Now here’s the interesting part, as a customer: once you’ve finished your meal, you get to choose how much you think the meal was worth and deposit your koha anonymously into “the magic box” on the counter.

What a concept. Sruti calls it ‘the Gift Economy’ and he finds it seriously fascinating to watch how people deal with this relatively new approach to customer service. He successfully ran a cafe along the same principles from New Brighton, Christchurch until the earthquakes meant he no longer had a cafe. Sruti moved to Golden Bay and took a leap of faith in setting up the Space of Love within a much smaller, but close knit community.

Playing an important role in his venture are the high quality foods he uses. Many of the ingredients Sruti are from the organic community gardens (which are literally right beside the cafe), and he sources his organic grains, nuts, flours, seeds and more from a local organic wholesaler.

Sample menus include ‘Italian Calzone with Pumpkin Coconut Soup’; ‘Rosemary Yogurt Baked Potatoes with Green Mung Dal and Zucchini in Cashew Tomato Sauce with Paneer Cheese’ and ‘Vegetables au Gratin with Basmati Rice and Tamarind Chutney’.

People have been known to eat his food and return to work alongside him in the kitchen to learn his recipes.

So this cafe, which obviously serves a well balanced, professionally designed menu, just happens to one hundred percent reliant upon, well, people’s feelings at the time of payment. I just had to ask, does this new style of business work financially?

Well, yes. Sruti covers all his business costs, and supports himself with the Space of Love.

“I’m not much, but I always seem to have enough,” he says

“People pay according to how happy they are with what they have received; instead of always being told how much to pay here they have the opportunity to value the
quality of food, service and the ambience; besides that the other consideration is people are donating according to their means”.

Sruti doesn’t like to place a figure on how much he charges for the service he offers the community, he leaves it to people to be “guided by their conscience.” And he says the thousands of people he’s served have generally all given enough to keep him in business.

“Everyone is welcome to contribute in their own way. We wouldn’t want people to feel that if they are on a tight budget that they can’t afford to eat the food we serve. I am happy to feed one and all, and no one should feel excluded. I say that not because of naivety but out of deep conviction that no one should go hungry.”

Apparently younger people tend to ‘get it’ much easier than those aged sixty plus. Those of the older generation have been known to stand and ask Sruti to give them a figure, any figure.

The figure I finally did wrangle out of him was anywhere from five to fifteen dollars (well actually I found it in an article that was published about him in the Christchurch Press and Sruti nodded). He said that over the past few years in Christchurch there had been a handful of people who continuously gave a coins or two, meaning that others were paying their way. In those very rare cases he would watch them for a while, and if they kept coming back to eat and pay very little, he personally sat down with them to try and work out a way to even up the exchange, wanting everyone to feel welcome at his cafe.

“I want to develop and encourage ideas of trust, generosity and respect,” says Sruti.

The concept of paying what ever you think the meal is worth is a novel one for us Kiwis. I must admit that when paid for my (delicious) meal at the Space of Love I gave ten dollars while somewhat nervously hoping it was ‘enough’. Sruti expressed nothing but generosity and happiness that I was enjoying the food, and suggested I take another helping, and I got the sense that it really didn’t matter what I gave, he was simply there to feed people.

Sruti loves his work, he enjoys the freedom of changing the menu as his moods change, and he loves watching his unique ‘social experiment’ play out. For him, this is the ultimate job.

“It’s really easy, you’re just being yourself, living life right for you and if others feel inspired, then that’s great.”

The Space of Love is open week-days from noon until four in the afternoon. Sruti also sells Ayurvedic supplements from the Space of Love and offers cooking lessons.

Check out www.spaceoflove.co.nz for more details.

Read the inspiring stories of our sponsors:

Billy Kerrisk, Ray White Real Estate New Zealand, Golden Bay branch

TIDY AS – AND OH THE SERENITY!

The picturesque Aorere Valley has so much to offer and this 7.7 hectare lifestyle block with a barn conversion style dwelling is a real gem. Everything is done; tight and tidy fencing; clean pastures; good water; established fruit trees and productive vege garden.

The large hangar shaped barn has been converted at the northern end into a comfortable home with some great features – my favourite is the scullery, a wet area currently set up for sausage making, meat packing and beer brewing. If… Read more.

Billy Kerrisk,

027 608 5606

billy.kerrisk@raywhite.com

Golden Bay office 03 525 7219

Sonaz Realty Ltd Licensed (REAA 2008)

Tui Balms is a worker-owned cooperative that began 27 years ago in Golden Bay with Tui Bee Balm, a remarkable healing balm made of beeswax and other natural ingredients.  An effective skin healer, Bee Balm has since become a New Zealand icon, the country’s favourite baby balm and the flagship of our popular range of natural skincare and healing balms. Our range of massage Balms with aromatherapy essential oils is the supreme medium for massage.  Tui Balms donates to charitable trusts in New Zealand. Last year, we donated over $30,000 to New Zealand charities! Find Tui Balms at your local health store or organic shop.

www.tuibalms.co.nz
contact@tuibalms.co.nz
ph 03 525 9654.

HealthPost is New Zealand’s favourite online retailer of natural health supplements, proudly based in Golden Bay. Established more than 20 years ago, HealthPost is still in ‘The Bay’ because, basically,we like living here! Our rural location poses logistical challenges from time-to-time (flooded rivers and road wash-outs!) but the dedication and ingenuity of our 38-strong team always gets us through. We’re committed to balancing profits and principles, donating more than $60,000 to charity in the past two years through our ‘doing WELL’ programme. We’re passionate about the products that

we sell and proud to be able to help people live WELL.

SPONSOR A GOOD NEWS COLUMN FOR YOUR COMMUNITY.

The (happy) end.

“We’ve lost our places of tranquillity.”

This was a feeling expressed to Michelle Whitaker, Coordinator of Healthy Christchurch, at a public forum following September 2010. The beaches were largely inaccessible for leisure because of sewage outflows, and likewise the rivers Avon and Heathcote; most of the Port Hills walking and cycling trails were closed due to risk of rockfall; parks and gardens across the city were closed or damaged. Some aspects of that situation have moved on … but by no means all. Where could Christchurch people go to simply ‘be’, to heal? Where would we find our tranquillity in this devastated city?

It is characteristically Michelle to see such a statement as more than a sad reflection of the state of the city but as a call to action … as another project to get her teeth into. As she says, “I see opportunities really easily.”

Well, that’s just lucky for the rest of us.

In fact, Michelle even combined this with another issue in the community she had perceived – the feelings of isolation and ‘invisibility’ experienced by Christchurch’s Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities – and the Places of Tranquillity project was born.

It’s a simple idea. Create six places of reflection – gardens or public spaces – in ‘gaps’ that currently exist along the River Avon as it flows through the central city. Make them a walkable distance from each other, further connecting people back to the river, and make them diverse in their expressions of culture or spirituality. After all, there are a lot of spaces where buildings used to be, and a stated objective in the Draft Central City Plan to create more green spaces and to better use the asset of the Avon River/Otakaro in the CBD.

As Michelle says, “It’s about showing some hope and beauty and some nurturing greenery.” In fact, for anyone working in the city, from returning workforces or even the current teams of demolition workers, these spaces will offer an oasis of calm and peace and positivity amidst all the rubble and negativity. “After the February quakes”, Michelle points out, “most of the city workforce made their way to parks and open spaces, to gather and to feel safe away from tall buildings.”

To give the spaces a global feel that will reflect the range of Christchurch’s cultural communities, each of the six will represent the philosophies, religions or kaupapa of a different continent or region – from Maori/Pasifika to Latin America, Northern Europe, Africa. Working with Year 2 students from the Landscape Architecture course at Lincoln University, six or seven proposals for each of the regions are now designed and available to be voted on by anyone in Christchurch. The winning designs will then be further developed in partnership with those communities and then created in vacant spaces in negotiation with land owners.

The concept is so beautiful that I want to jump forward in time to see the completed projects … but the process itself is fascinating enough. It has the potential to pay
dividends for so many people.

