Our Super Seniors series celebrates the inspiring stories of older folk who are rewriting the rules of ageing. Embracing life with passion and purpose, these Super Seniors ignore societal expectations and live boldly—whatever that means to them. Join us as we share their journeys of strength, joy, and fearlessness. Want to share your story, or know someone who should be featured? Send an email to news@thecareside.com.au and let us know!
Gerry has dedicated his life to turning waste into opportunity, from helping introduce Australia’s coloured wheelie bins in the ’90s to teaching composting skills in Samoan villages. At 76, he’s more passionate than ever about rethinking waste and inspiring the next generation to care for the planet. Here’s his story.
For Queenbeyan local Gerry Gillespie, 76, growing older hasn’t meant easing into retirement. In fact, age has only fuelled his fire and inspired him to dive deeper into purpose.
A lifelong sustainability advocate, Gerry has worked tirelessly across government and not-for-profits, even rolling up his sleeves in the field and getting his hands dirty to help farmers and communities turn ideas into action.
From showing Samoan village women how to create compost inoculants to playing a pivotal role in Australia’s introduction of the coloured ‘wheelie’ bins in the 1990s, Gerry has spent decades pushing climate-related initiatives forward. In 2019, he penned The Waste Between Our Ears, a book exploring how waste can play a central role in tackling the climate crisis, and currently, he’s preparing to travel to New Zealand to speak on a Zero Waste Aotearoa panel—and he doesn’t have plans to slow down.
He believes cultivating a sense of attention and care is the key to ageing well—whether you’re tending to crops or learning how to navigate life itself.
‘You have to have real compassion for what you’re trying to do, whether it’s growing a veggie garden or 10,000 acres of wheat,’ he explains. ‘You notice the colour of a cow, the look of a sheep. The little details matter. It’s intuitive, and it’s what makes you survive or thrive.’
While balancing a life of large-scale impact, Gerry also makes it a point to tend to his own needs. He has a simple daily routine, which he refers to as his 10-10-10 ritual: ten minutes of meditation, ten minutes of walking, and ten minutes of swimming every day to help him maintain physical and mental energy.
‘Forcing yourself to go out and walk when it’s minus six degrees, that is really difficult,’ he admits. ‘But every time I finish [the routine], I feel so much more elated because I’ve gone to the trouble of doing it.’
For Gerry, blocking out the noise is a cornerstone practice for getting through anything life throws at him.
‘If I get frustrated, I just shut up and be quiet for a while. Things just come to you,’ he says.
The practice may seem simple, but it has carried him through some of his darkest moments—including his own battle and triumph over terminal cancer. Shortly after that, he lost his long-term partner, Carolyn, to her own fight with the disease.
‘Grief is a very funny thing,’ Gerry imparts. ‘It’s like you are dragging this hole along with you, and sometimes you fall into it.’
But with time, he has learned not to fight the grief when it arrives. Instead, he accepts it.
‘I’ve found one of the nicest things I can do is have a nana nap. Just a half-hour knock-off,’ he says.
In addition to silence and acceptance, friendship and community have been equally central to Gerry’s life of purpose. He recalls a neighbour who reached out when Carolyn was ill.
‘Her politics were entirely different to mine, but she was the first person to put a note in the letterbox saying, “If there’s anything you want, let me know” — that to me is what real community is all about,’ he shares now. ‘Knowing you can actually turn to one of those people…that’s fundamental when you get to this point in life.’
That sense of connection extends beyond neighbours, too. Gerry believes that ageing well isn’t about retreating—it’s about continuing to engage with the world in meaningful ways. He sees purpose as fuel for life, and in his life, that conviction manifests when he’s mentoring young people, helping farmers solve practical problems, and teaching sustainable practices across the globe.
‘The thing that actually keeps you fit and functioning is mostly having a really active brain—having to solve problems and evolve things,’ he explains.
Even in quiet moments at home, Gerry carries this ethos. He always pays attention to the details.
‘There are all sorts of things that happen that are just impossible to explain, impossible for a simple human to get their brain around,’ he says. ‘The only thing you can ever rely on is what you see with your own eyes—you have to trust your own judgement and look at what’s happening.’
For Gerry, ageing well is measured in the small but meaningful choices he makes every day. No matter what he’s doing, he approaches each challenge with focus and curiosity. It’s this continual engagement with life that keeps him ready and humbled for whatever comes next.
