Happy holidays!

I'm off on holiday until mid-January, so you won't hear anything from Sustainability and the City for a while. Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season. I look forward to communicating with you again in the new year!

Rethinking Giving

Image by nosheep

What do you want for Christmas?

I usually find this question quite difficult to answer. I'd like a solution to all the problems facing the world, but the people asking me aren't in a position to give that. I'd like a round the world air ticket and some ski gear, but I'm pretty sure the people asking me aren't planning to spend quite that much money. I'd like a worm farm or bokashi system, but most people don't perceive things like that as suitable items for Christmas gifts. I'll always appreciate cash, but some people don't feel comfortable giving it as a gift. The thing is, I'm not a fan of stuff. You know, the kind of stuff you see advertised on TV and in junk mail at Christmas time, often labelled with a helpful caption like "Great gift idea!"  I don't consider something a great gift idea if I have to find somewhere in my apartment to put it, dust it regularly, and it doesn't give me any tangible benefit in return. Nor is it a great gift idea if I have to wear it and pretend to like it. And it's definitely not a great gift idea if it's labelled "As seen on TV!"

I don't disagree with the concept of giving gifts, but I think that our attitude to gift-giving has gone awry. You still hear the phrase "It's the thought that counts" often, but it doesn't seem that many people actually believe it. Most people seem to feel that there's a minimum amount of money they ought to spend on a gift, which depends on the occasion and the closeness of their relationship with the recipient, and they will tailor the gift they give to reflect that amount. It seems more important to me to focus on the value of the gift to the recipient, rather than its dollar cost to the giver. If the recipient is concerned about world issues, they'll probably be much happier with a gift that doesn't contribute to the problems they are concerned  about. If you and/or your intended recipients are concerned about the ethical implications of the gifts you give this Christmas, here are some options (for New Zealanders).

Ethical gifts

If you want to give a tangible, physical gift, but want it to have minimal negative impacts on the world, check out these sources:

• Trade Aid is a wonderful source of beautiful, exotic, fair trade gifts. You can preview their products online and find your nearest shop location on their website.
• Ecostore stocks environmentally friendly body products, cosmetics and other nice things.
• There's a wealth of options in The Good Shopping Handbook, compiled by Good magazine.

Charity gifts

There are a number of easy ways to give directly to needy recipients. Some of these options are intended to operate in lieu of a gift for your loved ones, and offer to send a gift card telling the recipient about the donation you've made on their behalf. Others are simply ways to share some Christmas cheer with people less fortunate than yourself.

• Until December 24th, you can donate gifts by placing them under the Wishing Tree at any Kmart store.
• Give a miracle of sight via the Fred Hollows Foundation. For just $25 you can restore the sight of someone who can't afford to pay for a cataract operation.
• The now well-established Oxfam Unwrapped lets you gift things like goats and toilets (perfect for the workplace Secret Santa), and categorises suggestions by price and intended recipient.
• In a similar vein is Wish List, run by Save the Children.
• Greenpeace Giving offers diverse options, from fertility kits for tuataras to GE-free Christmas cakes. 

Re-gifting
Not everyone will see eye-to-eye on Christmas gift giving. You're bound to receive something that you don't want or need. If you'd prefer that it benefitted someone else rather than gathered dust in the spare room, here are some options for re-gifting. Just make sure you don't offend Great-Aunt Maude!

• If you think it might be useful to someone else, list it on DonateNZ. You might provide a Happy New Year for a not-for-profit organisation.
• For dud clothing, trade it for something you actually like on iSwish.
• Save it up to put under the Kmart Wishing Tree next Christmas.

Have any other suggestions you'd like to share? Please do by posting a comment below.

Planet A March for the Climate

Yesterday hundreds, possibly thousands, of Aucklanders met in Albert Park in the CBD for the Sign On Planet A March for the Climate. Families, groups of teens, young professionals, middle-aged couples and seniors gathered together and donned placards with hand-painted messages requesting real commitment to tackling climate change at next week's COP15 summit in Copenhagen.

Fabulous frontwoman Robyn Malcolm addressed the crowd with the message that this was a positive march - a step to show our leaders that they have support to push for an ambitious target in Copenhagen. And the atmosphere was incredibly positive. This was a march where people chanted with smiles on their faces; and the message was 'we can'. The march up Queen St, Auckland's main street, ended in Myers Park with a free concert for supporters by some of New Zealand's favourite local acts (including hilarious Sign On poster-boy and MC, Rhys Darby).

Robyn Malcolm keeping the crowd positive

Next week is an incredibly exciting time for the world. Will our leaders come together in Copenhagen and commit to taking action to avert the potentially catastrophic consequences of global warming?

Friday round-up: 4 December 2009

Here's some exciting and inspiring things I've discovered this week, and some upcoming events to add to your diaries.


Places to visit online:

I may be a bit slow off the mark, but I just discovered The Elders, a group of eminent global leaders with a formidable amount of life experience between them, who have joined forces with their grandchildren to spread awareness about the catastophic risk of climate change to future generations. With such powerful and respected members as Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and Jimmy Carter, let's hope they have what it takes to inspire our leaders!

Last week I raved about fab clothes-trading site iSwish. This week I have cause to rave about it again, because they're giving away some great prizes to people who join up and contribute to their Christmas Wish List forum.

Fellow Aucklanders, get yourself to:

• Tomorrow, Saturday December 5, is the Planet A March + Concert for the Climate. The march starts at 1pm in Albert Park and goes up Queen St to Myers Park, where the concert will go off. Organised by the Sign On folks, Rhys Darby will be the concert MC and Opshop, Don McGlashan, Midnight Youth and others will rock Myers Park. 
• If you're of the pedal-powered persuasion, the Auckland chapter of Ride Planet Earth have organised a mass bike ride as a warm-up to the March + Concert. It starts at 11 am from the Auckland Domain's Winter Gardens. More info here. 
• The Grey Lynn Twilight Farmers Market on Saturday 19 December from 6-9 pm at the Grey Lynn Community Centre, 510 Richmond Road. A great opportunity to stock up on produce for Christmas Day or edible gifts. 
  

Weekend round-up: 29 November 2009

Here's a selection of online goodies and real world events that excited and inspired me this week. Hope you enjoy them too.


Expand your thoughts
Behavioural Economics meets Climate Change: great blog post by Marc Gunther about how behavioural economics might be used to influence people's actions.

