Eco Living Workshops

Reduce Textile Waste Workshops

These workshops help us avoid, reduce, reuse and become more mindful about the impact our clothing and textiles have on people and planet.

Community Clothes Swap Event

Community clothes swaps help us embrace the sharing & preloved clothing economy, take localised action, foster positive community connections, and promote shared responsibility for reducing household textile waste.

Start Here with a Clothes Swap...

Op Shop & Preloved Guided Trail

A guided op shop and preloved trail gives us confidence to step into the preloved shops and learn how to op shop with purpose. Get insider tips for op shopping as well as connecting with others who share a love of preloved.

Discover more about Op Shop Trails...

Visible Mending for Beginners

Rekindling the age-old practice of practical sewing with a dash of creativity, you’ll learn basic and beautiful hand-sewing stitches. This casual mending circle style of workshop encourages us to embrace the individuality & imperfectness of mending by hand whilst being with others.

Learn more about Visible Mending...

Sustainable Slow Stitching for Beginners

Sustainable slow stitching embraces your intuitive style and rhythm. Create unique textile art through hand sewing, using scrap fabric and unconventional materials with basic stitching techniques.

Read about Sustainable Slow Stitching...

Opshop-ology: An Op Shop Panel Discussion

Learn about Opshop-ology...

Email Mardi here for your customised textile-focussed workshop...

Reduce Toxic & Plastic Waste Workshops

These workshops help us take community action by keeping our communities free from rubbish & toxic chemicals, learn about the impacts of plastic usage on people and planet, get creative with plastic reuse and switch to plastic-free and low tox alternatives.

Green Cleaning Workshop

Making the switch to DIY green cleaning products is possible when the alternatives are just as powerful as the artificial chemical-filled products. In this impactful workshop, you’ll learn which chemicals to avoid and why switching to DIY green cleaning products are better for our health & the planet.

Find out how to start your Green Cleaning...

Creating Art from Waste

Foraged marine debris and clean discarded waste are sources of inspiration for creating something new from what we already have around us. You’ll learn to use a range of techniques, splashed with imagination, to create a unique creation.

More info here about Creating from Waste...

Christmas Decorations from Upcycled Waste

Transform your Christmas into an eco-friendly celebration by crafting unique hanging Christmas decorations using repurposed waste materials. This engaging workshop is led by a skilled environmental artist, who’ll give hands-on guidance to craft one-of-a-kind hanging Christmas ornaments.

Learn more about Christmas Upcycling...

Plastic-Free Kids Play

Plastic free kids play helps your family shift the focus from single-use ideas and toys to play that values children’s curiosity, imagination, motivation to learn, ability to problem-solve critically, social connections, expanding language, creativity, and persistence!

Ask about Plastic-Free Kids Play...

Email Mardi here for your customised plastic-reduction workshop...

Mindful Sustainable Living Workshops

These workshops help us gain a greater understanding of the complexities of sustainable living, encouraging reflection on the historical, environmental and societal aspects. By acknowledging the interconnectedness of people, places and production, we gain a greater insight into why sustainable living is key driving the much-needed change towards a healthier planet.

Efficient Home Energy Usage

This workshop empowers us with practical knowledge and foundational skills to make our homes more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. This workshop is particularly beneficial for both tenants and home owners aiming to maximise efforts within our means.

Ask here about Ways to Reduce Energy Usage...

Keep, Toss, Gift: How to Declutter Mindfully

This workshop helps us recognise how decluttering can positively impact our living spaces but also the environment by promoting responsible consumption and waste reduction. You’ll learn the How to’s and where to’s of decluttering your home and space.

Ask how to Declutter Mindfully...

Unearthing Your Eco Strengths

This private, small-group coaching workshop will help unearth your eco-strengths and passions for you to make sustainable living a naturally stick-able, enduring habit. You’ll discover and connect with local solutions that work for you – for positive, kinder change on yourself & the planet.

Start Unearthing your Eco Strengths here...

Evolution of Waste Management: From Past to Present

This workshop acknowledges the interconnectedness and complexities of people, plastics and production. Topics include composting, recycling, and practical ways we can take action to reduce resource reliance and become resource advocates.

Ask about Waste Management here...

Better than Before: Eco Friendly Habits that Stick

Enquire Now...

Email Mardi here for your customised sustainability workshop...

