Grey Lynn 2030 Transition Community

A new, informal group started at our February 2009 meeting of people who want to swap spare seedlings from their own gardens. The aim is to save some money, share some knowledge and gain some biodiversity!

If you are interested in this please contact Alice on 3764623 or alice@angelfood.co.nz

Seed exchanges are springing up around New Zealand, the Te Kakano Trust is based in Wanaka and has achieved a lot since it was formed in September 2008. Their aim is to ‘ establish a community-based native plant nursery specialising in propagating plants of local origin for the restoration of habitats in the Upper Clutha Basin”.

Here in Grey Lynn many of us have gardens that once successful can be very productive. Please bring any seedlings that you don’t need to our monthly meeting. There is sure to be somebody who will be happy to receive them.

Earth Hour 2009 is a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community. Earth hour is a call to stand up, to take responsibility and to get involved in working towards a sustainable future.  In 2008, 50 million people in 370 cities and towns, in more than 35 countries worldwide switched off their lights for Earth Hour.  Earth Hour 2009 aims to reach more than one billion people in 1000 cities around the world, inviting communities, business and governments to switch off lights for one hour at 8:30pm on Saturday March 28 and sending a powerful global message that we care enough about climate change to take action.

For more information – http://www.earthhour.org/

What can we do for Earth Hour in our community? – here are some ideas how we can get all of Grey Lynn, Ponsonby and Westmere to turn out the lights for an hour on 28^th March.

Earth Hour Ideas

• Star gazing night find someone with a high powered telescope and some knowledge of the constellations and organise a star gazing session
• Contact the power companies to get a measurement of the drop in usage over the hour – we agreed to target a 5% reduction
• Contact all restaurants and bars and ask them to host a candlelit dinner for the hour. Encourage one bar to have an acoustic set on that evening
• Contact all shops and offices and get them to turn off their display lighting for the evening – give each shop willing to do this a poster to put in the window for the night. Contact the Chamber of Commerce and to see if they can email their members
• See if a shop would have a special on candles
• Contact all of the shops that are open at that 9.00 on Saturday and see if they will do a candlelit or solar light hour
• Walk up Mt Eden to see the view of town when the lights go out
• General awareness in the community – articles in local papers ( press release – maybe 2 weeks prior and follow up with ads and emails out to database)
• Arrange for iconic lights to go out – Auckland War Memorial, Bastion Point, all public buildings
• We discussed the idea of the street lights going out. Think it might be a safety issue. Would be good to at least get all the peripheral lighting eg gardens and parks turned off.
• Schools – contact schools and get something in their newsletters
• Check out events calendars and see if anything is on that night that we could get involved with

The good folk in Pt Chev are on to it, if you would rather not stay at home on your own in your dark house.

Coyle Park 8 – 9.30pm Saturday, March 28th – join us to watch the lights go out.

Earth hour 2009 is from 8.30-9.30 on March 28th. To acknowledge the need to take action on Climate Change, people all over the world are encouraged to turn out the lights for one hour… We understand the Sky Tower will go dark, and hope to also see other lights go out. We will meet at the Coyle Park playground. Torches (preferably rechargable!) may be needed to safely navigate the park. Don’t forget to turn out your own lights before you leave home.

Want to learn more about how to live sustainably? The Sustainable Living Centre in New Lynn run excellent courses. While not in Grey Lynn or Ponsonby the course there are not to be missed.

www.ecomatters.org.nz

Renewable Energy
Exciting innovations in DIY energy production
Sunday 8 March 3-4pm – free – PART OF ECODAY SEMINAR SERIES AT HALL NEXT TO SLC
Michael Lawley - Renewable Energy Engineer, EcoInnovation
Michael is a renewable energy engineer and inventor based in Taranaki. An opportunity to see working demonstrations of a recycled Smart Drive washing machine generator, a solar hot water system, solar photovoltaic panels, wind and hydro turbines. An interesting and informative workshop and display, valuable for rural properties, baches and anyone interested in going ‘off the grid’.

EcoDay – FREE COMMUNITY EVENT!
Sunday 8 March 10-4pm    Held at Olympic Park, New Lynn.

The Sustainable Living Centre will be open all day and there will also be tours of the Trusts EcoHouse. Eco stalls and exhibitions, organic food and drinks, kids zone, music, workshops and seminars, vehicle emissions testing, tours of sustainable homes and gardens. See www.ecoday.org.nz for more info.

<<EcoDay 2009 – Poster.pdf>>

MODULAR PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE  (12 modules in total)
Urban Design & Living  (Module 5, PDC)
Saturday 14 March    8.45am-5pm    $80-$160 (pre-payment required)
Finn Mackesy – Co-chairperson, Permaculture in NZ; Gary Marshall – Landscape Architect, DJ Scott Associates Ltd
NOTE DIFFERENT VENUE: DJ Scott, 21 Graham St, City
NB: Shared lunch optional, bring a plate
This module covers: Applications and examples for urban living (suburban and medium density); engaging with local communities and councils; subdivision and development; layout and integration of urban areas/activities (social and economic diversity, transport and communication networks, energy supply and distribution, waterway corridors and stormwater, zero waste, waste disposal/re-use and sewage treatment, community, health and education facilities and open spaces, etc).