Take action

Sign Auckland Zoo's 'Don't Palm Us Off!' petition for mandatory labelling of palm oil in products. Palm oil production threatens the extinction of animals such as the orangutan. It's currently nearly impossible to boycott products containing palm oil, because it often goes incognito in the ingredients list under the ambiguous moniker "vegetable oil". So we're currently unable to make informed decisions about whether to buy products containing palm oil. Sign the petition to show those in charge of labelling requirements that knowing which products contain palm oil is important to us.

While you're at it, here are some other causes you might like to add your name to if you haven't already:

• the Hopenhagen petition to ask world leaders to commit to real change at Copenhagen in December. 
• tcktcktck - pledge that you are ready for the world's leaders to sign a global climate deal in Copenhagen that is ambitious, fair and binding.
• Sign On to ask the NZ climate delegation to commit to reduce NZ's carbon emissions 40% by 2020.

Nifty tools
Read it Later is a great tool for people with long bus or train commutes. You can save websites to your computer or iPhone to explore offline later.

iSwish.co.nz is another great way to deal with clothes that no longer fit or flatter but are still in good condition. It's like a continuous, NZ-wide online schwop.

New Zealand Fruit and Food Share Map on Google Maps. Find out where and when fruit trees and other edible plants near you are available for foraging.

Upcoming events

Next weekend, on Saturday December 5 in Auckland, is the Planet A March + Concert for the Climate. The march starts at 1pm in Albert Park and goes up Queen St to Myers Park, where the concert will go off. Organised by the Sign On folks, Rhys Darby will be the concert MC and Opshop, Don McGlashan, Midnight Youth and others will rock Myers Park. If you're of the pedal-powered persuasion, the Auckland chapter of Ride Planet Earth have organised a mass bike ride as a warm-up to the March + Concert. It starts at 11 am from the Auckland Domain's Winter Gardens. More info here.

Reduce, reuse, recycle... and the neglected "R": repair

There are lots of words starting with R that describe sustainable behaviours: reduce, reuse, recycle, regift, re-home, repair... Society has shifted towards making some of these actions more convenient. Reusable bags are available in most major stores nowadays. Most cities and towns have kerbside recycling.  Online services like Trademe and DonateNZ are great ways to re-home items so that others can reuse them. But one R seems to be lagging behind the rest: repair. Surprisingly often the cost to have something repaired is more than what you paid for it or what it would cost to replace it. Two good examples are shoes and handbags.

The other day I took a handbag back to the store I had bought it from because the metal fastener that held a strap in place had come apart. They shop assistant immediately offered to exchange it for a new bag or give me a store credit. While the offer of a new handbag was mighty tempting, I'd thought about all the resources that must have gone into making my handbag and, since it was in pretty good condition other than the broken fastener, I preferred to have it repaired. The shop assistant was obviously surprised that I wanted to have the bag fixed rather than get a new one, but she said she would see what she could do. The next day I received a phone call from the shop assistant telling me that it was going to cost more to repair my bag than what I had paid for it. The manufacturer was overseas, and she had called a local repairer, who had quoted a price in excess of what I had paid for the bag. I was disappointed, but not really surprised. When I had tried to get my previous handbag fixed last year by going direct to the repairer, the quoted price was enough to convince me to send the bag to the scrap-heap instead. (That bag was in much worse shape than the current one - it was coming apart at most of the seams and one of the straps was nearly broken from the strain of me carrying far too much around in it all the time). It's the same with shoes. The cost to replace worn-out soles can be enough to convince people that they might as well buy new shoes instead.

This pricing situation negatively affects the sustainability of people's behaviour towards broken consumer goods. Many times I've heard people say, "It's not worth getting it fixed". In purely personal dollar terms they're right. But what about when other factors are weighed in? The environmental impact of manufacturing the product, the positive economic impact on their local community from paying a tradesperson to repair the broken item, and the environmental impact of disposing of the broken thing are relevant considerations, but ones that are difficult or impossible for the owner of the broken thing to quantify, even if they turned their mind to it.

In the past, when simply replacing a broken item was not always possible, people were more resourceful and many were more skilled at fixing things themselves. Expecting everyone to become a handyperson is not realistic in the time-starved society of today. But there are still people out there who are pretty handy. If you already know someone like that, you could try to strike up a bargain with them. Maybe they'll fix your shirt that's coming apart at the seams in exchange for you baking them some muffins, or buying them a beer. Or maybe you have skills that you can trade with them. You'll fix their door hinge if they'll sew the buttons back onto your shirts. If you don't know a handyperson, maybe you can track one down through community noticeboards (for example at your local supermarket or in your community newspaper), or maybe someone you know knows someone that they can put you in touch with. If you think that there's even a slight chance that you might be able to fix it yourself, if only you knew how, try googling "How to fix [insert broken thing here]". Obviously use this within reason. If you've never fixed anything electrical before, I wouldn't recommend trying to fix your microwave based on a Youtube video some home handyperson has posted. If you don't think it's worth even trying to fix it then the next step may be to try to reuse it in some other capacity, or to rehome it. Landfill transfer centres often salvage stuff and resell it, and some small repair stores will be happy to accept broken things from you that they can potentially use for parts. I've also discovered a market for broken electrical and electronic goods on Trademe. People list broken items for $1 reserve or thereabouts, and it seems that eager handypeople snap them up to repair and resell. So, it should be a rare occasion when something is only worth throwing out.

Have you got any thoughts to add on the neglected "R", repair? Make a comment below. Handyperson  self-promotion welcome!

Meat-free month update: closing thoughts

Image by RAWKU5

Today it's been a month since I pledged not to eat meat for a month on Blog Action Day. To debrief, I've asked myself some probing questions.

How are you feeling after eating (almost) no meat for a month?

Fine! Avoiding meat has started to feel more natural. The feeling that I'm missing out by not eating meat has become less common. I had a weird episode at the gym last week when I went my regular 'Abs, Butts and Thighs' class, and found my strength had mysteriously evaporated. My first thought was, "Have my muscles wasted away because I haven't been eating meat?"But, it turned out I was actually getting a nasty cold, which must have sapped my strength. Overall, I haven't been able to discern any significant change in my physical wellbeing.

In your mid-month update, you revealed you had cheated by eating meat a couple of times. Have you cheated again in the second half of the month?

