Grey Lynn 2030 Transition Community

Dear Green Drinks Supporter,

On the 28th of May the Government announced in the 2009 Budget significant cuts to environmental education and sustainability initiatives funded by both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry for the Environment.  The NZAEE Auckland Branch who coordinate Green Drinks believe these funding cuts to be short-sighted in the context of a global shift towards environmental protection and sustainability, and also reckless in these times of recession when education, training and upskilling is vital and community demand for support initiatives is intensifying. As a supporter of Green Drinks, we know that you will care about these funding cuts as well.

The 2009 Budget includes cuts to the following programmes and initiatives:

• The Enviroschools Foundation (who coordinate the Enviroschools programme nationally involving 670 schools)
• Education for Sustainability Advisory Services (EfS Advisors who provide curriculum support for teachers)
• Matauranga Taiao (EfS support for Kura Kaupapa Maori)
• The Environmental Education Guidelines Review Project (technical EE/EfS support for teachers in schools)
• Adult Community Education (provision of community-based life-long learning classes – ie “night schools” – which fund sustainable living skills courses)
• Householder Sustainability Programme “What’s your next step?” (coordinated by the Ministry for the Environment)
• Public Place Recycling Programme (funded by the Ministry for the Environment)
• Govt3 Programme (coordinated by the Ministry for the Environment to deliver leadership in sustainability practices by government agencies)
• The Sustainable Business Network (part-funded by the Ministry for the Environment)

These are small funding cuts in a financial sense, but will impact hundreds of thousands of people across the country, as well as severely compromising New Zealand’s own “Clean and Green – 100% Pure” global brand.  NZAEE think it is simply crazy that a government who supposedly believe “New Zealand’s environment is at the core of our quality of life, our national identity, and our competitive advantage” [National Party 2008 Environment Policy] and who care about business achievement and a knowledge economy, would go ahead and cease funding to programmes and initiatives that would make New Zealand a global leader in sustainability and safeguard continued trade and tourism advantages derived from our natural environment.

We believe it is time to take action and let the government know how we feel

As supporters of Green Drinks we know you and your organisations care about the sustainable future of New Zealand – our people, our businesses, and our environment. It would be fantastic if you would take some action to show how much you really do care.

PLEASE:
1. Distribute this message as soon as possible to anyone you know who believes in a healthy, prosperous and sustainable future for our people and country – family, friends, business leaders, neighbours, community groups, schools – and encourage them to take action.

2. Write a letter or email ASAP urging the government to continue to support these programmes. Please use your own words and make your correspondence positive, focusing on the what our environment and a sustainable NZ means to you, your family, your business, your organisation.

Send copies to the following people:
A. The Prime Minister. RT. Hon John Key, (Freepost Parliament, Private Bag 18 888, Wellington 6160
john.key@parliament.govt.nz)
B. The Minister of Education, Hon. Anne Tolley (Freepost Parliament, Private Bag 18 888, Wellington
6160, anne.tolley@parliament.govt.nz)
C. The Minister for the Environment, Hon. Nick Smith (Freepost Parliament, Private Bag 18 888, Wellington 6160, nick.smith@parliament.govt.nz)

D. Your Local Member of Parliament (Freepost Parliament, Private Bag 18 888, Wellington 6160, firstname.surname@parliament.govt.nz)

E. The BlueGreens – the National Party’s environmental team of MPs (environment@national.org.nz)

3. Write to:
a. Your local paper
b. The New Zealand Herald (short and to the point)

4. Go and visit your local MP to discuss your letter/email. We all know that talking with people one-on-one can be very effective at communicating your message.

Thank you for taking action.
The Green Drinks Team & NZAEE Auckland Branch

Leo Hickman 08/06/2009

It has grown from a local to a global phenomenon, but how does the Transition Movement keep itself relevant in the current political and economic climate?