Reduce Food Waste Workshops

These workshops help us reduce our food waste by becoming more mindful about food and where food waste occurs. The workshops give actionable ways to help reduce food waste, focussing on healthier living, and budgeting for positive planet action.

Sustainable Meal Planning

The sustainable meal planning workshop shows how to cook with a zero waste approach, reduce packaging & preservatives for healthier eating, and develop a more mindful approach to food consumption.

Ask about Sustainable Meal Planning here...

Herbal Tea Gardening: A Cuppa & Chat

Ask Mardi today...

Email Mardi here for your customised food-based workshop...

Connecting with Nature Workshops

Understanding and connecting with nature helps us appreciate the benefits of an authentically sustainable lifestyle. It also fosters a deeper connection to our local natural environment, its ecological heritage, and ongoing environmental stewardship

These eco living workshops are focused around immersing ourselves in nature, engaging all our senses, and gaining a fresh perspective.

Nature’s Treasures: Place-Based Impermanent Art

This outdoors, active workshop helps you slow down, take in the surroundings and connect with place. Prompts encourage creative, impermanent, community-focussed works of art that serve to inspire reflection, and environmental awareness for a deeper connection with nature.

Ask Mardi about Nature's Treasures...

Beach & Lake Clean Up & Count

This outdoors, active workshop brings together meaningful learning about littering, plastic pollution, and the steps we can take to refuse & reduce unnecessary products.

Ask about a local Beach & Lake Clean Up here...

Email here about your customised nature-based workshop...

Sharing the Good Word…

The Marine Debris to Art school holiday workshop was received with great positivity & enthusiasm by our community. The conversations throughout the day were valuable and I appreciate your guidance, leadership, and relaxed nature.

Elise Budden / City of Newcastle

Thank you so much Mardi for a wonderful workshop, and for being so accomodating to my Eucalyptus and Tea Tree allergy.

Shaye / Low Tox Green Cleaning Workshop Participant

Mardi sparkles with down to earth enthusiasm and commitment. Her friendly, relaxed and to-the-point content sustained engagement. Enjoyment and learning were paramount.

Leonie / Opshop-ology Panel Discussion Attendee

Mardi’s Low Tox Green Cleaning presentation was inspiring and full of useful recipes, hints and tips.

Alicia Sheen / City of Newcastle

It was wonderful for all ages!

Participant / Marine Debris to Art Workshop

Frequently Asked Questions

Workshops, Presentations and Tours

Where do you offer workshops?

French for Tuesday is located in the Newcastle region of NSW. The main geographical areas for workshops, presentations and tours are within the Newcastle, Port Stephens, Hunter and Central Coast regions.

I will consider some areas of Sydney, including the Sutherland Shire, Eastern Suburbs and northern areas of Sydney. Workshop and presentation costings for these areas will reflect additional travel and time.

Who are the workshops for?

All workshops are ideal for eco-conscious people who are keen to take localised action to plan it for the planet. People who are ready to make a real change in their home, and establish new habits which become second nature. These workshops are here to share that living sustainably doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

Living sustainably is filled with diversity, and so are the people who attend the workshops! Targeted and interested audiences include primary school age kids, young people, business teams, teachers, and local councils who’d like to offer a sustainable living series to their community.

My workshops highlight the positives of what we can do to live a more resourceful lifestyle, acknowledging that we are at different stages of sustainable living.

Can you do a workshop or presentation at my school?

Education is at the heart of Mardi’s professional background! As an early childhood educator for 20 years, Mardi is still keen to share her knowledge with all stakeholders involved in the education system – young children, young people, teachers and families.

A range of engaging and menaingful environmental education workshops and presentations can support the early childhood, primary and secondary school curriculums. Chat with Mardi about your aims and scope of possibilities to bring authentic sustainable living into the classroom or the outdoors.

Mardi has a NSW working with children check.

How much is a workshop?

Most workshops are designed as a 2 hour workshop, and vary in cost depending upon the type and location. Please get in touch with Mardi to discuss your workshop timeframes and budget.

What are the space requirements for a workshop?

All workshops are ideal for flexible learning spaces – spaces that allow for a range of chair-seating, floor-seating, table-seating and standing. This could be in a cafe, a shared space, community hall, office, child care centre – wherever your community is, these workshops can be there to meet them.

Some of the workshops use technology as a complementary enhancement of the presentation. Adjustments to the workshop can be made if connection to technology is unavailable.