Here's the goss on the local musical talent you can expect on World Environment Day this Sunday! These guys are kindly donating their time and talent to play for the community at this important event, so let's give them the support they deserve!

9am Brock and Emma
Singer/songwriter Brock McDonald has been playing lead guitar for 13 years and first began performing in the local area 8 years ago. Taking inspiration from guitarists such as Randy Roads, Joe Satriani and scores of others, Brock's set is comprised mainly of pub rock music, mixed in with some catchy and soulful originals. Teaming up for an acoustic performance for the World Environment Day celebrations with local artist Emma Badger, the pair describe their combined taste as 'eclectic'.

9.45am Something About Fire
Brothers Ian, Colin and Josiah make up this talented young band, playing a variety of original rock. They performed at the Make Poverty History concert last July, and they often donate their time to support youth-run events around Bundaberg.

11.15am Roadmasters
Steve and Barry make up the Roadmasters duo, who will play a range of acoustic rock at World Environment Day. They can regularly be seen performing at The Grand Hotel and Tattersall's Hotel at the Sunday Jam Sessions.

12pm Justin Hansen
Justin is a solo vocalist and guitarist born and bred in Bundy, who plays a wide range of music from 60's rock 'n' roll, to country, to gospel. Watch him perform regularly at local venues such as Signatures Cafe and Alloway Country Club.

1.45pm The Journey
The Journey are a Bundaberg-based acoustic act, with Ben on vocals, acoustic guitar and stomp box, Bevan on lead guitar and backup vocals and Jason on percussion. Their music has an acoustic roots and blues feel. The Journey regularly plays at venues such as The Grand Hotel, Club Hotel and Across the Waves and has currently released a single called "Good Man Down", written by Ben Penna. See www.benpenna.com/thejourney/ and www.myspace.com/thejourneyband for more information.

2.45pm Randal Ing and Friends
Randal, performing with Denny Campbell and Marcos Misso, describes his music as having a rock/folk/jazz influence. He has played originals since the 90s as a soloist in venues around Brisbane. He is now living in Bundaberg.

3.30pm Five Days Late
Five Days Late are a young, talented 3 piece band in grade 12 at Shalom College Bundaberg. Mitch, Greeny and Marcus formed as a band early 2008 and have been creating original music and playing regularly at functions at the school and events such as "RELAY FOR LIFE" and various private functions. They are currently recording a demo. See www.myspace.com/fivedayslateband for more information.

Email jacqui@sustainabundy.org to find out more about any of the musicians listed here. See you at the music marquee at the PCYC this Sunday to celebrate World Environment Day and enjoy some quality, live and local music!

*Keep pumping out the positive energy- shine on!*

The 2008 Bundaberg World Environment Day Celebration will be like nothing this town has ever seen! Here's the latest:

Part of moving towards a low-carbon lifestyle includes using smart housing design, like using natural sunrays to light your home. Hot off the presses: attendees at the W.E.D. celebration will have an opportunity to win a Solatube 250mm skylight, fully installed in their home, from Allsafe Energy Efficient Products - valued at $500! Free light..... Now that has to be a good thing! We thank Allsafe for their sponsorship and their excellent contribution to World Environment Day!

Bundaberg Regional Council is participating in MobileMuster's "Old Phones, More Trees" campaign, running from now until World Environment Day. This is following on from last year's "Old Phones, New Trees" campaign, where a native tree will be planted for every mobile phone handed in for recycling. Last year was very successful with 75,000 trees scheduled for planting across Australia! Since the CDMA network has just shut down, this is a great time to recycle your old phone - bring it with you to the drop off point at W.E.D at the PCYC on June 1st !

In your travels around town, have you seen the premier issue of Naturechain Magazine? Check the local newsagents or Nana's Pantry- if they haven't already run out! It's the free tabloid size magazine with the smiling little boy holding a bag of seedlings on the front cover, an excellent article by organic gardening author Jackie French inside, and the colourful W.E.D. ad splashed over the entire back cover!

