Grey Lynn 2030 has been sent this invite.

If you haven’t been or heard of Green Drinks here is how this international group describes itself.

What is Green Drinks? It is a simple concept that has generated an international movement that is now active in 360 cities around the world. The international website www.greendrinks.org highlights everywhere you can go and join like-minded people in regular, fun, social networking.

Auckland Green Drinks

You are invited to attend the March Auckland Green Drinks

Tuesday 3^rd March from 5.30-7.30pm.

This event is proudly hosted by NZAEE for Seaweek 2009, at the Degree Gastrobar in the Viaduct.

Come and hear Dan Breen talk about Marine Conservation, mix and mingle with like-minded people and enjoy a beverage overlooking Auckland’s marine environment.

Please bring YOUR OWN name tag. There will be a cash bar with happy hour prices for select wine and beer, however you must be wearing a name tag to be applicable for this special.

RSVPs are a MUST so we can advise the bar, so please email auckland@nzaee.org.nz

What: Green Drinks, hosted by NZAEE for Seaweek 2009 at Degree Gastrobar
Where: 204 Quay Street, Auckland CBD
When: Tuesday 3^rd March, 5.30-7.30pm
Cost: Cash Bar, happy hour specials with name tag

RSVP: Please RSVP to auckland@nzaee.org.nz by Friday 27^th February
Queries: Please email auckland@nzaee.org.nz

If you want to know more about Seaweek check out www.seaweek.org.nz

Upcoming Green Drinks….if you can’t make this event, then don’t fret…there are more Green Drinks planned! The next event will be in MAY.…invites will be sent out 2 weeks before the event.

Hope to see you soon.
Cheers!
NZAEE Auckland Branch – Green Drinks Coordinators

Do you find you barely use the Yellow Pages and tend to use the online directory services instead? www.whitepages.co.nz or www.yellow.co.nz?

I read recently in Good Magazine that you can contact Yellow Pages and ask to not receive the phone books anymore.

It is very easy. Just go to www.Yellow.co.nz – on the contact us page send your request to stop the phone books. They need your home address and phone number. All done. As easy as that.

Grey Lnn 2030 now has a group on Facebook. Facebook Fans please join up as at the moment we are a very small group indeed. If you are new to Facebook, now you have a reason to join.  Facebook is a great way to put a face to a name and get to know more about people in our community.

The Documentary Film Festival has lots of tempting films in it. This one looks  a must see for Transition Towners.

Recipes for Disaster

Filmmaker John Webster does not want his children to have any cause for complaint that he did not personally do anything to reduce the effect of climate change. So he announces drastic measures to reduce his family’s CO2 production, including not to have a car or to buy products made of plastic for one year while attempting to retain their middle class suburban lifestyle. Soon, John’s wife and his two little sons feel the consequences of the father’s biodynamic strategies. It becomes a tough job finding adequate hygiene products like toothpaste and toilet paper in the supermarket. Even corn flakes pose a problem due to the plastic free gifts inside the box.

The everyday things that we don’t do or can’t help doing, make up recipes for disaster. In this comedy of errors, the Webster family find themselves testing their values, will power and happiness.

This well paced and humorous film documents the comedy of errors that result from a do-gooder’s well-intentioned plans that at times seem impossible to implement and at other times stretch the patience of his family to breaking point. Yet, the film gives a surprising demonstration of what the individual can do to avert a climatic catastrophe – even if one can’t help thinking that it is John Webster’s marriage that is on the verge of suffering a catastrophe throughout this difficult year.

Director John Webster. Producer Kristiina Pervilä.

Some people want to join our group Grey Lynn, Westmere, Ponsonby Transition Town group, not realising that Pt Chev, Titirangi, New Lynn, Kingsland all have active groups. The idea of Transtion Towns is to keep it local.

But please do come along to us if you like to see what we are up to or have a good speaker or a film you want to see. There is lots of cross pollinating going on!
Transition Town New Zealand gives the full listing throughout NZ.

Titirangi

There will be Transition Titirangi/Green Bay meeting at Pam Sellers
house -12 Verena Pl., Green Bay, Tuesday, 24 Feb at 7:30. Helen Biffin
from Waitakere Parks, will be there at the beginning, to talk about
the potential to use public land for growing fruit and nut trees.

Pt Chevalier
There is a meeting this coming Tuesday (Feb 24) to discuss if and how we could make it easier for transition town people to purchase food and other products consistent with what we are trying to achieve (e.g. local, organic, low packaging, fair trade). This may lead to a sub-group, discussions with the Pt Chev organic shop, co-ops or a calendar of suppliers and purchase dates.
All welcome for this initial discussion.
7.30-9pm, 69 Dignan St.