The quality of the students’ work is outstanding and their engagement with the subject a real benefit to their academic development. This is not, however, merely an academic exercise but a real, practical example of how to work closely with clients to create a finished piece of work. Those students whose designs are not selected may continue to support the work of the ‘winning’ selections. Throughout the students are in partnership with the communities and the final plans may indeed incorporate different ideas from a range of the designs. It is a collaborative and evolving process that offers a fantastic action learning opportunity.

Communities that have felt faceless or left behind in the wake of the devastation have been given a voice to express their culture and, as a result, have been brought into one small part of the recovery. “It’s an opportunity,” says Michelle, “to raise the profile and visibility of those communities who are often the last to be engaged with.” These spaces will provide a public platform to express the cultural diversity of Christchurch’s population and the variety of experiences of our disaster and the responses to it. They might even become a vehicle for those diverse communities to explore shared understanding and mutual experiences.

Cross-cultural dialogue is just one aspect of the potential but Michelle is really excited by the prospect of a variety of barriers being broken down through this project. In our increasingly secular Western world, she points out, “people often need to be given permission to explore some of the spiritual aspects of their experience.” Often this can be provided through the lens of a different culture or a different expression of the same experience.

Ultimately, this is about the CBD, but the principle of creating public spaces of reflection is transferable. Michelle would love to see more out in the suburbs and hopes that the ongoing development of these Places of Tranquillity will inspire other communities to do the same in their local area. All through the residential red zone there’s a clamouring for the Avon/Otakaro River Park to replace the suburban dwellings as they are demolished.

Perhaps this might be just the start of the emergence of a whole network of peaceful spots along the river, of places where people can go to seek moments of calm, of reflection …

… Of tranquillity.

Designs are on display at the Community & Public Health offices at 310 Manchester Street until 21st May after which they will move to the Christchurch Migrants Centre, 166 St Asaph Street, for another week. Anyone is welcome to come along and vote for their favourites and you can also view and vote for your favourite designs online and even get involved in the continuing evolution of the project. Check out all the information at http://www.healthychristchurch.org.nz/focus-areas/places-of-tranquillity.aspx

For more information on Healthy Christchurch, they are on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/HealthyChristchurch

Read the inspiring stories of our Christchurch sponsors:

Social Innovation is a small, hardworking community engagement agency based in Christchurch. They work with leading non-profits, changemakers, progressive companies and government to mobilise everyday New Zealanders. Their expertise in this area comes from grassroots innovation on large-scale community action projects, including the Student Volunteer Army, A Day at the Beach Festival, Love your Coast and a number of other public participation initiatives. They know how to scale initiatives and achieve big results with large numbers of stakeholders.

They have developed an integrated blueprint for community organising in the 21st century, drawing inspiration from kiwi folk heroes like Kate Sheppard combined with the sheer power of modern technology. At the heart of what they do is supporting everyday New Zealanders to take action and participate fully in public life, in turn increasing the proportion of citizen’s who know that they can make a difference to the way things are.

Their services include strategy, leadership training, volunteer coordination & management, media and communications, project management and fundraising. Find out more at www.socialinnovation.org.nz or make direct contact via their studio-line on 03 337 0861

Facebook    Twitter    Flickr 

Ph:  03 337 0861 or info@socialinnovation.org.nz

YTONG® is an alternative building system made from light-weight Aerated Autoclaved Concrete (AAC). It was invented in Sweden in 1923 and further developed under the YTONG® brand it turned into a world-wide success.

Environmentally friendly and non-toxic – From the manufacturing process to shipment, construction, and waste disposal YTONG® is in ecological balance.

Good sound absorption – effective sound barrier – The natural air cushion formed in the high-pressure steam curing of AAC can absorb the most possible noise.

Ensures high standard of well-being – YTONG® reduces temperature differences and humidity fluctuations and so ensures a comfortable and healthy room atmosphere.

Excellent workability – It is easy to erect a solid masonry structure quickly and precisely. Only few tools and implements are necessary.

Outstanding thermal insulation – Keeps buildings cool in summer and warm in winter saving on heating and air-conditioning.

YTONG® is fireproof and has a high fire rating – AAC is resistant to high temperatures for a longer period of time than any other solid building material. YTONG® is especially chosen for fireproof walls in commercial buildings.

Performs well in earthquakes – Thanks to its low weight and its plastic deformation properties the destructive force of earthquakes can be minimised.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Pay Fairtrade Forward – May 18th  

Wellington, New Zealand, 14th May 2012 – 

On 18 May 2012, cafés all over New Zealand are joining forces to Pay Fairtrade Forward. At the beginning of the day an army of volunteers will be heading into their local cafés that sell fairtrade coffee and buying a coffee. The difference is, after indulging themselves they will leave a coffee as a gift for the NEXT customer.

The Pay Fairtrade Forward campaign is a social experiment through which we aim to increase awareness within New Zealand about the effects of buying fairly traded coffee and the difference this makes for farmers in developing countries.

So the lucky customer who comes in next will receive a free cup of fairtrade coffee and the concept of fairtrade and the positive social impact it has will be explained to them. They will then be asked if they would like to pay it forward to the next person – passing on the knowledge and creating a domino effect. This campaign was run in both 2010 and 2011, with amazing results –last year in one café in Auckland the chain continued for 200 people!

Fairtrade practice ensures that the coffee growers receive a guaranteed minimum price (providing them with enough money to meet their basic needs and protecting the vulnerable from often crippling fluctuations in the world market), a social premium (extra payment for the co-operatives to put towards community development in the form of schools, medical centres, better water supplies and environmental enhancement programmes), technical assistance (to improve crops, harvesting, processing, negotiation and shipping including access to social services) and expectation of future orders (enabling the growers to maintain and improve upon these community development initiatives).

P3 Foundation believes that education is the key to empowerment, thus through the Pay Fair-Trade Forward campaign we are seeking to educate New Zealanders on how an action as small as deciding where to buy your morning coffee, can have a global impact.

To participate on the day, simply go into your local fair-trade café and buy a fair-trade coffee. Below is a list of participating cafes, with more continually being added on our Facebook page. Jump on and confirm your participation.

So, when it comes to your next cup of coffee, will you take the opportunity to have a global impact?

For further information contact:

Mica Moore and Sophie Goulter Pay Fair-trade Forward Day Wellington Representatives 2012 Mobile: +64211931303 (Mica) and +64277121044 Email: emma.wylie@p3foundation.org

TURNING DREAMS INTO REALITY: understanding how your brain works could help!

 By Simon Parkinson-Jones

Do  you have a dream or vision of something you want to accomplish in life?  A new business, taking a year off to travel, a change of career, building a new home or other such big project? This can be very exciting and as long as we just think positively it will all go fantastically well!  Unfortunately this is often not the case.  People I have worked with over the years, and from my own experience, have often talked of the many hurdles, both inner and outer, they had to overcome in order to achieve their goals.

Having had a great idea for a new venture, there are many practical issues to consider: how will I make time for it in my already busy life; is there a market for my product or service and how will I market it; how do I put together a business plan; where will I find the money to get started; and If there are other people involved, what will our roles and responsibilities be?

Whilst it is vitally important that these issues are adequately attended to there are often some more hidden difficulties to contend with such as:  lack of, or too much confidence; being too perfectionistic or careless; learning how to communicate effectively and resolve differences constructively with others; acting impulsively or too cautiously; berating oneself when mistakes are made.

Research on how the brain functions has shown that there is often a conflict going on between the logical Frontal Cortex and the more emotional Limbic areas of the brain. The Limbic system controls things like hunger, your sex drive, reactions to dangerous situations – fight, flight or freeze – and emotions such as happiness, anger, sadness and fear.  If for example you learned as a child to fear big men with beards because there was one there who was at times a dominating bully, your Limbic brain will still today make the same association, will react with fear and produce a strong urge to either flee or become quiet and compliant. Even though your logical mind may be saying that this man with a beard is kind and respectful, your limbic mind will be saying the opposite! Through the long years of your childhood you will have developed many such associations, both positive and negative.