I confess, I've cheated one more time. Hayden and I were out at a restaurant with friends for dinner and wanted to share a gourmet pizza. The vegetarian options on the menu sounded pitiful in comparison to the ones including meat. When paying restaurant price for a pizza, I didn't want to shortchange us by choosing one that sounded inferior, so we had the lamb one. But I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would, because I felt guilty the whole time I was eating it!

Are you glad you you undertook a meat-free month?

Definitely. It's good to know that greatly decreasing my meat intake was easier and less restricting than I thought it would be. Now that I've taken the plunge, it would be difficult to switch back to my old eating habits - it just wouldn't feel right. A lot of people were interested in what I was doing, so I was able to spread information about the impact of eating meat on the environment, and show other omnivores that switching to a predominantly vegetarian diet can be simple and enjoyable.

Where to from here?

I don't plan to celebrate the end of the month with a meat feast. My mindset towards meat must have changed, because the idea of gorging myself on animal flesh is not that appealing (unless it came off a BBQ - there's just something about BBQ meat in the summer). I plan to continue eating similarly to how I have this month: vegetarian being my default option, but eating meat when I really feel like it. I hope that will work out to eating meat about once a week or less. I doubt I'll eat vegetarian sausages again though. Even if you coat them in tomato sauce, they still taste like sawdust!

Friday round-up 6/11/09

Here's a collection of mind-expanding, thought-provoking, action-inspiring links to get you through the rest of Friday: 


Expand your thoughts

• Is plastic making us fat? New research suggests that chemical compounds found in plastics all around us promote cells to turn into fat cells during the development process. They  may promote obesity in adults too.
• Climate change as a feminist issue - and it's NOT about population control.
• Bizzare Bicycle Hybrids: How Your Bike Can Be Turned Into Whatever You Want
• My favourite quote of the week (from David Roberts of Grist in this article):

“Lesson: the problems humanity faces are systemic and interrelated. The idea that sucking CO2 out of the atmosphere will save us is akin to the hope that a math equation can be solved by erasing one of the numbers.”

Take action

• For the Kiwis: ACC is considering imposing a levy on cyclists who ride on New Zealand's roads, with figures of $300 to $500 being suggested. Ouch! The reasoning is that cyclists suffer a lot of injuries from crashes on the road, and so make significant ACC claims. Currently motorists are "subsidising" cyclists under ACC. I know ACC is supposed to be a no-fault scheme, but surely the causes of cycle crashes causing injury (of which cars would be at the top of the list) need to be factored in here. You can make a submission on this issue - details here. 
• Want to be better at convincing others of the importance of sustainable living? Download this guide to The Psychology of Climate Change Communication from the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions.
  

Upcoming events
Got your diaries at the ready? OK.

28 November: Grey Lynn Festival

5 December: Planet A March and Concert for the Climate, organised by the Sign On crew.

Please let me know if you know of any other awesome upcoming events, or "wow"-worthy things to visit online. Have a great weekend!

Meat-free month update: half-way

Image by SEPpics

On Blog Action Day, 15 October 2009, I pledged to try eating vegetarian for a month. When I set out to write this update, I was surprised to discover that it's been over two weeks already! That goes to show how easy and satisfying I've found vegetarian eating MOST of the time.

How I've been feeling

In my last update I noted that my energy levels had been good. I have continued to have plenty of energy. I haven't missed the completely stuffed feeling I used to get sometimes after eating a rich, meaty meal. There were a few days near the start when I constantly felt hungry and never satisfied. That has died down, and I have found that so long as I eat enough protein and eat a variety of foods each day, I usually feel satisfied.

Meat cravings

When I started this meat-free month, I feared that I would start to crave meat after a few days, and suffer some kind of withdrawal symptoms. But the cravings I feared haven't really materialised. I had decreased my meat consumption over the last few months, and I wasn't eating all that much meat before I started my meat-free month. I think that's made changing to a meat-free diet less shocking on my system than it would be for someone who was used to eating a lot of meat. As my meat consumption decreased over the last few months, I found that I wasn't missing eating more meat, and I have hardly missed meat since I started my meat-free month. But, I've found that there are a couple of situations where I really want to eat meat. The first is at barbeques after I've had a couple of glasses of wine. It's spring in New Zealand, and I've been to two barbeques since beginning my meat-free month. The first was a work do. We had delicious food and plenty of it. I had specially bought some vegetarian sausages and they were yummy. Once I had eaten I felt full, but I didn't feel satisfied. There was a lot of leftover meat, and I found myself really wanting to eat some. I resisted, and ate some more bread and dessert. I had another glass of wine and tried to stop myself from thinking about the chicken nuggets. I couldn't. In the end I gave in and scoffed a nugget. I hid in the kitchen where my workmates couldn't see me. I'd told them about my meat-free month, and I was hideously embarrassed to be cheating on it. After eating the single chicken nugget I felt instantly satisfied. The second barbeque was at my apartment, on Halloween. Once again I bought vegetarian sausages, and made sure that there was plenty of salad and veges. Once again I had a few glasses of wine. Once again I ate until I felt full, but I still didn't feel satisfied. Once again there was leftover meat. And once again I caved. That time I ate half a meat sausage, and it tasted great.

While I'm confessing, the barbeques are not the only time I've cheated. The other situation in which I've found myself unable to resist some forbidden flesh was eating out at a nice restaurant for a friend's birthday. Everything on the menu that sounded good had meat in it. The only vegetarian options were on the breakfast menu, and we were there for a late lunch. I'm pretty sure the kitchen would've made a vegetarian version of one of the menu options for me, but I didn't even ask. The stir-fried calamari sounded far too good to pass up.

Cooking

I haven't done all that much home cooking in the last couple of weeks. But when I have, I've found vegetarian cooking quick and convenient. Not having to cut up meat for a stir-fry or curry speeds things up, and veges cook quicker than meat. It's spring here and we've been enjoying good weather, so light meals have been the order of the day. I have found one aspect of vegetarian cooking a little challenging: deciding what to make. When you cook with meat, the meat is the central focus of the meal, and it suggests what you should make with it. For example, steak calls for potatoes and salad; chicken breast calls for green curry or honey soy sauce and vegetables to join it on rice. When you have a vegetable crisper full of veges and a couple of cans of beans and chickpeas on the shelf, it just doesn't seem so self-explanatory. But this is just a product of the way I'm used to cooking, and I'm sure I'll get better at coming up with meal ideas over time.

