Featured Campaign: No Plastic Bags
'No Plastic Bags' is a new grass roots website dedicated to a New Zealand free from plastic carry bags. Around the world more and more countries are banning or taxing plastic bags and it is time for New Zealand to wake up and do the same.
This is about much more than fixing the problems directly caused by plastic bags, it is about increasing the capacity of our society to change. Because very significant change is what is required to face the twin threats of climate change and peak oil.
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Featured Info: Getting Off Grid
Tony Woods gets people “off the grid”. And with big changes coming to the way power’s supplied to your property, you may need Woods’ energy self-sufficiency services sooner than you think. Damian Christie reports.
If I hadn’t seen him building a windfarm with my own eyes, I might have thought Tony Woods was a spy. Or an international arms dealer, or a drug smuggler (but with a base in Timaru).
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Featured Video: Mocumentary Trailer
Scientist-turned-filmmaker Dr. Randy Olson, is a fan of Al Gore's global warming movie, but asks, "Where are the scientists?"
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Featured Info: Healthy Building Materials
Our immediate environment affects our physical and psychological health. Given that most of us spend around 80% of our time indoors, and a lot of the rest of the time looking at the outside of buildings, buildings are a major part of our lives.
Buildings also affect the natural environment, both locally and globally. Gas and solid fuel burnt for heating and hot water contributes towards climate change. Waste from the construction industry makes up about 40% of total landfill in New Zealand.
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The gap between believing and doing
When it comes to sustainable behaviours, have you ever felt like a hypocrite? Like you’re not walking the talk?
Chances are, the psychological term for the feeling you are experiencing is Cognitive Dissonance. It is probably not a pleasant feeling, but it is very handy for telling us we are out of alignment with ourselves, and a potent catalyst for change.
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Featured News: Smart thinking on renewable energy
An Australian state has given renewable energy a huge push with a new law designed to make investment in small scale renewables very attractive for the average household and business. Under a new law passed last week households and businesses in the Australian Capital Territory which generate their own power will be able to sell power back to their retailer for nearly four times the price of electricity. Retailers will be required to buy the electricity at that price with the cost passed on to all other consumers.
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Featured Product: Pohutukawa Gift
A baby tree is a gift that is as memorable as the occasion for which it is given. Trees can be used to mark many significant moments in our lives; births, birthdays, housewarming, marriage, death or just to say "thanks". Give a gift that goes on giving.
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Featured News: Sustainable Architecture
The ADNZ Resene Design Awards 2008 were presented last Saturday night. A sustainable design by Bob Burnett Architecture was popular receiving awards in 4 different categories. It won the Sustainability Award and the Bathroom Award. Also it was a finalist in other categories, New Single Dwelling Award over 250 sqm and Residential Interiors Award.
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Featured Idea: My Farm
MyFarm is an urban farm. The idea is to grow vegetables in backyard gardens in the city. This increases local food production helping to create a secure and sustainable food system. The US 'My Farm' use organic practices and strive to grow the best tasting most nutritious vegetables.
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Featured Info: Green Guide to Electronics
With expanded and tougher criteria on toxic chemicals, electronic waste and new criteria on climate change only Sony and Sony Ericsson score more than 5/10 in our latest Guide to Greener Electronics.
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Featured Info: GE Food Problems and Risks
Genetic engineering of plants is not like any form of plant breeding. It is most often carried out using a soil bacterium called Agrobacterium, or involves foreign DNA being literally shot into plant cells with a ‘gene gun’. In the wild, Agrobacterium inserts a small piece of its own DNA into plant cells, usually creating tumours called crown galls.
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Featured Story: Floating Eco Islands?
It's common knowledge that the planet is warming, ice caps are melting, and water levels are rising. The international scientific community predicts that a temperature elevation of 1°C will lead to a water rise of 1 meter, resulting in massive land loss and the displacement of millions of people world wide. Vincent Callebaut, a visionary Belgian...
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Featured Eco Home: Waipu Cove
Rainwater is collected from the roof for washing and toilet cisterns, and a solar hot water cylinder ensures that there is plenty of free hot water on sunny days. Inside, natural timber floors and cabinetry work with passive heating and ventilation to provide a low-toxic environment.
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Featured Home: Eco Village Lifestyle
Situated in the Kohatu Toa Eco Village, this home and land is designed to feed a family for the entire year. It has a well established and organic orchard, sub tropical orchard, and vegetable gardens in good heart. There are three different living spaces - The main house, a double bedroom sleepout/office, and a smaller single bedroom cottage.