Finally, earlier this week Dean and I visited the 93.1 Sea FM studios on Woondooma St. - we had lunch with station manager Trish Mears, then I voiced a 30 second commercial for World Environment Day with promotions director Liana Lambert. It's been nearly 3 years since I left the commercial radio industry in Atlanta, where voicing and producing commercials was what I did for a living - but it was like riding a bike, and I did it in only two takes! Click here to hear the fully produced spot. Thanks Liana! Next week I'll pop in and add one last line about the Allsafe skylight giveaway. Listen to 93.1 Sea FM, where you'll hear the spot air beginning May 19th.

Whew! More as it happens!

World Environment Day is progressing nicely! We've secured a sponsorship deal with Naturechain Magazine - look for our full page ad in their inaugural issue, coming out in the first week of May, and look for the Naturechain stall at the WED celebration! They've also been kind enough to allow us to use the ad as a flyer. You can download it here - feel free to distribute it amongst your email networks! If you'd like to print and distribute it, you'll need to set your printer to size it to fit the paper, as it's tabloid size. There is also a preliminary schedule that can be printed on the back of the flyer as a standard A4 - click here to download. Please note, the Naturechain ad/flyer is not approved to appear in any other print publication.

Naturechain is the Fraser Coast region's 1st Environmental and Cultural themed publication. It's a free monthly full colour magazine that will be home delivered to 16,000 homes in Hervey Bay, 3,000 bulk dropped between the Bay and Gympie and an additional 1,000 bulk dropped between the Bay and Bundaberg. They are covering a huge range of topics like Aboriginal Culture, Green Investing, Zoology, Biology, Water Wise Homes and Gardens, Energy Alternatives, Fishing and Camping, Natural Health and Beauty, Sustainable Building and Living and the list goes on and on. This publication has been designed as a educational collectable series, trying to make people more aware of the environment around them and the little things they can be doing to not only enjoy its natural beauty but preserve it for future generations to come.

In other news, we're in talks to put together a promotional bus route so people don't have to drive to/from World Environment Day, and hopefully we'll also have the library set up as a meeting place for people to walk to WED together! More on both of these developments as details become available!

Just in time to promote our World Environment Day celebration on 1st June, SustainaBundy will have a display in the Bundaberg Library. From the 12th to the 23rd May, a collection of SustainaBundy's books and DVDs on peak oil, climate change, sustainability, self sufficiency, organic gardening and more will be on display in the library entryway - along with a World Environment Day banner and posters promoting the event, sponsors, and participating organisations.

Following the two week display, the contents will become a part of the library collection, available for borrowing by anyone with a Bundaberg Library card. Each book and DVD will contain a card indicating that it is a part of the SustainaBundy collection and a list of the items will remain available on the SustainaBundy website so borrowers can ask for them by name.

The books and DVDs are from our (Dean and Andi's) personal collection. They will do much more good if they're available to the wider community instead of just the two of us, and we're happy to be able to use them to promote WED before they go into the library's inventory.

Just a brief update on World Environment Day:

1. I've submitted an application for sponsorship funding to the Burnett Mary Regional Group - if approved, BMRG will be a major event sponsor. In addition, BMRG has offered to provide information for calculating event emissions so we can offset them, and has offered to help with the organisation of the student debates on sustainability.
2. Bundaberg District Scouts have agreed to be involved on the day and are looking forward to giving demonstrations of solar and haybox cooking and perhaps other demos as well. See below for the list of involved organisations.
3. Rick Haywood from the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland has offered to give his "Biodiversity and Urban Development" presentation and to participate in the question and answer session on the day. See below for the list of invited speakers.

Participating Organisations:
SustainaBundy, Bundaberg Landcare, Bundaberg Community Development, Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland Bundaberg Branch, Bundaberg District Scouts, Hinkler Burnett Greens, Bundaberg Community Garden Committee, BMRG (we've also invited Bundaberg Regional Council to participate and are awaiting response - we will likely have to wait until after amalgamation)

Invited Speakers:
Keynote: Andrew McNamara, Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation
Alison Rickert, Al Gore-trained climate presenter
James Stanfield, Bundaberg Waste Management
Rick Haywood, WPSQ (confirmed)
Ethos Foundation speaker

I'll post more updates as they become available.

Andi Hazelwood
SustainaBundy