Selena Buckingham was raised on the side of Mount Buninyong, on the 80-acre farm her father used to run sheep, cattle, pigs, horses and a variety of other animals.
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Her father, she says, was a person who loved self-sufficiency and hated waste.
She now works in the town, publishing a quarterly journal aimed at improving life by offering alternatives to rampant consumerism.
The managing editor, part-owner and ‘Chief Junkie’ of the sustainability magazine and website Junkies says its motto – Rethink Reuse Reduce Recycle – encapsulates everything that we can all do in many ways to simplify our lives and reduce our impact on the environment.
Junkies was established in 2012.
“It started with a group of mums who wanted decided they wanted to create an avenue for themselves and their friends who were creative,” says Buckingham.
“It was formed as a way of getting people’s artwork and community-based enterprises out there; it’s grown from something that was home-based into something very much broader… there are a lot of women who are very creative out there.”
Currently heading into its 11th edition, the magazine has a strong focus on the Ballarat region and on local craftspeople and food producers, while also featuring articles from around Australia.
“The articles come back to everyday living, in the home, and that is where change begins,” Buckingham says.
“In their homes, these women were recycling and upcycling and crafting things and sewing and preserving things… making things. That’s how it came about.”
The owner of the magazine approached Selena Buckingham after he found he didn’t have the time to do it justice. She says he was looking for a passionate advocate for the causes espoused in Junkies, and she was in the right place and frame of mind to assist.
The fact that she had never worked in publishing before didn’t deter her – although she says that had she known exactly how demanding publishing is she might have thought twice.
“It’s a very hard slog. You’re competing against a lot of people for advertising dollars. It takes a long time to find people who are willing to invest in you. They have to see that the magazine is sustainable itself, you know?”
But Junkies is a success. The edgy title is a draw, says Buckingham.
“People either get it or they don’t,” she says.
For the record, it’s actually a play on, yes, the idea of someone addicted to something – but in this case it’s an addiction to the four principles of the Junkies motto.
“Our audience, and indeed our advertisers, are dedicated to the ethos of sustainability. Our readers will see through people who are not. The brands that we promote do source things ethically, package things well. It does make it hard but people are putting more dollars into sustainability.”
Buckingham admits happily to being an adherent to the ideals of Junkies. With two children, she says she often reacts with swift horror at seeing them heading towards the garbage bin with anything that might be able to be salvaged and reused.
“I’m preaching to them all the time, not just about environmental issues but as young women coming into the world and that whole fast fashion thing, getting them to rethink their choices.”
One the great challenges facing us, says Selena Buckingham, is the vast amount of cheap clothing that is now produced – so much that clothes are turning up in opportunity shops and secondhand stores unworn and with price tags still attached.
So much of the clothing is made in sweat shops in underdeveloped countries, in terrible conditions for workers and using fabrics that are aggressively deleterious to the environment, and we need to face the consequences of our ignorance of that consumption – “the mountains and mountains of waste,” says Buckingham.
“There’s so much clothing that already exists, but it’s the selling of the brands to the kids – that they have to have the latest thing, you can’t be seen in something in last week even. That mentality needs to change and it needs to start with the consumer.
“Rethink is the keyword. Rethink about your use, about packaging, about how you approach a product. Do it from home. Put your soul back into the environment.”
Junkies will be holding an exhibition based on the idea of RETHINK in November at Ballarat’s Trades Hall. There will be a fashion art parade with garments made from recycled material at the opening evening, and then speakers throughout the weekend talking about such issues as sustainability and e-waste, and workshops for participants. The feature guest speaker will be ABC TV’s Gardening Australia host Costa Georgiadis.
Opening is Friday November 17 at 6pm with opening speeches and the parade at 7pm. The exhibition will run over the weekend of November 18 and 19. Opening times are 10.30 to 4.30 with guest speakers throughout the day and workshops focused on recycling and reusing of waste. Entry is free.
This article is part of a Courier series on Women in Design, focussing on women making creative paths for themselves in Ballarat. More, including multimedia, at thecourier.com.au