Bring Back Butterflies
How to attract native and exotic butterflies to your garden
Wednesday 18 March  6.30-8.30pm  $10
Angela Gibbons – Native butterfly breeder
Wondering where the butterflies have gone? We’re not growing the kinds of plants our native butterflies depend on. Yellow Admirals used to be plentiful in the Auckland region, now you’d be lucky to spot one. Angela is helping to save the day by breeding these butterflies AND growing and propagating the plants they feed on.

MODULAR PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE  (12 modules in total)
Climate & Atmosphere  (Module 6, PDC)
Saturday 21 March    8.45am-5pm    $80-$160(pre-payment required)
Finn Mackesy – Co-chairperson, Permaculture in NZ; Gary Marshall – Landscape Architect, DJ Scott Associates Ltd; Rilke de Vos – Energy Research Engineer, National Institute of Water and Atmosphere (NIWA)

NB: Shared lunch optional, bring a plate
Climatic regions of the world; Global weather patterns; Climate change; Atmospheric conditions; Designing for local climatic conditions – climate responsive design, insulation and heating; Micro-climates – shelter, shade, sun traps, harnessing the wind; Urban weather patterns and atmospheric conditions – acid rain, urban heat sink, wind patterns and tall buildings.

EDIBLE GARDEN CULTURE  (8 part series)
1. Edible Garden Planning and Practice    BOOKED OUT – SEE BELOW FOR FUTURE WORKSHOPS
Saturday 28 March     10.30am-12.30pm     $20
Richard Main – Environmental educator, co-founder Unitec Hortecology Sanctuary
This is the first workshop of a new 8 part edible gardening series for 2009. Richard Main is an enthusiastic and experienced environmental educator and co-founder of the Unitec Hortecology Sanctuary. In this mainly hands-on practical workshop, participants will be introduced to ideas around working with nature, propagation techniques, planting and an abundant summer harvest.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are interested in any of the Edible Garden workshops below, we will pencil you in.
Dates yet to be confirmed, but they will generally be held on the last Saturday of the month.

Edible Garden Culture 2009
Through the seasons of the year
With Richard Main
Explore practical ways to creating edible home gardens for healthy living. This is an eight-part practical series – outlined below.

1.  Edible Garden planning and practice – Sat 28 March  BOOKED OUT
2.  The Living Soil – April
3.  Waste to Resource Cycle – May
4.  Cultural Practices – June
5.  Winter reflection and Inspiration – July
6.  Plant Health – August
7.  Spring Action – ‘a  fine sense of timing’ – September
8.  Implementing the summer edible garden -  October
About Richard Main
An environmental educator and former Manager and co-founder of the Unitec Hortecology Sanctuary from 1999 to 2009.
Richard has been teaching organic horticulture and sustainability related subjects at Unitec for 10 years. He has chaired the local small growers organic scheme, Organic Farm NZ, and run community based education courses since 1998.

Bike West Fest – Free Entry
Corban Estate, Sat 21 Feb 10am-12midday
Ride on along for prizes, family ride, fun activities, bike maintenance and cycle safety.
Snacks provided, BYO water bottle.

CHEESEMAKING COURSES
26 February 7-9pm    Artisan Wines, 99 Parrs Cross Road, Oratia, Waitakere
‘Cutting the Curd’ with Katherine Mowbray
CAMEMBERT & MASCARPONE INTRODUCTION TO CHEESEMAKING
Thursday 26th 7-9pm Cost: $45 pp includes wine & cheese tasting
CONTACT: Maria Lempriere: maria@wheturangi.co.nz or phone 027 232 5554 for more information. Gift Vouchers available.

A few weeks ago on Radio NZ, Gareth Morgan spoke about that in a recession people like to ” run home to Mum” . I found this idea for Green Grannies on www.springwise.com and it struck a chord.  Wouldn’t it be great to harness the skills of our older folk to get us through these difficult times and also to pass on skills that we used to have. Only my mother has the patience to teach my daughter to knit!

Grandmothers are known for many virtues, not the least of which is their ability to knit spectacular socks. Perhaps even more admirable, however, is the older generation’s ability to make the most of limited resources.

With just that talent in mind, Oxfam recently recruited a team of what it calls Green Grannies to offer advice to the UK public about everything from how to darn socks to how to make delicious food from leftovers. Part of Good Ideas Unltd, Oxfam’s new lifestyles campaign, the service aims not only to help UK consumers save cash, but also to encourage recycling and help tackle climate change, which it notes has a particularly hard impact on the world’s poorest populations. To disseminate the grannies’ advice, Oxfam has launched a YouTube channel—a recent clip describes how to stay warm at night without running the heat, for example—and will soon debut its ‘Ask a Granny’ service on the Oxfam website.

Green Granny Barbara Walmsley explains: “I have always made the most of what I have—it just comes naturally to me. Every granny has her own tricks for saving money, and I’m really glad to have the chance to share them with younger people. Its great to be involved with a campaign which is helping people living in poverty now, and which will also help take care of the world for my grandchildren’s generation.”

“Waste not, want not” is a maxim that works well both from an economic and an environmental perspective, and it’s also one that comes naturally to older generations. Where else could consumers benefit from some elderly advice….?

Website: www.oxfam.org.uk/applications/blogs/goodideasvideo
Contact: rmarsh@oxfam.org.uk