Eating on the run

Most Auckland cafes have a decent selection of vegetarian options. But it's always a miserable selection in comparison to the options containing meat (specialist vegetarian cafes aside). A couple of times when I've been grabbing lunch on the run in the last couple of weeks, I've thought to myself, "This would be so much easier if I wasn't avoiding meat." It seems vegetarian eaters have to eat according to what's available, rather than what they feel like eating.

My overall thoughts and feelings on vegetarian eating so far

After the first half of my meat-free month, I can say that vegetarian eating is a lot easier than I thought it would be, especially in social situations. I even survived a long weekend with Hayden's extended family visiting without eating any meat. Looking ahead beyond the end of this month, at this stage I think I'd be happy to continue eating a mostly vegetarian diet. But I don't think being a strict vegetarian is for me. I really enjoy meat from time to time, and would feel like I was missing out if I tried to cut it out completely. I'm interested to see if my feelings on this change in the second half of the meat-free month.

Friday round-up 30/10/09

Here are some things that made me go "wow" as I meandered the web this week:

• The amount of food wasted by Europe and the US could feed the world's hungry three times over. This makes me feel a bit sick. A new book called Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal looks at what we could do to fix the way we deal with food. Add it to your reading lists, because this is an area where there is potential for relatively simple changes to make a huge difference.

• In the category of "I'd never thought about this, but now that I know I can't believe how stupid the way we do things is": an article about the inefficiency of waste water management.

• Photos from the Sydney Harbour Bridge Picnic, part of the Crave Sydney festival. Wouldn't it be nice if harbour bridges were accessible as public recreation spaces all the time, rather than devoted to cars?
  

• Toyota has received a lot of criticism because the manufacturing process of the Prius produces more emissions than the manufacturing processes of most other cars. So, according to Treehugger, Toyota decided to genetically engineer flowers to absorb emissions in the manufacturing plant. Interesting tactic. I'm intrigued about how the flowers work, and what happens to the stuff they've absorbed when they die.

• Excellent, Playback clothing has perfected the art of making clothing from old plastic bottles!

What inspiring, interesting, disturbing or shocking things have you discovered this week? Please share!

Friday round-up 23/10/09

Just a wee list of online gems this week:

• I didn't hear about No Impact Project until after it started, but what a great concept! Is anyone taking part? How is it going?

• Simplicity for the simple joy of it made me smile, and want to go for a bike ride.

• When Conservative Values Achieve Liberal Green Goals on Treehugger is an interesting take on how different attitudes to regulation can influence how effective states are at implementing environmental projects.

• Oh my! Save the planet: time to eat dog? looks at the carbon footprints of pets, and asks whether we need to rethink our attitude to cats and dogs.

• Dont forget the 350 International Day of Climate Action tomorrow! There'll be heaps of cool stuff going on.

Enjoy your long weekend NZers!

Day 3 of my meat-free trial

Image by Shune

The first three days of my meat-free trial month have been great. I've been eating delicious food and have had plenty of energy. On Friday night after a few drinks at work, Burgerfuel's vegetarian Beatnik burger hit the spot just as well as one with meat in it would have. On Saturday morning I checked out the La Cigale market in Parnell with some friends. Strangely I was not tempted by the paella or chorizo on offer, but I did indulge in some blue cheese and Piako Gourmet Yoghurt. You see, vegetarian is easy, but vegan would be terrible. Life would definitely not be as good without cheese and yoghurt! 

I'm excited about trying some new recipes next week. I'm not missing meat at all yet, but I'm intrigued to see whether I start getting meat cravings in a few days' time. Do you have any stories, tips or advice about going vege? Please share them with me below. 

Weekend round-up 17/10/09

Fun and interesting online finds and events for this week:

• The Maldives hosts the world's first underwater Cabinet meeting.  I am again stunned by their efforts to draw attention to the risks of global warming.

• Remember the Milk online to-do list management has infinitely improved my organisation and my ability to keep track of everything I have on the go.

• Neighbours Day - Saturday 17 October. Do you know your neighbours? What did you do in your neighbourhood?

• In a disappointing show of non-neigbourliness, St Heliers' shopkeepers kick up a stink because a charity shop opened up on the main street. 

• NZ government shows some climate leadership by proposing an international alliance to work on ways to mitigate agriculture's contribution to climate change. Although the government's motivation is obviously to avoid difficulties for our agriculture industry if we try to tackle emissions and other countries don't, the proposal seems to have potential to generate positive change. Go John!

• Using cellphones to change the world: a programme at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology gets students working on projects to use mobile phone technology to assist development in less developed countries - awesome!

• I saw a great movie this week: An Education. I give it two thumbs up.

• And finally, only a week until 350.org's International Day of Action, October 24th. Have you checked out the actions planned in your local area?

Blog Action Day - Go Vege to Save the Planet?

Today, Thursday 15 October, is Blog Action Day '09. Blog Action Day was initiated to generate discussion around an important social issue (this year: climate change) by creating concentrated focus on that issue in the blogosphere on one nominated day. The idea is that so much discussion will lead to plans being made and action being taken.

I've decided to focus on the "Action" part of Blog Action Day, and am doing something I've been gathering up the resolve to do for months: I'm pledging to go vegetarian for a month. Although it's still not talked about as much as gas-guzzling SUVs and food miles, it's becoming more common knowledge that going vegetarian or vegan is one of the best, if  not the best, change an individual can make to decrease his or her impact on the environment. I've been in internal turmoil since I learned this information. I want to do everything I can to reduce my footprint, but I love steak! And fish!

I didn't want to give up meat too lightly, so I did some research. I came across an article from a couple of months back in the Washington Post referring to a 2006 UN Report which concluded that cattle-rearing generates more greenhouse gases than transportation. Livestock farming is also incredibly damaging to the world's scarce water resources, and it degrades land too. The Washington Post reporter pointed out that not only is reducing meat consumption one of the best things a person can do for the environment, it's also one of the easiest, because it doesn't require extra resources, and you can make the change immediately. Another article in Time magazine highlights the potentially dangerous effects of antibiotic use on animals, especially those raised in feed-lots. But these articles are U.S.-centric, and a lot of these issues must be a much less of a concern where I live, in New Zealand. For instance, we have plenty of grass to go around, so we don't usually need to feed our livestock massive amounts of grain like they do in the U.S. (the occasional bit of palm kernel, but that's another issue). We produce a lot of meat in NZ and we're a pretty small country, so the meat I eat is unlikely to have clocked up too many food miles. But our cattle still burp and fart, and the methane they produce is a significant contributor to NZ's greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, agriculture is responsible for over half of NZ's CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions. Agricultural run-off has already ruined many of our waterways and continues to do damage. 

