Kyla Brettle Podcasts

30/03/2024

The case for nature. I’ve been looking at website - a not for profit that advocates for better laws to protect the environment.

The blog covers ongoing efforts to litigate for climate and gives a look in on climate news in the high and supreme courts.

I’ve been checking out their info booklet on Greenwashing - Here are a few different ways to get that toxic green luminous glow…

“Additionality” - That emission reduction was going to happen anyway — but I’m going to claim it as a my recent climate action

“Verifiability” - Lets fudge the facts and make unproven claims

“Leakage” - I’m going to truthfully say I’ve changed — I’ve taken emissions from this part of the process and added emissions to that part of the process.

“Permanent Reductions” - I’m going to reduce emissions for the time it takes to tell you all about it - and then they are going back where they started

“Double Counting” - I’m going to do some flashy accounting and count my carbon offsets more than once

https://www.edo.org.au/what-we-do-2/

24/03/2024

Author James Bradley has described our response to climate change as a ‘failure of the imagination’ - of our inability to imagine a different world. He cites Fredrick Jamison's famous quote - that it’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.

Reading an article by Jeremy Lent in Yes! Magazine, link below — all about ecological civilisation - developing visions of a kind of world to pin up on the wall and strive for. Ecological civilisation is really degrowth by another name.... and does away with the idea that human civilisation can live independently of the planet.

The articles gives ‘6 rules for humans rejoining the natural world’ -

1. Diversity
2. Balance
3. Fractal Organisation (the small reflects the large)
4. Life Cycles
5. Subsidiarity (decisions taken at the lowest level - closest to where they have effect)
6. Symbiosis (interdependent living)

It’s a an inspiring set of design principles that can be applied at any level.

article | https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/ecological-civilization/2021/02/16/what-does-ecological-civilization-look-like

20/03/2024

Had a lovely morning shooting a tiny film with cinematographer Richard Wynn and soil technician and YIMBY & The Hub Foundation compost champion, Mikaela Beckley who both generously donated their time.

I'm currently messing about putting a vision track to an audio grab I liked in one of the Everything We Need episodes (dropping next month on April 22)

13/03/2024

Sometimes it can feel like the small things we do like recycling and reusing, repairing and refusing (and so on) are too small to be effective…. But it matters!

This CSIRO report makes a strong argument for all the ‘r’ words - or the circular economy, where the waste of one product becomes the source materials for another…

https://research.csiro.au/circulareconomy/material-flow-report/

Here in Australia, our material footprint is four times the global average! But we are getting better - since 2015 we (Australia) has shifted the dial of our ‘circularity rate’ from 3.5% to 4%…. But we have a long way to go - we should be able to get up to 32%, even under the current system.

So while it takes more of our time, care, love, labour and consideration to change
the way we do things at home, how we travel and eat… we need to remind ourselves that doing this really does make us more efficient, effective and ethical, in a global sense.

Our report details Australia’s material use, highlighting opportunities to transition to a more circular and sustainable economy.

08/03/2024

I’m dehydrating plums and figs while the sun shines.

These beautiful autumn colours feel at odds in this summer heat - but that’s the way things are now.

We grew the figs ourselves — but the super sweet COE golden drop plums come from a local organic orchard my man volunteers for a day a week.

Participating in the gift economy, in this small way - was part of our overall plan to downshift or ‘degrow’ the household income…. We do it cause there’s a pretty strong correlation between making lots of money and doing lots of damage to climate and environment.

But back to dehydrating plums — the best life hack I have on this is to save those little ‘do not eat’ sachets that remove moisture (found in packets of mountain bread and yaki nori). Add these to your jars of dried fruit to help them last through to winter — for when you really need that sweet golden drop of summer sunshine.

05/03/2024

“The Need to Grow” is an interesting film that’s free to watch for a limited time. I recommend it - as much for what is misses as for the valid points it makes. You can watch it here: grow.foodrevolution.org

The film explores the destruction of soil health caused by mainstream agricultural practices - and tracks the stories of three different soil advocates - all taking individual approaches to solving this problem.