These old patterns of behaviour can become strongly ingrained, usually we have some lack of awareness about them and they’re often associated with strong emotions. Such habitual ways of reacting  to others can have a big effect on how we live our lives and the success or otherwise of our ventures.  Becoming aware of the self-limiting patterns and doing some work to find and develop new responses can dramatically increase your confidence, vitality and creativity.

There are many different methods and techniques for unlearning old ways and developing new ones, but the key thing, from my experience is that the emotional “baggage” held in the Limbic system needs to be healed or released, whilst a new pattern of behaviour is being learned. Therefore the method used needs to fully engage the mind, body and emotions.  I will go into specific examples in my next article, and I would welcome any questions from readers: simonvjones.57@gmail.com.

About Simon Parkinson-Jones

Simon has lived in Golden Bay, with his wife Carol, for most of the past 35 years.

During the late 1970′s he joined and helped develop the Rainbow Valley community, which is approaching it’s 40th anniversary.  In the 1980′s he and Carol, with two other couples, established and managed a successful business making possum fur garments. One of Simon’s roles was to market the products to tourist shops throughout NZ.

In 1990 Simon and Carol founded and established Te Whare Mahana Inc, a residential therapeutic home for  people with psychological problems, which developed into a comprehensive mental health service covering Golden bay.  During this time Simon trained in counselling and social work, and worked in the residential facility till 1999.

Simon moved with his family to ChCh in 2000, where he worked as a counsellor, supervisor and group facilitator, working with individuals, couples and families. During this time he also worked with Tom Watkins in his EncorageMentors business, doing mentoring/coaching with a variety of clients. An area of particular interest over this period was developing  and facilitating therapeutic and educational programmes for men.

Since moving back to Golden Bay in 2008, Simon has continued to work in the field of personal and professional development, working with a wide variety of people.

He may be contacted for Mentoring and counselling (face to face or on line) enquiries at 03 5258542,  or email: simonvjones.57@gmail.com

**Campaign raises awareness about bullying prevention by encouraging safety, inclusion and respect**

The Mental Health Foundation encourages all New Zealanders to wear pink on Pink Shirt Day Aotearoa – this Friday, 18 May 2012.

Pink Shirt Day is an annual day of action which aims to reduce bullying by celebrating diversity and promoting positive social relationships. This year, the Mental Health Foundation is leading Pink Shirt Day and working with several partner organisations, including Rainbow Youth, Youthline and Diversity Works, to ensure a campaign that addresses the needs of all New Zealanders.

Research has found that punishing perpetrators of bullying after the fact does not decrease the rate of bullying. What has been found to make a difference is making everyone feel socially included.  The Foundation hopes that people across the country will take a simple action —wearing a pink shirt and telling people why — to make a statement about preventing bullying in New Zealand. The Foundation also hopes people will start conversations about how we can all work together to reduce bullying in communities, schools and organisations.

“We want a New Zealand where everyone feels safe, respected and included,” says Chief Executive Judi Clements, “We encourage everyone to wear a pink shirt this Friday as a celebration of our commitment to change. When we join together to wear our pink shirts, we will be making a statement about creating the foundations of a respectful and inclusive society.

More information about Pink Shirt Day, including resources and promotional material, can be found on the Pink Shirt Day website: http://www.pinkshirtday.org.nz

The Pink Shirt Day video can be viewed on the Mental Health Foundation youTube page: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th4xwYLLKTI

Mental Health Foundation’s recent paper Bullying Prevention and Mental Wellbeing can be downloaded: http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/file/Pink-Shirt-Day-2012/PDFs/bullyingpreventionandwellbeing.pdf

For more information, contact:
Erin Fae
Pink Shirt Day Project Lead
Mental Health Foundation
Phone: 09 300 7010
Email: erin@mentalhealth.org.nz

By Christine Reitze, organiser of Container Love

Christchurch residents have created a giant ‘Container Cosy’ to brighten up the shipping containers they found in their neighbourhoods after the Christchurch quakes.  Pieces of the Cosy were donated from people all over the world.

I am originally from Frankfurt in Germany and always wanted to live by the sea.  That’s why Sumner has been my home for about 10 years now and I love it!
I work in beautiful a clothing and design shop in Sumner and also have a wee business creating bags and accessories out of upcycled materials called retreasured.

The shipping containers came to live with us after June’s 2011 aftershock and I thought right away how daunting and unpleasant they look and that we have to “decorate” them. I had a few ideas but in the end decided on the Container Cosy because I wanted the art to be a community project so that people can contribute and feel they can make a change to people’s lives after the earthquake (cheer them up).

I also felt is about time for people to make use of public space. And of course my motivation was to make people smile once they saw the cosy. Many Christchurch knitters and crocheters also told me that making the square (doing craft) helped them to stay more grounded in these stressful times.

I started the Container Love project in late August by setting up a Facebook page and distributing Posters all over Christchurch (mainly libraries craft and wool shops) I asked people to knit or crochet a 30cm by 30cm square out of there left over wool (because crafty people always have some bits and pieces of wool left) and send it to me. People also donated scrap wool and a wool company gave me a big bag with wool they could not sell.

I also got asked to do two radio interviews and had an article in a local paper, which really helped to get the project moving, because I needed 840 squares!  Just to connect people a bit, I also organised two knit ins which were real fun.

People from mainly New Zealand but also Germany (big parcel with 100 squares), Sweden, Canada, Australia, Iceland and the UK had sent me their beautiful squares (not always 30cm by 30cm though) Once I reached the required amount I let people on Facebook know and started to lay them out in panels on the floor to get a nice design and then sew them together on my sewing machine. First the individual panels and then the whole lot!

Image: Lilith Crawford (used with permission)

The Container Cosy needed a wooden construction made out of slats underneath it for which a organised a small donation campaign to collect $ 500 to use for material cost and installation (had 2 builders helping me).  So the whole project started in end of August and the Cosy was up on the 8th of May for the Sumner Street Party.

I saw so many male, female of all ages and of course children at the party going up to the Cosy to touch it, looking at the individual squares and smile, so I am happy that
with the help of so many people we have achieved what we wanted to do.

I have a few ideas for the future (and about 50 squares left) but definitely not as big and time intense as the cosy because that was like a part time job!  Also in the future I would like to see the Container Cosy in a museum together with other earthquake related art like the Canterbury museum or Te Papa.

Container Love on facebook.

Smartpackaging workshop for Auckland businesses

Wanaka Wastebusters will be running a Smart Packaging Business Workshop in Auckland on Thursday 17th May, in partnership with the Sustainable Business Network.

The workshop will help businesses add value to their brand by choosing smart packaging which has less impact on the environment.

Real packaging challenges faced by businesses will be addressed during the workshop, and attendees will have a chance to come up with their own solutions during a break-out session.

The guest speaker at the workshop will be Janet Clendon, Global Packaging Manager for Zespri. She will talk about Zespri’s sustainable packaging strategy and how they are working across their supply chain to adopt packaging solutions that align with their strategy.

Workshop leader Sophie Ward said the workshop will include practical tips and the research on
•    Packaging materials and end-of-life solutions
•    Which materials are most likely to be recycled
•    Myth-busting and green claims
•    What consumers want from packaging.

“In New Zealand, we create 172kg of packaging waste per person every year, and throw 72kg of packaging per person into the rubbish,” she said. “It’s time we worked together to reduce the amount of packaging which goes into the landfill.”

“We encourage businesses to choose minimal packaging which can be recycled or composted, but we know it’s not going to happen overnight. The workshop will give businesses balanced information which will save them time and money, and help strengthen their brands.”

The Smart Packaging workshops are being run in four cities as part of the Unpackit Packaging Awards project. The Awards were set up in 2010 to find the Best and Worst packaging sold in New Zealand. Voting for the Awards is open until 1st June at www.unpackit.org

“Many of the nominations for Unpackit’s Worst Packaging Award this year were for “green” businesses whose packaging did not live up to their product,” said Ms Ward. “Consumers are getting more and more savvy when it comes to environmental claims. They expect to see consistency through the whole production process, including packaging.”