So how much of a difference can I make by going vegetarian in New Zealand? A lot of the meat and dairy products we produce are exported anyway, so any reduction in demand resulting from NZers going vegetarian might just mean that more meat and dairy is exported instead, resulting in big greenhouse emissions from transport. Discussion on another NZ blog suggests that we can make more of a difference by reducing our meat consumption and using our consumer power to create demand for ethically treated, organic meat. And they raise the very valid point that many protein substitutes, such as lentils and chickpeas, are probably imported rather than grown in New Zealand, so they come with big food miles. Of course, reducing one's contribution to climate change is not the only reason to move to a more plant-based diet. There's the animal welfare aspect (which I somehow manage to block out every time I tuck into a chicken stir-fry or ham sandwich). Some of our pigs and chickens live in terrible conditions, and I already try to avoid contributing to that by buying free range. But, as a good vegetarian friend of mine would say, "if you can live just fine without killing animals, isn't that a better way to live?" Then there's the suggestion that I might feel more healthy and energetic if I cut out meat from my diet, because meat is supposedly much harder to digest than most plant foods.

So, there's a possibility I might reduce my environmental impact, the certainty that I'll contribute to less animal slaughter, a possibility that I'll feel healthier, and I'm pretty sure I'll save on my grocery bill. It definitely seems worth giving vegetarian eating a try. So, starting tomorrow (because I have half a can of tuna and leftover chicken in the fridge today), I'm cutting out meat for a month in all meals I choose. (By this I mean I may make allowances in social settings where to avoid meat would be particularly inconvenient.)  I look forward to exploring the issues more in the month ahead, and I'll keep you posted on how my "vegetarian trial" goes. I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts about meat-eating and climate change. I also welcome any tips, advice and moral support - send me a comment below.            

Friday round-up 2/10/09

Interesting news, views, upcoming events and online discoveries this week. Have you found anything else worth sharing this week? Let me know below.

• Devastating times in Samoa this week. You can help the relief effort via Oxfam and The Bodyshop is collecting in stores.

• The Vegpledge. A tongue-in-cheek, overhyped infomercial-style website encouraging people to try a vegetarian (or "more vegetarian") diet for 60 days. At least I think it's tongue-in-cheek - I'm never entirely sure with Americans! : P
  

• Regifting Robin. Unless you're a maths whiz, this nifty game will keep you mystfied for a while. And the Regiftable website has some entertaining stories about regifting that you can check out while you're there.

• Premiere of the movie Food Inc., hosted by Grey Lynn 2030 on 14 October. This movie has been hailed as "An Inconvenient Truth" for food. Details here (and you can click through to buy tickets online). Enjoy wine and canapes and an eye-opening film.

• For the girls: introduce yourself with a man's name at Soul Bar during October and get a free glass of Moet! (Thanks Solange for this one!)

• 1000AwesomeThings.com: this is gorgeous! I love #671: "Reuniting a sock from the Sock Orphanage Drawer with its freshly washed, once lost brother or sister".

• Want something, but can't or don't want to pay for it? Got something you no longer need, but don't want to put it in landfill? Freecycle it! If you have something you want to give, try DonateNZ first - then you can be sure your stuff is going to a great cause.

• 350.org releases an iPhone app! It helps you find actions happening close to you on the Day of Action, October 24, so you can join in. It's free at the iTunes store here.

• Awesome Big Day Out 2010 line-up announced this week! And that's just the first announcement. Count me in!
  

Friday round-up 25/09/09

Interesting news, views, upcoming events and online discoveries this week. Not necessarily all sustainability-related, but all inspiring and well worth checking out.

• Indian civil servant organises planting of nearly a billion trees in one day and provides employment for some of India’s poorest. Initiatives like this put a huge smile on my face and increase my optimism for the future. It shows anyone, anywhere, has the ability to make a real contribution to the health of the environment.

• The Big Schwop - trade your "not quite right for me" clothes for things you love from someone else's "not quite right for me" collection tomorrow at Auckland's Langham Hotel.

• Ian Sanders’ “Juggle tapes” – video interviews with successful people who follow their passions and work on multiple projects at once. Find out how they juggle all the balls in their lives.

• GreenGirlsGlobal organic cotton tee collection on Etsy. Want to buy me one?

• Blog Action Day - October 15 2009 – This year’s topic is climate change. I plan to take part, and hope it will generate an assault of interesting and inspiring thoughts on climate change from lots of different perspectives.

• It’s now less than a month until 350’s international day of action for climate change. Check out 350’s revamped website, where you can check out actions people are organising in your local area, or register your own.

• Learn to make great coffee from the experts online. Video tutorials from the folks at The Falls Restaurant.

• The Sneeky Rumble - two young guys trying to raise money for Curekids. I think it's awesome that these guys are pursuing such a noble cause with such enthusiasm. Can you donate or help them out somehow?

• Emma Watson (aka Hermione from the Harry Potter movies) announced she is launching an ethical fashion line. Great to see someone who is idolised by the next generation using her influence so positively!

10 fun ways to live more sustainably

Who says living sustainably has to be taken with a straight face and involve cutting things out of your life? It's about thinking outside the square and having fun with the changes you make. Here are ten fun ways to use less of the world's resources without feeling like you are shortchanging yourself. What else can you add?