The first soil advocate is a child activist - a six year old who clearly has no beef with fast fashion or air travel or plastic waste - but is seeking to get GMOs out of girl scout cookies.

The second character is a small-scale organic farmer whose farm looks like a sterile factory with no piece of green out of line - he grows vegetable in huge machine-made socks filled with high-quality, microbe-rich organic soil.

And the third is a visionary inventor who has come up with a tiny power plant that grows food, improves soil health, creates no waste and runs on algae. (And I have to say, even with the acres of steel and concrete that went into the making of it - I found this green power plant truly inspiring….)

The science in the film is great - and the message is clear that we need to work with natural systems rather than pit ourselves against them - and the need to end the corrupt Big Ag cartel along with monocultural farms and synthetic fertilisers.

But I came away feeling the film was complicit with a lot of the underlying problems that contribute to the soil crisis:

> Individual heroes are seen as the force that will save us, rather than empowered communities and movements. The film encourages us to be well behaved consumers rather than active citizens.

> A myopic rather than holistic understanding of the problem - as if soil health is simply a ‘bad part’ that can be removed, fixed and slotted back in - and not a problem that integrated with a rotten whole that includes acidification of the sea, biodiversity loss, climate change etc etc

> The value of human exceptionalism is strong in this piece - it does nothing to question the assumption that our species is the centre of the universe - giving no thought or consideration of the rights of other life forms… thinking that got us into this mess

> Ignoring First Nations knowledge - the film claims a lot of ‘firsts’ re working with natural systems - as if Western knowledge systems are the pinnacle of civilisation.

All food for thought. Give it a watch and let me know what you think :)

04/03/2024

Paid a visit to the ladies last week - to check their preparations for winter. Sadly, only one of my three hives had honey to spare - so I’ll be calling on the hive mind and seeking some local advice about this.

I got into bee keeping several years ago when the Flow hive launched the dream of honey on tap… it was a gateway into another world - and while I’ve done courses and read books - I’ve learnt the most by simply doing it.

I’m still just muddling along - but never ceased to be amazed by these creatures - not just the superfoods they create and the magic of how they communicate - but their capacity for coordination, their commitment to the cause and the deep knowledge they display.

The bees have much to teach humanity about what it means to be a good super organism…

My three bits of beekeeping wisdom:

> If you're stung, gently scrape the area from the bottom where the stinger is lodged using an object like an ATM card - don’t pinch or tweezer it out from the top, as the poison sac is located there and could be inadvertently injected into you.

> Harvest honey the low tech way (without expensive flow hive or centrifugal spinner) by crushing up a honey frame in a pasta strainer and letting it strain over 24hours. Collect the wax at the end and make fun stuff.

> Don’t fear the swarm - bees are at their most vulnerable and unlikely to sting - if they left the hive in an ordered way, they will be so fat with honey they won’t be able to bend enough to get their singer in you.

25/02/2024

What are all the things you'd need to consider in an emergency weather event? Having a plan for different situations can help.

I've stumbled on a great resource for being prepared for 'all eventualities' - developed by Ku-ring-gai Council in Sydney - every council should have a website like this!

It's worth a read, regardless of where you live because there's lots of transferrable knowledge and take aways in there for anyone wanting to assess their situation in an extreme weather event and identify where they can skill up and step up.

https://climatewisecommunities.com.au/

Check whether you, your property and neighbourhood are prepared for future extreme weather events. Assess your vulnerability and gather information to write a well informed extreme weather event resilience plan. You can also ask an expert anything you’re not sure about – The Local Emergency Mana...

24/02/2024

Making batches of basil pesto to store in the freezer - so we can have slow food fast during winter.

