By Peter Douglas
Monbulk mother Sonja Leigh is on a mission to help out her beloved Dandenong Ranges, one plastic straw at a time.
Ms Leigh said she had always been passionate about the environment and, as such, was inspired to found the Swap the Straw Dandenong Ranges movement in April.
Through the initiative, she is working closely with local business to phase out plastic straws and is running a competition for local primary school students to design creative ways to get rid of the environmental hazards.
Ms Leigh said she was in the first few weeks of her Graduate Certificate of Permaculture Design at CQUniversity, when she felt compelled to take action.
She wanted to do something pro-active for the Dandenong Ranges.
A former finance statistician for big banks, Ms Leigh said her background in engineering and mathematical sciences was good preparation.
“I love data, and stats, and I was always armed with statistics in my professional life … but now I’ve got all that around environmental impact, and I’ve developed confidence in my own opinion and knowledge,” she said.
While balancing her study with campaigning and family life is a challenge, Ms Leigh finds permaculture principles also help to get everything working together.
“I do a lot of weekend work at the library, and because I’m studying by distance, it’s easy to go and dial in to class from the backyard, and it’s definitely an appropriate setting,” she said.
Sonja said becoming a mum definitely fired up her passion for creating a better world – and her sons are already following in her footsteps.
“When we go for a walk, they love taking bags and picking up all the rubbish we find, to save it from the waterways, and to recycle,” she said.
“And my four-year-old is already a little campaigner – if we go to a cafe, he’s the first to say, ‘No straws!”
For more details, visit Swap the Straw’s Facebook page.