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Featured Event: Eco Film Fest
The NZ International Film Festival starting in July has a fantastic line up of films about sustainable living, eco-communities and environmental protection from around the world. Make sure you put the dates in your calendar and share with your friends!
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Featured Challenge: SHAC
Nine teams from the country’s leading tertiary institutions have signed up to the challenge of providing a more sustainable way of life for New Zealand home owners. The Sustainable Habitat Challenge 09 (SHAC 09) is an Otago Polytechnic initiative. It’s funded by the Ministry for the Environment’s Sustainable Management Fund to foster...
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Featured Community Story: Rubbish Free Year
You may think its crazy, but my husband and I have challenged ourselves to live for one year without creating any household rubbish. We started officially on the 1st of February 2008 but also had a trial run during January. We’ve had plenty of “What will we do about…?” conversations, so if you’re wondering what the rubbish free options for toothpaste, shampoo, or bread, etc, click on the Rubbish Free Guide link above.
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Featured Website: Vertical Farm
By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the earth's population will reside in urban centers. Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic trends, the human population will increase by about 3 billion people during the interim. An estimated 109 hectares of new land (about 20% more land than is represented by the country of Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming practices continue as they are practiced today. At present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising crops is in use (sources: FAO and NASA). Historically, some 15% of that has been laid waste by poor management practices. What can be done to avoid this impending disaster?
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Featured Organisation: Sustainable Business Network
The Sustainable Business Network provides practical advice and support to assist business with this challenge. We support our members with networking opportunities, programme delivery, training and sustainability assessments.
Ecological and social issues are becoming more important than ever and consumers are calling for action. We have reached the sustainability tipping point and it is now the imperative for business this century.
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Talk Sustainability Issue 10
As consumer preference grows for sustainably produced goods and services, companies are increasingly being expected to ‘walk the talk’ on claims of eco-friendliness. This issue covers some examples of externally-verified best practice in corporate sustainability, as well as the Commerce Commission’s efforts to crack down on ‘greenwashing’. The Government’s eco-verification initiative aims to speed business uptake of internationally recognised environmental indicators.
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A new Google Earth skin takes you through the next hundred years of climate change, which has particularly startling consequences for the north pole.
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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Jorge Fernandez strolls across the used-car parking lot littered with dozens upon dozens of sport utility vehicles the size of small tugboats.
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By Linda Sieg
KOBE, Japan (Reuters) - Environment ministers from the G8 rich nations on Monday urged their leaders to set a global target to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a small but vital step in the fight against climate change.
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New Foothold for LED Lights
Dusseldorf, Germany, has 17,000 gas street lamps. The city's power utility has decided to replace 10,000 of them with LED street lights, but that hasn't happened yet. So far, only about 25 of them have been installed.
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The answer to the question "Can sustainable, green homes be built in mass production?" led Michelle Kaufmann to found Michelle Kaufmann Designs (MKD), a leading design/build firm that uses off-site modular technology to create contemporary eco-friendly homes.
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In recognition of World Environmental Day Sola60 – New Zealand’s solar heating specialists – and National Park Backpackers have combined forces to keep international travellers in hot water during their stay using the sun’s renewable energy.
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Films about sustainable living, eco-communities and environmental protection from around the world at the New Zealand International Film Festivals.
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BONN, Germany (Reuters) - The United States will tell a July meeting of the Group of Eight rich nations that it cannot meet big cuts in emissions of planet-warming gases by 2020, its chief climate negotiator Harlan Watson said.
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The looming winter power shortage is yet another reminder that New Zealand needs to accelerate the adoption of small scale renewable electricity options, Sustainable Electricity Association New Zealand CEO Charmaine Watts said today.
Her comments were made during a speech for the Wellington City Council Sound-bite lecture series celebrating Wor...
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How do you raise awareness about plastic debris floating in the Pacific? You sail a boat made out of 15,000 plastic bottles from California to Hawaii. Marine scientists Joel Paschal and Marcus Erikson discuss their voyage with host Madeleine Brand.
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Auckland Zoo is meeting the unusual green challenges of keeping animals such as sea lions and orang-utans.
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Ecoshow NZ is more than a trade exhibition. It incorporates an Eco-Forum and Workshops (both discussions and hands-on) lead by national and international experts and attended by key players and decision makers.
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