Ms Ward said the recent Campbell Live programmes on the Honest Water Eco-Bottle and the Fair Go programme on degradable bags had shown that companies need to understand the full life cycle of the packaging materials they choose to use.

“It’s a real challenge for businesses, because it can get quite technical. We’re aiming to give businesses a good grounding in the issues, to help them make smart packaging choices.”

Businesses can register for the Smartpackaging workshop at www.smartpackaging.org.nz and can send their packaging challenges to sophie@wanakawastebusters.co.nz .

Workshop cost: $45 SBN members, $90 non-members

Auckland Workshop Details
8:00-10:00am
Rangitoto 3
Viaduct Events Centre
Viaduct Harbour

Comment from Fairtrade’s biggest coffee retailer in New Zealand

With Fairtrade Fortnight (5-20 May) now in full swing, Wild Bean Cafe – New Zealand’s biggest retailer of Fairtrade coffee – is pleased to celebrate the growing popularity of Fairtrade in New Zealand.

Since 2008, Wild Bean Cafe has served 100 per cent Fairtrade-Certified barista-made coffee across its network of 80 stores and now accounts for 20 per cent of the Fairtrade coffee market in New Zealand.

Frank van Hattum, General Manager Retail for BP, is available to talk about Wild Bean Cafe’s Fairtrade activity and other “green” business practices, such as its eight million coffee cups and lids being New Zealand-made and its use of recyclable packaging.

Wild Bean Cafe Fairtrade facts

• Wild Bean Cafe is the largest retailer of Fairtrade-Certified coffee in New Zealand accounting for 20 per cent of New Zealand’s Fairtrade coffee market
• Wild Bean Cafe serves 100 per cent Fairtrade-Certified coffee, hot chocolate, takeaway sugar sticks and take-home coffee packs
• It was the first national retailer to introduce Fairtrade sugar sticks across its network in September 2010
• Wild Bean Cafe’s coffee comes from Costa Rica, Mexico and Brazil, and its cocoa beans come from Ghana
• The farming cooperative CoopeAgri in Costa Rica supplies Wild Bean Cafe with 25% of its coffee and all of its sugar. Since switching to Fairtrade coffee in June 2008, Wild Bean Cafe’s Fairtrade premiums (funds) have helped CoopeAgri alone plant 195,000 new coffee plants, providing an ongoing, secure supply of coffee beans for the future. The community has also been able to fund other social projects such as building 60 new houses for families in need in the community.
• For New Zealand’s Fairtrade Fortnight, Wild Bean Cafe will give away a Fairtrade Certified, barista-made premium coffee every day for a year to one lucky winner. The draw closes on 20 May, 2012.*

“We support the goal of Fairtrade, which is to help third world producers to get a fair deal. And we’re pleased to see more New Zealanders and New Zealand businesses doing the same,” says Frank van Hattum.

“We’ve been on the ground and we’ve seen the difference Fairtrade makes. And every time a New Zealand consumer chooses a Fairtrade product, they’re choosing to support a fair deal for producers and their communities,” he said.

“Green” business facts

• Wild Bean Cafe’s nearly eight million coffee cups and lids are made in Auckland
• Wild Bean Cafe’s new travel cups are designed and made in New Zealand
• Wild Bean Cafe’s used coffee grounds are available at selected sites for customers for composting
• Where possible Wild Bean Cafe sources packaging locally, with all sandwich packaging manufactured in Christchurch and made with 80% recycled carton board
• Wild Bean Cafe uses recyclable paper bags, serviettes and degradable sugar stick packaging
• To promote food safety and good personal hygiene free hand sanitizers are available next to food cabinets

“Wherever possible we support New Zealand-made and undertake to employ sustainable, ‘green’ business practices. Over the last several years Wild Bean Cafe has introduced a number of new initiatives that promote these principals and have been welcomed by our customers,” says Frank van Hattum, General Manager Retail, BP.

Victory for Akaroa community as Conservation Minister ordered by High Court to rethink marine reserve proposal

Wellington, New Zealand – After over 17 years of advocating for an Akaroa Harbour marine reserve, a community conservation group has had a major victory after the High Court ordered the Conservation Minister to reconsider their proposal.

The High Court upheld a judicial review brought by the Akaroa Harbour Marine Protection Society against Minister Kate Wilkinson’s 2010 objection to the proposed 530ha marine reserve on the grounds that it would adversely affect recreational fishing in the area.

Kathleen Reid, Secretary of the Society, told WWF: ”We first became interested in having a marine reserve because we were very concerned about the degradation of the fish life and the diminishing biodiversity we were witnessing in our own lifetimes. Akaroa harbour has seen an enormous influx of fishers over the last 30 to 40 years and overfishing has resulted in the red cod disappearing from the harbour.

“A marine reserve in this rugged and beautiful area is important for marine biodiversity, fisheries management and our local nature watching industry – and will help restore this part of Akaroa Harbour to its natural state for future generations.” 

WWF was one of many groups that supported the Judicial Review case. It believes a fully-protected marine reserve would help preserve the special biodiversity of this area, including the endangered Hector’s dolphins. Only about 7270 dolphins remain, and of these, a significant population of an estimated 1200 animals is found around Banks Peninsula.

Rebecca Bird, WWF-New Zealand’s Marine Programme Manager, said: “This is a great victory for the people of Akaroa, who have been visionary and persistent in their advocacy to ensure their precious marine areas are protected for the future.

“It is also an important reminder to the Conservation Minister that the full benefits of a marine reserve must be considered alongside adverse affects. We are confident that Minister Wilkinson will recognise that the value of protecting this important area and declare this area a marine reserve.”

© (C) Hira School

New Enviroschools funding welcomed by WWF

Wellington, New Zealand –  WWF-New Zealand is welcoming today’s announcement by the Government to reinstate much-needed funding for the Enviroschools and Te Aho Tu Roa initiatives that help children across New Zealand learn the importance of sustainable lifestyles, with positive impacts for schools, communities and the nation as a whole.

The announcement that $7.6 million is being invested in both programmes over the next four years was made today by the Minister of Maori Affairs, Dr Pita Sharples, and the Minister for the Environment, Amy Adams.

WWF’s Education Programme Manager, Wendy Barry, said: “We congratulate the Maori Party for negotiating support for such a successful and important programme.

“Environmental education empowers and inspires young people to live within the planet’s limited resources. It gives children a greater understanding of the way people’s lives impact upon the local environment and the planet.

“Enviroschools is more than what is taught and learnt in the classroom, it encourages communities to value our natural heritage and take action to protect it. WWF knows, from our work with many schools across the country, that the programme has made great progress at preparing young New Zealanders to participate in today’s ever-changing world.”

The announcement today goes some way to recovering ground lost by the 2009 budget cuts where the Government stopped funding for the advisory service, Enviroschools and Marautanga Taiao programmes.  While the new funding is welcomed, WWF believes even further action is required to fully enable education to address the challenges of sustainability.

Wendy Barry says: “There needs to be a learning pathway right from early childhood through to tertiary education. A poll commissioned in 2011 found that more than 9 out of ten New Zealanders (94 per cent) think sustainability should be taught in all schools, from early childhood to tertiary level. ”

WWF would like to see reinstatement of sustainability as a priority for the Tertiary Education Commission, and to instigate a working group for 21st century learning that explores education models that can contribute to sustainability and a world-leading education system.

My adversarys name is Spirit. At first I took that name as being sacred; a goat with emotions of a delicately refined quality. However, she quickly introduced herself with a liveliness that has persevered throughout the week.

Light footed, I have stuck my feet in and doggedly pursued my honourable intentions of milking her daily.   My friends can go away (Spirit is only with us temporarily so that her real parents can go on holiday), the goat feels lighter and my girls get to drink the freshly sweet, raw milk.

So, most mornings at 7 you can find me singing sweet somethings in Spirits’ ear, stroking, caressing, talking to her. After a litre or so of  liquid gold, I am tripping up through fields of lush grass, hot in the pursuit of a wily goat whose soul pursuit of the morning is to give her milker some exercise in patience.