1. Go scwhopping, not shopping. The girls of The Big Schwop organise mass schwops in New Zealand. You bring good condition clothes you don't wear, and you can take home something else you love in exchange. To make this good thing even better, you can have a glass of vino while you schwop. There's one on at Auckland's Langham Hotel this weekend, and registrations are still open. Or, you could organise your own on a smaller scale with a group of friends.
2. Don't give birthday cards. What do people do with them afterwards? I don't know, because I'm never sure what to do with mine once the novelty of displaying them on my desk wears off. They are a waste of trees, and nowhere near as nice as a big hug and a face to face birthday message. Can't see the birthday boy/girl face to face? Call them, email them, Facebook message them, or send them an e-card. Electronic messages are easier to keep too, because they don't take up physical space. The no-birthday card policy is a great excuse if you forgot someone's birthday too: "Forget? No I didn't forget! I didn't send a card because I was waiting to give you this great big hug instead."
3. Switch to loose leaf tea. Besides being all the rage right now, drinking loose leaf tea uses less resources than tea made from tea bags. No bag means less resources used in production. Once you're done with the leaves you can put them straight in the compost.
4. Wear a g-string instead of briefs. To add to the numerous other advantages of g-strings over briefs,  they are also better for the environment because they use up less fabric... hehehe
5. Eat at the restaurant rather than take away. Takeaways are usually excessively packaged, with each thing in its own container, then the whole lot in a bag, with some single use chopsticks or plastic cutlery to top it off. As well as saving resources, eating in is so much more fun than taking it home to eat in front of the TV. Enjoy the chance to really catch up with whoever you are with, or if you are alone, spend some time with your thoughts.
6. Buy a beautiful refillable pen. The amount you invest in a beautiful refillable pen is probably not much more (or maybe even less) than the amount you would spend on "throwaway" Bics over the rest of your years. Think about how much nicer it would be to use a beautiful ink pen every time you write than some temperamental ballpoint. The challenge is to make sure you don't lose it!   
7. Get an Ecotanka. These beautifully crafted stainless steel bottles will last forever, so you can ditch plastic bottles for good. They keep water cool and don't make it taste funny.
8. Go vigilante on your housemates' wasteful habits. Got a flatmate who washes in hot water, uses the dryer when the sun's out and leaves lights on when he/she leaves the house? Tried suggesting that they shouldn't do these things but they just don't care? It's time for vigilante action. Once they've put the washing on, sneak in and turn it down to cold. Dial down the time they've set the dryer to go for. Sneak into their room and turn the lights off. Experience the buzz of being a clandestine eco-warrior!
9. Don't throw away cardboard boxes. Learn to make awesome things from them instead!
10. Spend a Saturday morning trawling local garage sales. Trademe may be a more direct way to find exactly what you are after, but there's just something about looking through other people's stuff. I find it fascinating. And you might find something amazing and out of the ordinary, at a bargain price. Only do this if you actually need stuff though - buying crap that you don't need is still not a good thing even if it's second hand crap.

Do you have other fun ways of living more sustainably? I'd love to hear them - add a comment below.

Update: Cadbury announces Dairy Milk to go Fairtrade

Back in July I wrote about Cadbury's introduction of palm oil into its chocolate. This month Cadbury announced that it was removing palm oil from its chocolate, and that one of its most popular products, Dairy Milk chocolate, is getting Fairtrade certification. What an amazing response to consumer pressure!

There are lots of groups out there trying to get people to employ consumer pressure against other products and corporate practices - why was this particular campaign so successful? I think it was a combination of a number of factors:

• 
  
  Cadbury's high profile and huge popularity in New Zealand. This meant that there was a large consumer base who felt personally connected to the issue. The sheer numbers who got behind the campaign meant Cadbury couldn't ignore it.
  
  
  

• 
  
  The issue had broad appeal. Palm oil production destroys the habitat of orang utans. Who wants to be responsible for wiping out a species so closely related to us?
  
  
  

• 
  
  But, I think what really made this campaign take off was that the media got behind it. It was on the primetime news, it was in the papers, it was on the radio. Everyone knew about it. And then Whittakers got on board and promoted the issue too to try and steal some of Cadbury's market share.
  
  
  

It is heartening to know that, at least where a perfect storm of circumstances exists, consumer pressure can make a difference. How else can we use our collective power to create positive change?

What could you live without?

Image by BJN

Every generation owns more personal possessions than the last. Like magpies we keep adding to our hordes, and the list of things we 'can't live without' is ever-extending. Our society tends towards exaggeration, and this shows in the way we speak about our belongings. I've had people say to me, "I couldn't survive without a car." Or, "I really need new shoes." Would these people actually drop dead if they could no longer use their cars? Of course not. Do these people really need new shoes? Will they have to go barefoot tomorrow if they don't buy new shoes today? Probably not. But the way we talk about our possessions tends to remove us from the conscious choice we made when we acquired them. Every acquisition is a choice, with consequences that the buyer becomes responsible for, even if they aren't actually aware of what the consequences are. Ignorance of the consequences doesn't mean they aren't happening.

It's pretty much impossible to know all of the consequences of buying a particular item. There are too many unknowns. If I pick up a pair of jeans, they might say "Made in China" on them, but they don't say "Made in a sweatshop by children" (I'm not suggesting all jeans that are made in China are made in a sweatshop by children; this is just an example). They don't tell me what miniscule proportion of the retail price was paid to the manufacturer. And they don't tell me what environmental policies (if any) the manufacturer follows. So, we are often shooting blindly when it comes to the consequences of our purchasing decisions.

If you are going to buy something, there are ways to decrease the uncertainty of the consequences:

• Buy from stores like TradeAid, Ecostore or the SAFE store. These retailers have ethical policies in place that the products they sell must meet, and they are open and transparent about the life cycle of the products they sell.

• Read packaging and signs. Many products have to be labelled with their country of origin nowadays, and products that have environmental or ethical kudos are likely to promote it. Look for the the Fairtrade logo, or statements like "Not tested on animals".

• Research big purchases in advance. You can usually find information by searching online to help you make the best choice about what you are planning to buy. Plus there are sites like Greenlist that collate the contact details of responsible retailers and service providers by area and product/service type.

There's another much more effective way to reduce the consequences of your purchasing: buy less. I'm not advocating wearing your current shoes and clothes until they fall apart before buying new ones. What I'm suggesting is that before you buy pair of shoes number 27, you could try thinking to yourself, "Do I really need these? What else could I spend this money on?" I don't know about you, but the thought of spending my money on something like a hot air balloon ride or putting it towards a holiday is even more exciting than buying yet another pair of shoes. I get a bit overwhelmed when I have too much stuff. I live in a small apartment, and struggle to fit in what I already have without adding to it. The clutter makes me feel like the place is always a mess. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way - there are TV shows dedicated to decluttering people's lives.

