Linda Ballis


Linda has always had an awareness of alternative  medicines and the importance of whole natural foods in promoting health. Her awareness and involvement in environmental concerns began many years ago, long before it became a catchphrase.

Linda has a Bachelor of Applied Science from Swinburne University with majors in Mathematics and Computer Science.
After completing her degree  Linda spent a number of years working as an Actuary in several Superannuation companies before leaving the office environment to work in the family retail poultry businesses.

Linda has interests in, and completed courses in, the following areas:

• Alternative medicine, mainly

• Homoeopathy,

• Kinesiology and

• Naturopathy,

• Sustainable living,

• Renewable Energy, and

• Energy Efficient Buildings.

Linda and John designed and owner-built a 10-star rated energy efficient house in the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria. This house was also built to Feng Shui standards.

Linda spent nine years teaching at a  community primary school as well as being the treasurer and serving on the governing committee of the school.  

Linda also spent a number of years volunteering as a cub leader and has been on numerous camps with young children.

She has always had an interest in the education of young children and the methods of helping them achieve to their best potential to give them the best start in life possible.

Linda spent a number of years working in  Administration and Finance roles in several community minded and philanthropic organisations, the last being a company that provided home and personal care to the elderly and disabled to help them to live in their own homes instead of being institutionalized.

For the last 25 years Linda has done all the administrative and financial work for all the various family businesses.

Currently Linda is supporting and investing in several companies in areas where her ethics and passions lay, these being mainly the environment, health and the global community.

One of these campaigns is to establish a community solar farm in the Yarra Ranges whose aim is to build and operate photovoltaic solar farms producing 100% renewable electricity in the Yarra Ranges and surrounding areas. This has been set up as a co-operative, similar to Hepburn Wind and is currently looking for members to invest in the co-operative.

More information on Ranges Energy can be found at http://www.rangesenergy.com.au/

Linda campaigned for councils to introduce recycling bins when her son was a baby, around 20 years ago and believe I was part of the campaign that eventually got recycling bins as standard in many Victorian councils.

In the late 1990’s Linda was using cardboard boxes for groceries, long before green canvas bags became the norm. She can remember going to the supermarket and being told if you aren’t going to use a plastic bag then you have to pack your groceries yourself. Thank  heavens we have progressed since then and in a relatively short period of time green canvas bags have become the norm and it now appears unusual and  frowned upon for people to be taking all their groceries home in plastic bags.

In one job Linda had, which was in the accounts department of a home and personal care organisation she used to be appalled at the amount of paper that was thrown out on a daily basis and the amount of food that was thrown out in the lunch room. As a result she organised for a paper recycling program to be used and it quickly became accepted. She also started a compost bin to be used in the kitchen. She used to take this food rubbish home each day and added it to her own compost bin at home. She was amazed at how little knowledge some people had about what could and couldn’t be composted but found even this little bit of educating people was immensely satisfying. When she left one of the other ladies took over the compost bin duties and told Linda she was starting a compost bin at home specifically so she could do so. Knowing that she had influenced someone this much made it all worthwhile.

More information on some of Linda’s environmental work can be found at http://emeraldenvironment.wheeloflifebook.com

Linda has two sons. The eldest, has recently finished studying Aerospace Engineering at RMIT University and is currently working in Sydney. He has been  involved in many youth organisations and spent many years at Air Cadets.  

The youngest, is studying Arts at Melbourne University.  He was awarded the 2008 Young Citizen of the Year at the Australia day awards. He was also awarded the  prestigious Queen Scout award, which involved over 300
hours of community involvement, environmental work and adventurous activities.

Both her children are a testament to Linda’s belief that you get out of your family and relationships what you put into them. 

Linda has always used alternative medicines with her children as they grew up and doesn’t actually have a family doctor as it was never needed. Most people are quite amazed if it is mention that her children have never had antibiotics but they have never needed them. This is partly due to the use of alternative medicines but is also due to the diet they grew up with which included a lot of vegetables and little or no sugar or dairy products.

More information on some of Linda’s alternative health work can be found at http://wholisticmedicalcentre.com/

Due to the understanding that it is important to achieve life balance if you are to live happy, contented and successful lives, Linda co-authored, with her husband a book “The Wheel of Life’s 8 Keys to Success” to help others achieve this life balance. More information can be found at
http://wheeloflifebook.com or http://wheeloflifeblog.com 

“Let us remember, always, that we are the consumers. By exercising free choice, by choosing what to buy, what not to buy, we have the power, collectively to change the ethics of the business of industry. We have the potential to exert immense power for good – we each carry it with us, in our purses, cheque books, and credit cards.”

Jane Goodall, “A Reason for Hope”

“We are being persuaded to spend money we don’t have, on things we don’t need, to create impressions that won’t last, on people we don’t care about.” – Tim Jackson

“Modern agriculture is not a system for producing food, but for producing money.” Bill Mollison.

“If you control the oil you control the country; if you control food, you control the population.” Henry Kissinger.

“We are living on this planet as if we had another one to go to.” Terri Swearingen.|