Chickens clucking around my feet and a bouncing giant dog leaping way overhead add to the chaos. Four mornings out of seven I have given up and returned for frolicking with the wild life in the afternoon.

Spirit has plenty of action left in her. She bleats out her welcome, coaxing me with her friendship. Up she jumps with sure footedness onto her platform, and I manage to squeeze a little more milk from her full teats. The bucket is knocked over and she’s down on her knees. I feel like joining her.

I have never been a milk drinker. Milk would always make me feel bloated and give me abdominal cramps. Cheese made me sick and the smell was enough to keep me away from any other milk concoction. However, recently I have added small amounts of raw goats milk and raw goats cheese to my childrens’ diet.

In moderate quantities, animal products can be one way to assist you in keeping a high percentage of raw food. Raw goats and cows milk, butter, yoghurt, kefir and unpasteurised cheese all have their benefits. A way of accomodating our inability to assimilate all the nutrients we need from plant forms or simply an alternative to the large amount of insect matter we would have consumed way back when we gathered wild raw foods as our original diet.

Unpasteurised goats milk is more digestible than cows milk. It is richer in fats and has smaller protein molecules than cows. Raw milk also contains alot of probiotics.

Eating yoghurt from raw milk restores the healthy intestinal flora which may have been damaged by eating a diet too high in refined foods or by taking antibiotics or medication. It is also a vital source of retinol, K2 fat soluable vitamins and Vitamin D, much needed in a temperate climate where the only other source is from the sun. Although only requiring small amounts, B12 is also essential to our diet and is easily obtained from animal sources. It also contains complete protein and the fats and cholesterol needed for removing heavy metals from the body.

So the children are thanking Spirit daily for adding such sustenance to their lives, making them feel stronger, more relaxed about their diet and reminding them of where their food comes from. For me … it makes it clearer to leave well alone!

Angels Delight (serves two yummy angels)

150ml raw milk

5 large fresh figs

2 medjool dates, soaked

6 apricots, soaked

1/ Blend all the ingredients together until creamy and smooth.

Dip your fingers in and let it bring you to your knees.

Social Innovation is a small, hardworking community engagement agency based in Christchurch. They work with leading non-profits, changemakers, progressive companies and government to mobilise everyday New Zealanders. Their expertise in this area comes from grassroots innovation on large-scale community action projects, including the Student Volunteer Army, A Day at the Beach Festival, Love your Coast and a number of other public participation initiatives. They know how to scale initiatives and achieve big results with large numbers of stakeholders.

They have developed an integrated blueprint for community organising in the 21st century, drawing inspiration from kiwi folk heroes like Kate Sheppard combined with the sheer power of modern technology. At the heart of what they do is supporting everyday New Zealanders to take action and participate fully in public life, in turn increasing the proportion of citizen’s who know that they can make a difference to the way things are.

Their services include strategy, leadership training, volunteer coordination & management, media and communications, project management and fundraising. Find out more at www.socialinnovation.org.nz or make direct contact via their studio-line on 03 337 0861

Facebook    Twitter    Flickr 

Ph:  03 337 0861 or info@socialinnovation.org.nz

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YTONG® is an alternative building system made from light-weight Aerated Autoclaved Concrete (AAC). It was invented in Sweden in 1923 and further developed under the YTONG® brand it turned into a world-wide success.

Environmentally friendly and non-toxic – From the manufacturing process to shipment, construction, and waste disposal YTONG® is in ecological balance.

Good sound absorption – effective sound barrier – The natural air cushion formed in the high-pressure steam curing of AAC can absorb the most possible noise.

Ensures high standard of well-being – YTONG® reduces temperature differences and humidity fluctuations and so ensures a comfortable and healthy room atmosphere.

Excellent workability – It is easy to erect a solid masonry structure quickly and precisely. Only few tools and implements are necessary.

Outstanding thermal insulation – Keeps buildings cool in summer and warm in winter saving on heating and air-conditioning.

YTONG® is fireproof and has a high fire rating – AAC is resistant to high temperatures for a longer period of time than any other solid building material. YTONG® is especially chosen for fireproof walls in commercial buildings.

Performs well in earthquakes – Thanks to its low weight and its plastic deformation properties the destructive force of earthquakes can be minimised.

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Tui Balms

Tui Balms is a worker-owned cooperative that began 27 years ago in Golden Bay with Tui Bee Balm, a remarkable healing balm made of beeswax and other natural ingredients.  An effective skin healer, Bee Balm has since become a New Zealand icon, the country’s favourite baby balm and the flagship of our popular range of natural skincare and healing balms. Our range of massage Balms with aromatherapy essential oils is the supreme medium for massage.  Tui Balms donates to charitable trusts in New Zealand. Last year, we donated over $30,000 to New Zealand charities! Find Tui Balms at your local health store or organic shop.

www.tuibalms.co.nz
contact@tuibalms.co.nz
ph 03 525 9654.

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HealthPost NZ

HealthPost is New Zealand’s favourite online retailer of natural health supplements, proudly based in Golden Bay. Established more than 20 years ago, HealthPost is still in ‘The Bay’ because, basically,we like living here! Our rural location poses logistical challenges from time-to-time (flooded rivers and road wash-outs!) but the dedication and ingenuity our 33-strong team always gets us through. We’re dedicated to balancing profits and principals, donating more than $60,000 to charity in the past two years through our ‘doing WELL’ programme. We’re passionate about the products that we sell and proud to be able to help people live WELL.

Golden Bay artist Dean Raybould captures HealthPost, Collingwood, with motifs from the company’s story and the unique local environment.

www.healthpost.co.nz

info@healthpost.co.nz

Ph 0800 148 148

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Billy Kerrisk, Ray White Real Estate New Zealand, Golden Bay branch

TIDY AS – AND OH THE SERENITY!

The picturesque Aorere Valley has so much to offer and this 7.7 hectare lifestyle block with a barn conversion style dwelling is a real gem. Everything is done; tight and tidy fencing; clean pastures; good water; established fruit trees and productive vege garden.

The large hangar shaped barn has been converted at the northern end into a comfortable home with some great features – my favourite is the scullery, a wet area currently set up for sausage making, meat packing and beer brewing. If… Read more.

Billy Kerrisk,

027 608 5606

billy.kerrisk@raywhite.com

Golden Bay office 03 525 7219

Sonaz Realty Ltd Licensed (REAA 2008)

Sarah and Max Soper collecting their milk.

By Charlotte Squire

Local Good News Report/Golden Bay

Read the inspiring stories of our sponsors below.

Do you buy cow’s milk? Chances are you’re one of millions in New Zealand who do. Maybe you get yours from the supermarket, or the local corner shop.  Perhaps it comes in a one or two litre plastic milk container  It’s  probably been pasteurised, homogenized and definitely processed, all in the name of hygiene, because that’s just the way it is with milk, right?

Well, no.

I’ve got news for you about Kiwi milk-culture: times they are a-chang’n.

A Golden Bay dairy farming family have set up a very snazzy road-side milk dispenser service called ‘Village Milk’ to serve their community with fresh, hygienic, raw milk any time of the day and night. The Houston family milk twenty two cows and they’re legally allowed to offer you, the discerning consumer, five litres of their milk per visit to the dispenser.

Yes, they call themselves a ’boutique dairy farm” and due to strong community demand (all thanks to good old fashioned word of mouth), the Houston Family are taking this project very seriously. In fact, they’re taking it so seriously they recently took a trip to Italy to research and invest in a state of the art milk dispenser machine that  ensures the whole process is nice and easy, is in line with Kiwi food standards, and will even give change.

Before we go on, it is worth noting that pasteurisation (as opposed to untreated, or raw milk) served a very valuable purpose back in the 1920’s. That was when tuberculosis was spreading through meat and milk, so pasteurisation was the process invented to kill any harmful bacteria. Thankfully, we’re beyond that now. Village Milk cows are TB-free and have been for decades.

These days we also know that pasteurisation, which involves heating the milk to 72 degrees, not only serves the very useful purpose of killing germs, but also kills vital ingredients such as the beneficial bacteria that’s necessary to digest lactose. Go figure. It’s said that many people who can’t tolerate pasteurised milk, can easily digest raw milk.