There are some things I have decided I can live without, in order to decrease my impact on the planet's resources and avoid being overwhelmed by clutter. Here are a few:

1. Buying every book I want to read. I try to borrow off friends or the library unless I know it's a book I will want to read or refer to again and again - then I try to buy it second hand : )
2. Eating meat every day. I've cut down the amount of meat I eat a lot, and surprisingly I don' t miss eating it more often at all.
3. 'Pretty things' for my room. There's nowhere to put them anyway, but I've always had an aversion to knick-knacks. Probably stems from the fact that you have to dust them.
4. Newspapers. You can read the news from anywhere in the world online for free. That is much easier than reading a physical newspaper too. Why must they make the sheets of newsprint so big that it is practically impossible to read one while eating breakfast and drinking a cuppa? Plus, the media usually makes the news so negative I'd rather not read it at all!
5. CDs. I'm surprised there's still a market for these. I find it difficult to understand why someone would go and buy a physical item that has to sit somewhere, gathering dust, when you can buy almost any album online from iTunes, and stick it straight on your iPod (something I couldn't live without!)

What do you or could you live without? Please share with us by commenting below.

The Government's emissions reduction target - on wasted opportunities

The Government yesterday announced that New Zealand's emissions reduction target will be 10-20%. 40% by 2020 advocates were disappointed, but not surprised. Cost was the main reason for not adopting a more ambitious target. Compromise between the environment and the economy was treated as a necessary evil. Unfortunately, compromise is not a viable option for the environment. As Bill McKibben said, the environment can't just say, “Oh I’m sorry, you’re having an economic downturn. We’ll suspend the laws of nature for a decade or two while you get your act together”. The 40% target comes from the IPCC's 2007 Fourth Assessment Working Group III Report. Perhaps the Government prefers to believe those scientists who think that more moderate cuts will be sufficient. I find it frightening to think that the people making the crucial decisions on our climate change mitigation strategy are not using the most generally accepted science available.

There is an intriguing contrast between the Government's response to swine flu and its response to climate change. When swine flu reached New Zealand, systems went into overdrive. A quarantine strategy materialised. The Government made the national Tamiflu stockpile available. Doctors and nurses were deployed to Auckland International Airport to check incoming passengers. Why such a dramatic response? Well, swine flu can kill people now. Climate change isn't likely to kill anyone (in New Zealand at least) in the next few years. I'm happy to set up appointments for Mr Key and Mr Smith with my optometrist, as their shortsightedness is a pressing concern.

A popular line of attack on the Government's weak position on climate change is that they are discrediting New Zealand's "clean, green image". People point to Scotland, with its impressive target of 42%, Germany, with its admirable target of 40%, and the UK, which has settled on 34%, but is willing to go to 42% as part of a global accord. Why hasn't New Zealand taken the same approach? My hunch is that the Government lacks belief in itself. Earlier in the year, a National representative said something along the lines of, "We don't want to adopt too ambitious a target and then fail to achieve it. Then we'd look like stupid losers." What a self-defeating mindset. If, at age 11, Mr Key had not set his mind on becoming the Prime Minister of New Zealand when he grew up, but instead had decided he would settle for becoming the manager of his local MacDonalds, do you think he would be Prime Minister today? He, of all people, should know that if you don't set ambitious goals, you'll probably never achieve amazing things. If you set mediocre goals, you'll probably achieve mediocre results.

There are other voices in Parliament that think a 40% emissions reduction is achievable. The Green Party went so far as to commission its own study into emissions reduction options. The report proposes changes to the electricity, transport, agriculture and forestry industries. The Greens' research suggests New Zealand could reach a target of 40% below 1990 level without too much pain. We could get 3/4 of the way there by adopting the proposed reforms, and we would only need to purchase about $1.2 billion worth of carbon credits on the international market. That's considerably less than the $15 billion figure bandied about by Mr Smith. It's amazing what a difference a can-do attitude can make.

Many hands plant many trees

Image by kzulo

I've got a confession... I had never planted a tree until today. I've been meaning to go to an organised tree planting for years, but some reason always came up not to. Today I didn't have a decent excuse, so I dragged Hayden out to the Chelsea Estate Heritage Park in Birkenhead. It's a lovely place. There's lots of greenery and a great view back over to the city. I couldn't believe how many other volunteers had turned up to help plant trees. There must have been over a hundred people, from pre-schoolers to white-haired veterans. Equipped with a borrowed spade and a pot of fertiliser tablets, we joined the fray. The organisers had laid out hundreds of baby trees where they wanted them planted, and they basically let us loose on them. The young ones were having a grand time examining worms their Dads dug up and helping dish out the fertiliser tablets. The pre-teen boys competed over who could plant the most trees. The senior members worked diligently. Hayden dug holes and I put trees in them. It turned out I was too much of a weakling to dig the holes - pretty embarrassing when there were loads of ten year old boys at it with gusto! Everyone was having such a great time. You could sense the disappointment in the air when we ran out of trees to plant! As everyone stood around afterwards enjoying a barbequed sausage in bread and a cuppa, I overheard some of the old timers talking about how blown away they were by the excellent turnout. It seems community tree planting is on the up and up. I'll definitely be back next time. Here are just five reasons to attend a community tree planting:

1. You'll meet some lovely locals.
2. You can get your hands dirty and get excited about uncovering worms, beetles and lizards as you dig. Who me, a big kid?
3. You'll feel all warm inside for having contributed to the future of your community.
4. You can "adopt" one of the trees and come back to check on its progress in a few months' time. You can even make up names for them. We christened our finest specimens Trevor, Murray and Harold.
5. It will keep the kids entertained for an hour or two. If you don't have kids, borrow someone else's for the day. They'll love you for it (but not as much as their parents!)

Chocolate bad for more than your waistline

Image by nkzs

Specifically, I mean Cadbury's new formula. If you're a Kiwi you might have seen the new Whittakers' ad, which highlights the nasties of Cadbury's latest formulation (and if not you can check it out on their website). They've reduced the size, the cocoa content and the cocoa butter content, and production now happens offshore. This means we now get less choc for our buck, and what we do get is lower quality. And, apart from selfish concerns, the changes are bad news for the environment too. The shift of production from the iconic Dunedin base to Aussie means more food miles. But, probably more concerning is what they've replaced the cocoa butter with. The ingredient list discloses only "vegetable fat", but word on the street is that palm oil is the new secret ingredient. Palm oil production has had a huge impact on the eco-systems of developing countries such as Indonesia, Borneo and Malaysia. Rainforests have been cut down at an alarming pace to make way for palm oil plantations. The result is a massive decrease in biodiversity in the affected areas, and the destruction of habitats. The poster animal for the ill-effects of palm oil production is the orangutan. The risk to the already endangered orangutan is so great that Auckland Zoo decided to cease stocking Cadbury products when the changes were announced. Rainforest destruction also affects many other animals, birds, insects and plants besides the orangutan.

