Three minutes with...Ngaire McGaw | Ipswich News | Local News in Ipswich

NGAIRE McGaw is a wife, mother and staunch advocate for the environment – most widely known in the community for her role as convenor of Sustainable Jamboree. With a background in health promotion, and a current job as a policy officer, she also puts on the hat of volunteer for the Centenary Community Connection, Centenary and District Environment Action group and the local catchment organisation.

The Satellite decided to find out where her passion came from and if there was anything hard about living an environmentally friendly life.

 

Q: How did you develop an environmental conscience?

A: I think my first encounter was as a health promoter working in Sydney. We were trying to increase walking and cycling as an obesity prevention strategy, and along with that we also had environmental objectives. I also went to a seminar about sustainable buildings and that was a bit of light-bulb moment.

 

Q: What’s the biggest change you’ve made in your life with becoming more environmentally friendly?

A: I have to admit that I find the transport side of things really difficult because I was never allowed to ride a bicycle as a child for safety reasons. Not using the car has been the biggest challenge for me. One thing we have been able to change is going down to seven kilowatt hours a day in our house; we started off around 23 kilowatt hours a day. We really started reducing energy use in a big way in 2006 when we moved house and saw it as an opportunity to invest in changes to the house, like putting in solar hot water.

 

Q: Is there anything about your lifestyle which you don’t think is up to scratch yet?

A: Two things, for one we can continue to bring our electricity usage down even further and I think it’s an ongoing process. Another thing is keeping all of our organic waste out of the bin. Composting is something that is easy to do and stops unnecessary emissions. Transport does continue to be the biggest challenge as a family. We try and find local holiday destinations so we’re not flying all over the place.

 

Q: What is your guilty pleasure? Something you wouldn’t give up?

A: I have to say my guilty pleasure is meat. I can’t see myself becoming a vegetarian.  

Q: What do you think is the worst thing a normal run-of-the-mill person could do for the environment?

A: Wasteful use of the air-conditioner is something I’m horrified about. These people are contributing to the need for air-conditioning because the more admissions, the hotter the climate gets – it’s a vicious cycle.

 

Q: Can one person really make a difference?

A: Totally, yeah, it’s very hard on your own though so that’s why with Sustainable Jamboree we are really keen to learn from each other. It doesn’t matter where you are on the spectrum, you can always move along.

 

Q: You do a lot of volunteer work in the community, what do you do in your down time?

A: I have to admit I went up to Mt Tamborine on Sunday and had the guilty pleasure of getting up in the car. We went to see the glow worms - it’s important to get back to nature as often as you can; it’s a good reminder that there are other living things right at our doorstep.

 

Q: If you could change one thing about the Jamboree community what would it be?

A: I’d probably get rid of the Centenary Highway (laughs). It divides the community and means people are more likely to get in the car. But that’s a complete fantasy.