So after nearly a century of paranoia about milk hygiene standards, consumer demand for good old fashioned raw milk, just the way nature intended it, is beginning to swing milk production back the other way.

Aint that just way life goes?

I asked Mark Houston what inspired his family to travel this innovative path.

“We’d moved up to Golden Bay for a life-style change after thirty-five years of dairy farming in Christchurch, and we were taking things as they came.  Safe food, and good food quality had become important to us, especially with future grandchildren to think about.  We didn’t just want to rely on the food you buy in supermarkets.  We were tired of hearing about all the pesticides and preservatives and flavours that are added to our foods – and the subsequent links to ill health.

“At first we were just milking one cow, “Thirteen”, and sharing the milk with our family and friends. We knew about the benefits of real milk and our family and friends were so keen on it.

“We purchased a second-hand milking plant and dug out the pit, which had been filled in for use as a cattle yard. Our electrician was soon needed to get everything humming, and after listening to our story he asked if he could bring a billy. From there the news of our ‘new’ milk spread quickly on the grapevine, as it does here in Golden Bay.”

And the Golden Bay community are drinking raw milk from healthy, happy cows.  They’re only milked once a day, it’s all done in a very relaxed manner, and they love being milked – to the point that they can occasionally nod off.  The milk then goes through a series of pipes, and straight into the Village Milk dispenser to be chilled, and collected by an ever growing pool of customers.

Now let’s step back and examine the possibilities that Village Milk have opened up for the future. If this initiative was replicated in your community and you were able to nip down to the local raw milk dispenser with your ‘empties’, it could alter the way our dairy industry functions.  This would mean we’d skip the large scale transport, energy and time we currently invest in taking milk away from its original place of production, to be processed and sent around New Zealand. This could mean we get to simply drink milk that was made in our communities or by farmers living within 100 kms of our homes.

In fact, Richard Houston, business partner and son of Mark and Phillippa Houston, says he’d like to see three more outlets emerging around New Zealand by Christmas, with many more being established under the Village Milk name over the next few years. It’s a business plan with strong roots in community, and with notable health benefits. It’s part of an emerging international trend back to simple, locally produced food.

Is Kiwi milk-culture really ‘a-chang’n'? That, my friends, depends on you.

Like and connect with Village Milk on Facebook.

Read the inspiring stories of our sponsors:

Billy Kerrisk, Ray White Real Estate New Zealand, Golden Bay branch

TIDY AS – AND OH THE SERENITY!

The picturesque Aorere Valley has so much to offer and this 7.7 hectare lifestyle block with a barn conversion style dwelling is a real gem. Everything is done; tight and tidy fencing; clean pastures; good water; established fruit trees and productive vege garden.

The large hangar shaped barn has been converted at the northern end into a comfortable home with some great features – my favourite is the scullery, a wet area currently set up for sausage making, meat packing and beer brewing. If… Read more.

Billy Kerrisk,

027 608 5606

billy.kerrisk@raywhite.com

Golden Bay office 03 525 7219

Sonaz Realty Ltd Licensed (REAA 2008)

Tui Balms is a worker-owned cooperative that began 27 years ago in Golden Bay with Tui Bee Balm, a remarkable healing balm made of beeswax and other natural ingredients.  An effective skin healer, Bee Balm has since become a New Zealand icon, the country’s favourite baby balm and the flagship of our popular range of natural skincare and healing balms. Our range of massage Balms with aromatherapy essential oils is the supreme medium for massage.  Tui Balms donates to charitable trusts in New Zealand. Last year, we donated over $30,000 to New Zealand charities! Find Tui Balms at your local health store or organic shop.

www.tuibalms.co.nz
contact@tuibalms.co.nz
ph 03 525 9654.

HealthPost is New Zealand’s favourite online retailer of natural health supplements, proudly based in Golden Bay. Established more than 20 years ago, HealthPost is still in ‘The Bay’ because, basically,we like living here! Our rural location poses logistical challenges from time-to-time (flooded rivers and road wash-outs!) but the dedication and ingenuity of our 38-strong team always gets us through. We’re committed to balancing profits and principles, donating more than $60,000 to charity in the past two years through our ‘doing WELL’ programme. We’re passionate about the products that

we sell and proud to be able to help people live WELL.

SPONSOR A GOOD NEWS COLUMN FOR YOUR COMMUNITY.

The (happy) end.

It’s often the little things that make a difference.

When one is surrounded by evidence of destruction and change every day, as we are in this city, it is easy to feel overwhelmed or feel that we have lost control over our lives.  Many people are tired, disillusioned, crippled by uncertainty. But a small act of kindness can be enough to lift our heads up, to give us pause or to refocus our attention. Plus, it can reap wider dividends.

Amelia Earhart said, “No kind action ever stops with itself. One kind action leads to another. Good example is followed. A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees. The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves.”

Christchurch is actively brimming over with little kindnesses right now and Lesley and Lyne are actively trying to promote more with their ‘Lost & Found’ project. The idea is simple:  They make, and are encouraging others to make, small gifts, which can then be left in public places for strangers to find.

Why?!

Lesley answers that simply and directly: “Why not? It’s great fun!”

Fun indeed, with little teddy bears and homemade coffee mug warmers and all manner of other crafty creations left around the city with a little printed label explaining why.  Not secondhand cast-offs or items bought in a shop but, as Lesley is keen to make clear, “something that someone has spent time to make and then has given up … that’s the ‘head-job’ we are doing on people.” It’s a gift, completely freely given for no other reason than the joy of giving … the kind of unexpected delight that is designed to make people stop and think.

It’s such a beautiful notion and it reflects something of a wider underground social movement emerging across the city since the earthquakes. A variety of arts and
community projects are springing up to bring colour and life to our city or to give voice to our experiences. Everywhere, people are contributing their own parts to the wider recovery.

As Lesley says, “Not everyone has the ability to get out in the streets and dig silt but they can do things with their hands … and they have the heart to give something back. We are just providing one vehicle and letting it go.”

It’s as valuable a contribution as any other. Brightening the morning commute, or bringing colour to any journey around this city of rubble, traffic cones and metal security fencing, is an important antidote to the sense of gloom that might otherwise pervade a disaster zone.

It is in the power of art to transform our spaces and encourage us to view them again through different eyes. Often we don’t even realise it is happening – it is merely a
backdrop to our daily lives. But could we imagine life in Christchurch without the Gap Filler sites, the painted shipping containers or the trees wrapped in knitted sweaters?

It also gives Christchurch people the permission to seize control of their lives. There’s no denying people are doing it hard but as Lesley says, “We don’t have to wait for CERA to tell us what to do, we can do things for ourselves and we can make a conscious choice about how we view the circumstances we live in.”

Lyne agrees. “We have had so much happen to us, the outside world imposing on us. It feels good to give something from ourselves to the outside.”

Lost and Found is a brand new project, but it’s simple appeal is immediate. Within a week of starting, 130 people had joined the Facebook page. Now it’s just a matter of waiting to see if people post comments about the objects they have found or have photographed their gifts-in-waiting as is suggested on the website and the labels.

That said, the response is not the point … it’s the act of giving that makes these women tick. Seeing a little teddy bear in Crusaders colours “go off on a little journey of his own” is enough of a buzz that getting a reply is almost irrelevant.

Genuine giving, without thought or concern for any return. It’s a powerful reaction, echoed across the city in spontaneous acts of creativity and random bursts of colour, springing from empty spaces and adorning flat, featureless walls. Art for art’s sake, not commodified or commercialised but democratised and adopted as something to be proud of in a city that many seem to want to paint as grey, depressing … and beaten.

It has become a defining aspect of the defiant, unbeaten character of the Shaky City.

Lyne talks about a friend who felt like leaving Christchurch because all the galleries were closed down and there was nowhere to go to see art. “Now it’s the complete opposite,” she says, “the Art Gallery is closed but there’s art everywhere.”