Grey Lynn 2030 is a community group. People give of their time freely and with pleasure to make it happen.

I would like to support these people in their paid endeavours and hope you will too.

Lynn Green – Our Waste Away expert and local bee keeper.

For delicious Grey Lynn honey,  contact Lynn -  thefairy@xtra.co.nz

Jason Kemp – Our Web Guru who helps me to keep  www.greylynn2030.co.nz cranking. Jason works with small and large companies who need web sites and online marketing. He is particularly skilled at setting up sites using wordpress.org or wordpress MU in a jiffy.

Chris Morris - for designing the, soon to be released, new logo. Chris is a graphic designer with years of experience. This is why she can come up with a logo for something as amorphous as Grey Lynn 2030!

Tania Miller – of the  Grey Lynn Centre where we have our meetings. The centre has lovely new rooms upstairs which are perfect for small meetings.

Now is there anybody who would sponsor some free photocopying and or printing to publicise our events?

Grey Lynn 2030 will be showing the End of Suburbia

Preview below

Friday 27th Feb 7.30

Grey Lynn Community Centre Hall

510 Richmond Rd

Cost $2

Get Across Campaign

Would you take part in the proposed trial opening for walking and cycling on the Harbour Bridge in April?  Would you support a protest march if the trial was not allowed?  We’d like to hear from you, please complete our 2 minute survey here:

An update on where things are at.
The NZ Transport Agency have shown they have no interest in providing
walking or cycling access on the Harbour Bridge in the near future.

Read why their excuses are not valid here:

Given that we have explored all diplomatic options with the NZTA, we think it’s time to show them that Aucklanders are serious about being able to walk and cycle over our Harbour Bridge.

We hope you’ll support ARC chair Mike Lee’s suggestion for a trial access
each Sunday morning in April’09. If the NZTA reject his suggestion (which is a distinct possibility), then we want to know your views on a public protest across the bridge.   So it’s important that you complete our 2 minute survey to tell us what you think.

Please forward this info to your friends, encouraging them to voice their
support at http://www.getacross.org.nz/ if they haven’t already done so.
Thanks and best regards!

Andy Smith & Bevan Woodward
www.GetAcross.org.nz <http://www.GetAcross.org.nz>

TT Kingsland/Sandringham/Mt Eden are holding a tree grafting workshop on 22 Feb at 4pm in Sandringham.

Grafting can potentially be one of the cheapest methods to multiply good quality fruit trees for a very low price. It has an edge of long- term as the rootstocks are usually only PB1/2 and that is probably 3 years behind your typical nursery trees. But there is also the possibility of bud-grafting, adding several matching fruit types onto a single tree – good for small urban gardens!

The address and all info will be sent to all who are interested and want to attend. All interested, please email to kingsland.transitiontowns@gmail.com.  We only have a few spaces left due to the smallish space the workshop will be held in.  If there is interest forum more people we will hold another in the near future.

The TTKS group.

We are lucky to now have threee community gardens in Grey Lynn. The “experts” next to St Columba Church and Kelmarna Garden who have years of experience and flourishing gardens.
We also now have a new garden on Wilton Street directly behind the Gypsy Tearoom and the Wine Vvault. Both the owners of the plots and the lessees have given the enterprise their blessing so ongoing tenure is assured.

The project has been started by a group of neighbours at the top of Wilton Street, including Mandy McMullein, Kate Walshe, and Jacqui Watson and Adele. Mandy, is a landscape architect, and intends to design a plan for the garden which the community could use that might gain sponsorship from various funding sources. This would pay for
soil testing and structures that need to be put in place, such as a fence and a compost bin. A local enterprise that makes compost bins businessman has offered to do any building required at a reduced rate.
There are a few locals already involved  largely from Wilton Street who are keen on the project and have good skills to donate to it. Since they started other people from further afield have contacted the gardeners asking to be involved. All are welcome.

Presently it still looks like a empty section but Ponsonby News spoke to the Mandy and Jacqui who said the plot has already undergone a transformation with a major weed problem tackled. and almost overcome. They’ve hand cleared the site of jasmine that was growing right up into the trees and smothering everything. Although pretty, jasmine is very hard to eradicate
completely and will require ongoing control.

Some kind person has offered them a couple of goats to get rid of it, but that’s an option requiring careful consideration! Might be a bit upsetting for people having a tipple at Gypsy Tea Rooms….

The plan is that members of the community will pull together to create a resource that we can all enjoy. Part of their vision is to have a relaxation area as well, where people can enjoy sitting quietly, they might have street barbeques, or neighbourhood celebrations at festival times.