Australia. Now a global pandemic continues to have a devastating effect across the globe. Although our lives have been completely altered, it is amazing how quickly we adapt and start to accept this new normal.

I want to start by acknowledging that this is an incredibly difficult time for a lot of people. Being forced to self-isolate has meant job losses, financial hardship, a rise in depression and mental health issues; and there have been the deaths of more than a quarter of a million people, worldwide. Let’s not forget those affected by the fires; many of whom are still living in caravans and having to self-isolate in cramped and uncomfortable conditions.

There are silver linings, however. At the time of writing this, pollution across the world has fallen dramatically. People can see the stars in places where they have never been able to see them before. Mountains have come into view as the smog clears and blue skies appear. Families are spending more time together. People are stepping out into their gardens and onto balconies and growing food.

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Editorial

Robyn Rosenfeldt

As I write this, fires are burning out of control around the country, lives have been lost, millions of animals have perished, thousands of homes have been razed to the ground and over 8 million hectares of land has burned.

As we hear more and more about the environmental crises around the world, interspersed with the lack of action by our governments or even an acknowledgement of the cause of the situation, it can weigh heavy on our hearts and minds. For many there is a feeling of grief and despair. But through all this we mustn’t forget the positive. In amongst the ashes people are finding a beauty as they come together with their communities to care for one another and work out how best to support each other in this new future.

Let this be the impetus for change. Let this be our call to action. To come together as communities and make this world a better place. We can’t wait for the government to take action, although we need to try to force them to. We can start where we are and do what we can, together. There are many types of activism and we need to find how we can make a difference in a way that speaks to us (Climate activism: find your calling, page 62).

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