Fridges full of books, flowers in road cones, heart-shaped messages of hope. Just a few examples to which we can now add tiny parcels, simple creations passed on anonymously from one human being to another. From the ground up, people are making art in an unmediated and inclusive way, as a fundamental part of our response to what we have experienced.

Every single piece of it is a priceless gift.

For more info or to get involved in the Lost and Found Project, visit them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/LostAndFoundProject or check out the website at http://lostandfoundinchristchurch.weebly.com/index.html

Read the inspiring stories of our Christchurch sponsors:

Social Innovation is a small, hardworking community engagement agency based in Christchurch. They work with leading non-profits, changemakers, progressive companies and government to mobilise everyday New Zealanders. Their expertise in this area comes from grassroots innovation on large-scale community action projects, including the Student Volunteer Army, A Day at the Beach Festival, Love your Coast and a number of other public participation initiatives. They know how to scale initiatives and achieve big results with large numbers of stakeholders.

They have developed an integrated blueprint for community organising in the 21st century, drawing inspiration from kiwi folk heroes like Kate Sheppard combined with the sheer power of modern technology. At the heart of what they do is supporting everyday New Zealanders to take action and participate fully in public life, in turn increasing the proportion of citizen’s who know that they can make a difference to the way things are.

Their services include strategy, leadership training, volunteer coordination & management, media and communications, project management and fundraising. Find out more at www.socialinnovation.org.nz or make direct contact via their studio-line on 03 337 0861

Facebook    Twitter    Flickr 

Ph:  03 337 0861 or info@socialinnovation.org.nz

YTONG® is an alternative building system made from light-weight Aerated Autoclaved Concrete (AAC). It was invented in Sweden in 1923 and further developed under the YTONG® brand it turned into a world-wide success.

Environmentally friendly and non-toxic – From the manufacturing process to shipment, construction, and waste disposal YTONG® is in ecological balance.

Good sound absorption – effective sound barrier – The natural air cushion formed in the high-pressure steam curing of AAC can absorb the most possible noise.

Ensures high standard of well-being – YTONG® reduces temperature differences and humidity fluctuations and so ensures a comfortable and healthy room atmosphere.

Excellent workability – It is easy to erect a solid masonry structure quickly and precisely. Only few tools and implements are necessary.

Outstanding thermal insulation – Keeps buildings cool in summer and warm in winter saving on heating and air-conditioning.

YTONG® is fireproof and has a high fire rating – AAC is resistant to high temperatures for a longer period of time than any other solid building material. YTONG® is especially chosen for fireproof walls in commercial buildings.

Performs well in earthquakes – Thanks to its low weight and its plastic deformation properties the destructive force of earthquakes can be minimised.

Artist taps steamy issue of Geothermal power in Taupo

As part of Taupo’s Erupt Festival, opening this week, artist Tim Barlow is erecting a temporary Public Fountain using geothermal power in Taupo’s CBD. It will also be centerpiece for a series of talks around the ownership and control of geothermal power.

As a metaphor for the questionably dwindling resource, the fountain will have to be operated by at least two members of the public to get it to spurt or ‘font’.

“For the first half of the 20th Century the Wairakei geysers were as spectacular as those in Rotorua,” says Barlow, a Wellington based artist.

“This energy is now being increasingly mined to power the national grid at the expense of small-scale uses and natural geothermal features.”

With work continuing apace on Mighty River Power’s Ngatamariki, the third geothermal power station built in the Taupo region in the last five years, the Public
Fountain will explore public feeling around the control of geothermal power. Mighty River Power is a State owned asset flagged for sale this year.

Tim Barlow’s Public Fountain will be located at the corner of Horomatangi Street and Marama Arcade in Taupo’s town centre. Scientists, iwi members, engineers and artists are presenting at a series of talks between 12 and 2pm from Wednesday till Friday in Marama Arcade, next to Marama Hair design and barber shop. On Saturday 19th May the fountain and discussions will be found in the Turangi town centre plaza.

Tim is encouraging all members of the public to attend. “I’m really looking forward to people sharing their stories. I’ve met some amazing individuals with wonderful
stories to share in Taupo which reveal the deep relationship residents have with their special natural resource, and the ingenuity and imaginative uses they put it
to.”

The storytelling sessions are structured around different themes with different speakers and a historic film presentation of the Wairakei geysers, care of the New
Zealand Film Archive. The confirmed speakers are as follows:

Wednesday 16th May, 12-2pm: Geothermal legends and memories
Bringing stories from our past into the land of tomorrow.

Dylan Tahau,Taupo District Council
Jenny Pattrick, Novelist
Alison Harrington, Story-recorder, Time of your Life

Thursday 17th May, 12-2pm: Geothermal and future visions
School students unleash their imaginations on our geothermal future.
Paul White, GNS Scientist
Gillian Cooke, Writer, journalist

Friday 18th May, 12-2pm: Geothermal and money
The community and private control of power
Pat Brown, Accountant: From a Hot-pool to a Geothermal Power Plant
Pattrick O’Brien, Poet, writer
Ian Thain, Geoscientist: Use of Low Temperature Geothermal
With response from Bill Lomas, teacher

Saturday 19th May, 12-2pm (Turangi): Geothermal case study:
Tokaanu
Management, guardianship and beauty of the geothermal resource
David Livingstone, Ngati Kurauia

John Ham, Te Kura o Hirangi

Anna McKnight, Department of Conservation

People interested in contributing says Barlow can either just turn up or contact him by email at timbrlw@gmail.com for more information and register their interest.

About Letting Space
This work is part of a series produced by leading public art programme Letting Space called Community Service, that commissions contemporary artists to work
with communities around New Zealand towards social change, using arts festivals as platforms. www.lettingspace.org.nz
Joining the Public Fountain project at Erupt within the same series is D.A.N.C.E FM 106.7, a mobile radio station that moves around different communities in the
Taupo region. Letting Space is excited to make the Taupo region one of their first launchpads for this series. This projects is funded by Creative New Zealand and
Erupt Festival Taupo, with the support of John Frew Farm Water Specialists Ltd, Warmington Drilling Ltd, and Ian Thain.

About Tim Barlow
Tim Barlow is a Wellington artist with an MFA from Massey University Wellington 2011. He has extensive experience nationally and internationally in film and
television art departments, and specialises in crossing barriers of film production and art production. He has worked on collaborative projects with community and
film based organisations. Commissioned projects include Manawatu Art Gallery, MONZ, Artspace (Auckland), Dowse Museum, Wellington Activity Centre, Vincents
Art Workshop and many film production departments.
For more information and photographs contact
sophiejerramandmarkamery@gmail.com
Or 029 934 9749 or 027 3566128. Tim Barlow can be reached on 021 766 259.

UNICEF NZ (UN Children’s Fund)

Media Release

Wednesday 9 April. 2012

UNICEF NZ Begins Search for Aspiring Young Reporters

UNICEF NZ (UN Children’s Fund) and 3News are searching for five budding young reporters to write for 3Youth – a space on the 3News website dedicated to news written by young people.

Passionate young writers, aged 16-18, have until June 1, 2012 to apply at www.unicef.org.nz/3Youth. Applicants are asked to submit a short video about themselves and to write a 500 word news story which will be judged by leading journalist, newsreader and UNICEF NZ ambassador Mike McRoberts.

The winning five will be asked to commit to 3Youth for 12 months with the project kicking off in late June with a workshop in Auckland at 3News headquarters. The training day will include sessions from both UNICEF NZ and 3News staff and includes a master-class on the art of journalism from Mike McRoberts.

Sarah Morris, Advocacy Manager at UNICEF NZ, said “An important part of UNICEF’s work is to encourage young adults to have their voices heard and the 3Youth project achieves that by giving young people a platform to express what is important to them in today’s news.

“We are excited to be working with 3News on the 3Youth project for the second year running.  This is a fantastic chance for passionate young writers to step up and take the challenge of bringing issues of global and local importance to a mainstream New Zealand audience.”

