If you are on a mission to cut down your waste like I am, then this interview with Matthew Luxon, maybe right up your alley. Matthew and his wife Waveney, did a Rubbish Free Challenge in 2008 and produced only two supermarket bags of rubbish …..Jeepers.
Matthew talks about how they arrived at the decision to do this waste free challenge, offers some great tips and reveals how they are going now.
For more on tips on their journey check out their website. http://www.rubbishfree.co.nz/
Did you know that we have an Urban Ecologist at the Wellington City Council? Neither did I. But I do now, as I wanted to know what Conservation Week means for Wellington city. So in this interview Myfanwy Emeny, that Urban Ecologist, talks about the native communities that share our fair city, as well as the 90 volunteer community groups doing a good job replanting and helping our diverse environment thrive. She also bought in 2 local native superstars into the studio, although they were not that confident on the radio.
More on the pest fest at Waitangi Park to celebrate Conservation Week, this sunday.http://www.doc.govt.nz/getting-involved/events-and-awards/regional-events/family-pest-fest/
Meet Emily Dowding-Smith an ex Welly girl, (well Taranaki really) environment lawyer and scientist who has just returned from a test run, snorkeling the Arctic as part of a team of 10 women selected to raise awareness about disappearing sea ice and altered eco systems. And she was the only kiwi. Wow! In this interview Emily shares her reasons why this trip was important to her and her perception on what she saw on this once in a lifetime experience.
For more on this and Emily’s other adventures read her blog http://emtere.com
In this interview Kereru enthusiast and coordinator for the project Tony Stoddard, wants us to keep our eyes on the skies and start counting and reporting our Kereru to help the Great Kereru Count.
Tony reveals why the Kereru are so vital to our fragile eco system and why he, WWF and the WCC council are on the mission to get this information.
The Great Kereru Count finishes on October the 5th so download the app and get reporting.
http://kererudiscovery.org.nz/
http://www.kererucount.org.nz/
is a soulful lady with a big voice and now she is stepping up for those who do not have one, by heading the the campaign to save the last 55 Maui’s Dolphin from extinction.
As New Zealand’s Environment Commissioner, Jan Wright is the authority on what is happening environmentally in our country. In this interview Jan gives us a breakdown on her latest report on the impending “fracking” or Oil and Gas Drilling industry, as well as the bigger environmental issues at hand. Her mission is to then get politicians to act on her recommendations.
Although we didn’t get to discuss this, the summary below, which ends her report introduction is certainly food for thought at this critical time. And if the Commissioner for the Environment is saying it, why aren’t we doing it?
– ‘The Government has committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions to five percent below our 1990 emissions by 2020, but there is no plan for achieving this –neither the Energy Strategy nor the greatly weakened Emissions Trading Scheme will do it. Perhaps I have become particularly sensitive, but I seem to be increasingly hearing that it is pointless for our small country to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases because our contribution to the global total is insignificant. But this is a recipe for inaction everywhere.
The Minister of Climate and Environment in Norway – another small country – recently said it better than I can:
“Norway accounts for 0.04 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. In isolation, what we do is of little significance. But we cannot think like that. Every Chinese city, every U.S. state, every coal power plant emission is small in the larger whole. We will not get anywhere if we just point at each other.”
During my time as New Zealand’s Environment Commissioner, I have often made recommendations about the need for a strong response on climate change. I will continue to do so.’
Jan Wright-Drilling for oil and gas in New Zealand: Environmental oversight and regulation -June 2014
are doing a seriously good job of getting climate change higher on the political agenda. I had a chat with Paul Young, Generation Zero’s spokesperson, at one of their political stunts outside Parliament, about other countries that DO have a climate change plan and an opportunity that NZ cannot afford to miss.