Four years have now passed since the seeds were first sown in Kinsale, County Cork, for the Transition Movement. In a relatively short period of time, the movement has grown into a global phenomenon with Transition Towns now located in countries ranging from the US and New Zealand through to Chile and Italy. And you know it’s crossed over into popular thinking when the fictional town of Ambridge in the Radio 4′s The Archers becomes a Transition Town, as it did last year.

The core idea is simple enough: raising awareness among local communities about their utter dependency on oil. But finding the best ways for each community to wean themselves off oil have always been a little more difficult to pin down. The teachings and theories behind permaculture – self-sufficiency, sustainability, cooperatives, working with nature – have always been at the forefront of the Transition Movement and, in a way, it has often felt as if it has been a sort of rebranding exercise for a philosophy and way of life that somehow appeared trapped in the 1970s. I believe that the Transition Movement has been a much-needed reboot for the sensible thinking that underpins permaculture.

But it also feels as if the time has now come to ask: where does the Transition Movement go next? This weekend, many Transitionites will be heading to the Sunrise Celebration festival near Bruton in Somerset to enjoy the music and speakers, as well as the predicted fine weather. Sunday is being hailed as “Transition Sunday” by the organisers and they promise “talks, forum discussions, movies and more to inspire everybody to get involved in their own local initiatives”.

They add:

We are lucky to be based here in Somerset, where even the county council have made a commitment to becoming the UK’s first Transition local authority.

Among the many talking points will surely be how the Transition Movement keeps itself relevant in the fast-moving rapids of our current political and economic turmoil. There are no doubt opportunities for the movement, but I also sometimes worry about the company the movement might attract by displaying such a high-profile lunge towards localism.

Looking at the programme of the third annual transition conference held at the Battersea arts centre in south London, it doesn’t appear as if there were any events that specifically discussed the potential threats to the movement, but it would be interesting to hear from any Transitionites about the challenges that still need to be overcome if the movement is to continuing expanding into new communities.

For example, many of the communities that have warmly welcomed the ideals of the Transition Movement have to date been those that already have, let’s say, something of a reputation for being hubs of left-leaning greenery. I’m thinking Totnes, Lewes, Brixton, Bristol and the like. How does the movement now reach beyond these low-hanging fruit?

—–

This article originally appeared in The Guardian

Enviroschools and the Budget – Sabotaging Success

Please put this up on a wall in your neighbourhood.

Thanks

Click on the image to view the PDF

Biogas is the flammable gas given off during

Anaerobic Digestion (fermentation).

Anaerobic Digestion is a useful process!

Biogas is a useful product!

Biogas can be utilised as a free energy source in a domestic or farm situation!

Small scale Anaerobic Digestion for the House and Farm, is the topic of a Presentation at:

the Maharishi Vedic Center

295 Wainui Rd

7 pm

30 April 2009

$5 per person

Biogas.  This is the natural production of methane using organic wastes.  The two speakers are Jo Knight of the NZ Zero Waste Trust who has travelled extensively in Europe and studied large scale biogas plants and Helensville engineer Steve Rodda who has been experimenting with building biogas reactors locally.  Steve is keen to find a suburban community who wants to build a cooperative biogas plant.

We are very pleased to announce that Niki Harré will be speaking at our next Grey Lynn 2030 meeting. She is a Pt Chev resident and key member of Transition Pt Chevalier.

Niki Harré is a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland where she has taught social and community psychology for ten years. She is co-editor of the book, Carbon Neutral by 2020: How New Zealanders can Tackle Climate Change.

Niki’s research interests include environmentally sustainable schools, grass-roots activism and psychological well being. Niki is involved in an action research project at Western Springs College.

Niki will be speaking on the following:

How to build a green community

A green community is about those things that make us happy and healthy – clean air, exercise, fresh food, safe transport, natural surroundings and above all, vibrant neighbourhoods. This talk will focus on how positive psychology can be used to build such a community.

Niki will discuss the importance of a positive atmosphere for inspiring creativity, how storytelling and films can be used to set goals, the power of “walking the talk” and why being well organised is vital to success.

To get you in the mood, here is an article by Niki in this month’s Good magazine on Does Being Green make you Happy?