Applicants must be aged between 16-18 years old, have a nose for news and be committed to writing 12 stories for 3Youth over a 12 month period. Applications must be submitted by 5pm on June 1, 2012 and can be made at www.unicef.org.nz/3Youth

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Forest & Bird media release – for immediate use

Free ‘Best Fish Guide’ app for your iPhone

___________________________________________________________________

Forest & Bird’s new iPhone application makes choosing eco-friendly seafood as easy as (fish) pie. The free Best Fish Guide app ranks 78 seafood species caught in New Zealand waters according to ecological sustainability. The higher up the chart, the better the choice – with seafood like albacore tuna, blue cod and trevally among the top picks.

The app has a whole lot of information that explains why each species is or isn’t a good choice and links to the Forest & Bird website where you’ll find recipes by top New Zealand chefs like Al Brown, Martin Bosley and Annabel Langbein for some “good choice” seafood dishes.

Based on the latest independent and government research, there are a lot of seafood choices ranked in the guide’s unsustainable “red zone”. But there’s no reason you have to give up any of your favourite fish dishes. The app suggests cooking alternatives for some of the worst-choice species. If your recipe calls for “red zone” species like orange roughy or snapper, take a quick look at the Best Fish Guide app and you’ll find trevally and tarakihi make an easy, eco-friendly substitute.

We’re currently working to make the app suitable for all smartphones.

Forest & Bird would like to thank award-winning digital agency Resn for donating their time and expertise developing the app, and helping us help Kiwis, help the environment.

Download Forest & Bird’s free Best Fish Guide iPhone app from the Apple iTunes store at http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/best-fish-guide/id509376909?mt=8&ls=1 or for more information visit www.bestfishguide.org.nz

For more information about the Best Fish Guide, contact Forest & Bird Marine Conservation Advocate Katrina Subedar (04) 801 2210 k.subedar@forestandbird.org.nz

For a high-res image of the mobile phone app or the Best Fish Guide please contact Communications Officer Jolene Williams (04) 803 1020 j.williams@forestandbird.org.nz

Partners Jen and Grant go head to head in a comedic battle to see who can swear off consumerism and produce the least amount of garbage in an entire year.

Their light-hearted competition is set against a compelling examination of the sobering problem of waste in our ‘throw-away’ society.

Featuring interviews with renowned artist and TED lecturer, Chris Jordan and marine pollution expert, Captain Charles Moore, The Clean Bin Project presents the serious topic of waste reduction with optimism, humour, and inspiration for individual action.

The Clean Bin Project has been selected as the opening night film at the Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival in Palmerston North.  The team will also be visiting a bunch of schools and community events while they’re in town. The movie will be screening at the festival the evenings of May 11th and May 15th (details and trailer at http://www.reelearth.org.nz/the-clean-bin-project-3).

Grant Baldwin / Canada / 2010 /  77min

Click here to view the embedded video.

FRIDAY 11 MAY, 8pm & TUESDAY 15 MAY, 8PM:

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Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands, kicked off the day, May 5, when local islanders met at sunrise for a blessing on the beach before divers took their dotted banner underwater to a bleached reef in their lagoon.

As the day moved on, over 1000 events took place worldwide. Connecting the dots was making the connections between local extreme weather events and climate change impacts.

It included climbers unfurling a giant “I’m Melting” banner on a glacier in the Sierras, monks in Thailand gathering outside their temple that was damaged in last year’s floods, students in Myanmar doing street theatre about record breaking heat, a snowless ski race in Aspen, Colorado and climbers hanging a giant red dot off of Table Mountain in South Africa.

It was also making connections between people all across the globe as each took their turn to stand with their dots, unifying individuals, communities, regions, countries and hemispheres.

In Tando Allah Yar, southern Pakistan, a family stood in front of their badly damaged house with a collapsed roof due to devastating floods in 2011.

In particular, looking at this family in Pakistan, it seemed to me that we had reached across vast distances, across cultures and across religions to say the same thing. It felt beautiful and wondrous. And the day was making more connections. This time the human connection – the human side to climate change.

Yolanda on the Island of Ros with her touching sign saying” Micronesia: To you we may look like tiny dots in the middle of the ocean, but our dots matter too!”

There’s a group in Idjwi, Democratic Republic of Congo, a singular young boy Karim in Alexandria, Egypt, holding his sign in front of his disappeared beach that is now a makeshift seawall, a family in Sacred Valley, Peru, worried about having enough water, and teenagers in front of their houses destroyed by tornados in Lancaster, Texas.

These extreme weather events are having an impact on people, families, and communities. Climate change impacts are happening now.

The images and stories are powerful and strong. The messages are clear. Together, we can help others make the connection between climate change and the extreme weather events we are experiencing already.

Together, we can empower people to make changes for good in their own lives.  Through our connection, we can stand together and push for positive change.  Connected, we can influence the need for positive energy solutions, not just here but across the globe.

Having only recently become involved in 350.org it was an absolute  pleasure to be a part of an “umbrella seawall” in Wellington, highlighting the issues with sea
level rise and to see the other actions taking place in New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific.

Whilst the story is a sad one: that we are already facing climate change impacts, the results from this day have been a togetherness, a unity, and a connectedness on a scale that I have not felt before.

I feel incredibly honoured to have played a part, albeit a seemingly small one, as this was made all the more significant because others in so many places had
done so too.

We can make positive changes not only for our children and future generations, but we can do it for this generation, for each other, now.

Please make a connection and go to climatedots.org.

Sonja Deely

350 Oceania Communications Coordinator

Wanaka Wastebusters will be running  two free Smart Packaging Business Workshops in Wellington on Thursday 10th May.

The workshops will help businesses add value to their brand by choosing smart packaging which has less impact on the environment.

“In New Zealand, we create 172kg of packaging waste per person every year, and throw 72kg of packaging per person into the rubbish,” said workshop leader Sophie Ward.

“We are encouraging businesses to choose minimal packaging which can be recycled or composted,  but we know it’s not going to happen overnight. The workshop will give businesses balanced information which will save them time and money, and help strengthen their brands.”

Ms Ward said the workshop will include practical tips and the latest research on
•    Packaging materials and end-of-life solutions
•    Which materials are most likely to be recycled
•    Myth-busting and green claims
•    What consumers want from packaging.

The guest speaker at the workshop will be Nick Fry, from Celcius Coffee, who will talk about the challenges he faces in his business and his journey towards implementing sustainable practice.

The Smart Packaging workshops are being run in four cities as part of the Unpackit Packaging Awards project. The Awards were set up in 2010 to find the Best and Worst packaging sold in New Zealand. Voting for the Awards is open until 1st June at www.unpackit.org

“Many of the nominations for Unpackit’s Worst Packaging Award this year were for “green” businesses whose packaging did not live up to their product,” said Ms Ward. “Consumers are getting more and more savvy when it comes to environmental claims. They expect to see consistency through the whole production process, including packaging.”

Ms Ward said last week’s Campbell Live programme on the Honest Water Eco-Bottle and the Fair Go programme on degradable bags had shown that companies need to understand the full life cycle of the packaging materials they choose to use.

“It’s a real challenge for businesses, because it can get quite technical. We’re aiming to give businesses a good grounding in the issues, to help them make smart packaging choices.”

Businesses can register for the Smartpackaging workshop at www.smartpackaging.org.nz

Wellington Workshop Details
9:30-11:00am (Chamber of Commerce members only)
Amora Hotel
170 Wakefield Street

2:00 – 3:30pm (open to all)
ASB Sports Centre
72 Kemp St, Kilbirnie

ENDS Photo shows Sophie Ward with a reusable Ideal Cup and a disposable coffee cup.

About Smartpackaging and the Unpackit Awards
The Unpackit Packaging Awards 2012 and Smartpackaging are run by Wanaka Wastebusters to encourage New Zealanders to choose smart packaging and raise awareness about the issue of packaging.

www.smartpackaging.org.nz
www.unpackit.org

The project has received financial support from the Waste Minimisation Fund, administered by the Ministry for the Environment. The Ministry for the Environment does not necessarily endorse or support the content of this press release.

About Wanaka Wastebusters
Wanaka Wastebusters is a community enterprise based in Wanaka, which employs 20 people. Our mission is to increase resource recovery by providing innovative solutions and Education for Sustainability.