by Violet Li
Abbie Lane is far too modest to shed any spotlight on herself, so her coworker had to break the news in the Green Living Casey Facebook group that the busy bee had just been recognised by Casey Council for her 15 years of valuable contribution.
“Our Facebook group star has been keeping Casey people entertained and informed for 15 years. She truly lives green and we’re proud to work alongside her,” the congratulation post wrote.
“That’s probably why she attracts crowds of adoring acolytes at any event. We’re fans as well.”
Hundreds of members in the group celebrated this milestone and thanked Abbie for her devotion to the green cause.
Serving as Casey’s environmental education officer, Abbie adores and enjoys her job to a certain extent that she did not even notice how time flied.
“It is constantly changing. There’s so much change in this realm with different information and knowledge,” she explained why she disregarded time.
“You’re constantly learning. There are constantly new challenges.”
The biggest change has to be the birth of Green Living Casey Facebook Group in 2018, which started as an experiment and evolved to glue the like-minded people.
Realising they were limited in how much eco-friendly information and education they could put out there, Abbie and her coworkers ventured into more online avenues.
“We run sessions, and we go out to events. But we were trying to look for other ways that we could potentially get all the messages out there,” she said.
“There’s only so much we can get on the main Casey page. We wanted to create something that was a bit more useful to the community.”
Another driving force was the people.
Approached by a lot of women during the green events she run, Abbie found out they were eager to bond with those who shared the same values.
“Their friends, children, and families just don’t get what they are doing. They are all saying, why are you bothering with this green thing? Why would you bother sorting your recycling?
“These women have this overwhelming feeling that they are surrounded by people who are not interested.”
“That made me wonder how I could find them the right people.”
The start-up phase was hectic for Abbie to juggle with different layers of responsibilities. She had to make sure members were following the regulatory rules, answer questions with scientific minds, and discover what topics mattered to the community by trial and error.
She recalled grabbing work laptop in a flurry on a Saturday night after seeing an impolite post.
Five years later, the group has matured into a haven for green conversations with more than 3000 members.
There are all ranges of people active in the space, from those who are just dipping their toe in the water to incredibly eco and green kinds.
Every week Abbie coordinates posts, answers questions, and leads the conversation.
She noted that the most frequency question usually revolved around what could be recycled and what could not.
“When people are questioning things, it’s usually about what’s topical at the time, like soft plastics, waste recycles,” she said.
“They want to know why they can’t do certain behaviour and why they can do the others.
“We provide them with that extra information, and hopefully to change those behaviours.”
Messages are getting across, as Abbie found that many members would volunteer to help with questions with spot-on answers.
“People are understanding the knowledge. They’re questioning things as opposed to just accepting on face value that something is recyclable or eco-friendly,” she said.
In retrospect, Abbie said the connection with the community motivated her along the road.
She recalled meeting a nice lady in the group who had just repainted the kitchen years ago, and in just the blink of an eye, the lady got grandchildren and was now telling her about the stories with the kids.
“I really like talking and having these conversations. I like engaging with people, hearing their stories, and following their journeys,” she said.
“I also get paid to talk to people and write to people about the things that I like to talk and write about.
“It’s a win-win situation for me.”