It takes me back to the ‘90s, eating pesto pasta at Mario’s Cafe in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne - I remember it freshly made; a vivid green with a dollop of cream to nudge the pesto and the pasta to snuggle up and cosy along.(according to the film 'When Harry met Sally' - pesto did for the 90s what quiche was in the 80s)

We use a recipe from Stephanie Alexander’s Kitchen Garden Cookbook - but have modified and forgotten to refer to it for so long she’d be horrified.

My hard earned life hacks for basil pesto are:

> Don’t spend the big bucks on pine nuts - save money and use raw macadamias, cashews or even almonds - and roast them yourself

> Whiz the nuts up separately and then add the pesto mix (otherwise the nuts get too mushed up and lose all shape and texture

> We make vegan pesto by skipping the Parmesan cheese (the cheese is super expensive and can get lost in there)

23/02/2024

Do you work or volunteer for a school? A kitchen garden can be a great way to teach young people essential skills

Small grants of $5000 for schools to kickstart a kitchen garden....schools, hospitals and medical centres, child care centres, nature strips.... so many good places to put a communal food garden!

https://www.kitchengardenfoundation.org.au/kickstart_grants_2024?fbclid=IwAR0tFMr3v_7CcfcCMIG_EJn27aRl4Y094ApD0pK6oCRg0TiMP8gxgH4vBbk

Since 2019, the Kitchen Garden Kickstart Grants have provided much-needed funding to under-resourced schools across Australia. Generously funded by our partner General Mills, the Kickstart Grants have supported 36 Australian schools, empowering 9,309 students to grow, harvest, prepare and share. App...

21/02/2024

How well will your home perform as emergency events become more frequent - and what can you do to bolster your home's resilience to fire, storm, flood, heatwaves and drought?

Sharing here a fantastic resource developed by - it's specifically designed for homes in the Loddon Mallee Region - but the principles are relatable to all... well researched, clear, easy to read and apply - highly recommend!

A new resource has been developed for households in the Loddon Mallee region to help make homes and properties ready for extreme weather events. The Home Upgrades for Climate Resilience Workbook ...

18/02/2024

A great framework for thinking about what we need to adapt to climate change and build the resilience of our people, our places and our sectors …

This graphic comes from the ADAPT Loddon Mallee Climate Ready Plan - a state government initiative to work out what we need (in our specific region of central Vic) to adapt to what’s coming.

The Plan is a useful resource for thinking through what we can all do - it both details climate projections for our area and lists recommended actions that speak to the four goals of knowledge, security, wellbeing and connection.

I’ve had a bit to do with plan - both as a participant of the ADAPT’s Climate Leadership Program and as a media maker/storyteller…. And the podcast series that will launch here started life as a way to listen to community responses to the crisis.

My hats off to Dona Maria and Geoff Caine for leading this brave vision for moving forward

link to the plan | https://climatereadyplan.adaptloddonmallee.com.au/our-climate-ready-plan/

18/02/2024

Hey Lovely People - thanks so much for showing support and liking my podcast page.

I've set it up to help promote and develop conversation around my forthcoming podcast series, EVERYTHING WE NEED - which will be published by SBS Audio in a couple of months.

EVERYTHING WE NEED is a six part climate podcast about making change in our lives for the better, with stories about people and communities responding to climate impacts by connecting with where they live to protect the things they love.

Putting this series together has been huge for me and I'm pretty excited to be letting it go and into the world...

So it's great to have you here

17/02/2024

I love this post by scholar and activist Anitra Nelson on Peter Yates's Substack, Degrowth Central Victoria (and the world) - inspiring and challenging.... I feel that degrowth makes room for personal growth in a genuine way

Can we come together to find another way?

16/02/2024

This is a great resource for those needing to support and help prepare the very young for the unprecedented

https://www.abc.net.au/abckids/early-education/helping-hands-disaster-resilience-tool-kit

16/02/2024

Community wealth building projects are everywhere - putting power and finance into the hands of locals to support locals.

11/02/2024

This is an exciting thing to happen in my little shire - community owned investment is a wonderful thing!