There are many other brands of chocolate to choose from, even at the supermarket. I've sworn off Cadbury until they clean up their act - will you? And why not sign an online petition to make sure Cadbury gets the message loud and clear?

Bin Inn: dark horse of law carbon grocery shopping

On a recent trip out of Auckland I was susprised to find that Bin Inn still exists. I'm not sure why, but I've always had a thing for bulk bins. Maybe it's the ability to control the exact amount of product I buy that delights my perfectionist tendencies. Or maybe it's just the ability to see the product in its naked form, free from any packaging. Anyway, I had to investigate. The place is still a treasure trove. From hokey pokey muffin mix to exotic varieties of rice, my domestic goddess fantasies kicked into overdrive. And that was just the Thames branch. The also stock Ecostore products like dishwashing liquid and washing powder in bulk.

Bin Inn has yet to take full advantage of the potential eco-cred that comes with the ability to bring in your own reusable containers when you shop. According to their website, their philosophy is about paying for product, not packaging. The ability to control the quantities you buy means you are likely to waste less too. Goodbye excessive packaging, hello reusable containers and anal-retentive quantity control.

So why hasn't Bin Inn jumped on the eco-band wagon? Well, actually they have. They just haven't done a good job of letting us consumers know about it. Their website has a page about their environmental initiatives and why it is sustainable to shop there. Apparently they sponsored a couple's challenge to live a "waste free year". I reckon if Bin Inn undertook a publicity campaign based on their sustainable shopping philosophy, they could reinstate themselves into the public consciousness and dramatically increase their customer base. If only there was a store in Central Auckland...

Takeaway cup ridicule

Image by Unvrs

The other day I bought myself a shiny new thermo-mug. After a year and a half of "disposable" takeaway coffee cup guilt, I couldn't stand it anymore. I went to my regular cafe and proudly presented my new acquisition to the barista when I made my order. She cracked up laughing. I'm not sure if it was the bucket-like size of the mug, the fact it still had the Warehouse price tag attached, or that no one else who frequents my local cafe would consider bringing their own takeaway mug. I'm on politely friendly terms with the barista, so wasn't at all offended by her reaction. But it did illustrate how ingrained some practices are in our society, even when we know the benefits of another option. Why should it be the norm that every takeaway coffee comes packaged in a non-recyclable cardboard-plastic imitation of a mug? Why isn't there more support for people bringing their own mugs along to cafes to get their takeaway coffee in?

Increased awareness of unfair practices in the international coffee industry led to increased demand for Fairtrade coffee. In response to pressure from consumers, a number of cafes now offer Fairtrade coffee. Couldn't increased awareness of environmental issues lead consumers to demand better environmental practices from our coffee outlets? I think a discount for people who bring their own mugs along would be a great step towards making reusable mugs the new norm.

I dare you to take your own mug to your local cafe tomorrow and ask for a discount. Let me know how it went for you.

The joy of buying second hand

One of the pillars of sustainable living is minimising your consumption. But sometimes you actually need new stuff. I was very recently in that situation, as my much-loved boots were finally so worn out that I had been living in fear that they might fall apart on me, when I was wearing them, right when I reached the farthest point from home. New stuff clearly necessary... check. Next, how to get it with minimum environmental impact.

One option is to buy the most ethical, environmentally friendly new stuff you can find. Websites like Greenlist can point you in the right direction.

Another is to buy, beg or trade second hand items. I decided to give this option a go. I have been cultivating an obsession with TradeMe lately anyway, for its amazing selection of bargain-priced pre-read books: the perfect solution when you don't want to buy new, but can't get hold of that novel you're dying to read at the local public library. I was blown away by the selection of fashionable boots in "as new" condition. Apparently there are a lot of women out there who just can't master buying boots that actually fit them, so they have to flog their new foot candy off on TradeMe at a considerable discount from what they paid for them. Okay, okay, this isn't all that far removed from me going to the store and buying new boots myself, but I can see a clear environmental benefit. If I buy someone's boots that don't fit them, a pair of boots that might otherwise have mouldered away at the back of that person's wardrobe until they were eventually thrown out get a new lease of life. If I had gone out and bought a brand new pair, that would have been a whole new set of resources expended. Meanwhile, a perfectly good pair of boots were already waiting for a well-matched pair of feet to fill them. Of course, there are plenty of genuinely used boots and other goodies available on TradeMe and other auction sites too if you want to reduce the impact of your purchasing even more.

They got across!

On Sunday morning I denied myself my usual sleep-in to join the multitudes at the Curran St carpark, in the shadow of that famous piece of infrastructure: the Auckland Harbour Bridge. The crowd of thousands included families, young activist types, lycra-clad middle-aged men and just about every other kind of person you can think of. And there were road bikes, mountain bikes, choppers, unicycles, skateboards, scooters and wheelchairs. They were all there with one purpose in mind: to get across. getacross is an organisation of individuals who think it's stupid that cyclists and pedestrians are unable to cross the iconic Harbour Bridge. These sustainable forms of transport are currently unavailable to many thousands of people who make the daily commute to the city from the North Shore. Apparently 78% of Aucklanders are in favour of being able to walk or cycle across the Bridge. But the NZ Transport Agency doesn't want a bar of it. So, the people at getacross thought, 'why not show the Transport Agency just how many people's preferences they're denying?'

Although the getacross people had been organising the demonstration for ages, even that morning they still weren't sure if the Transport Agency would let the people cross. The Harbour Bridge is part of the motorway, so it's actually illegal for pedestrians and cyclists to go on it. But getacross had requested special permission to access the Bridge to mark the 50th anniversary of its construction. After hyping up the crowd with speeches from councillors, politicians and activists, they herded us all over to the on-ramp to ask the head of the Transport Agency, Wayne McDonald, to let us onto the Bridge. Apparently he said no, but that was lost in the excited crowd's enthusiastic chanting. Then all of a sudden the police barrier parted and people streamed onto the Bridge. It wasn't until I saw the TV coverage last night that I realised that permission had never been given, and some poor motorists were held up at the bottom of the Bridge for over an hour. 

The media coverage was surprising. There was talk of "an unruly crowd storming the Bridge". From my position amongst the throng, a more accurate description would be "a cross-section of New Zealand society trying to get in touch with their environment, and, more importantly, trying to get the people with the power to change things to listen to their point of view". Apparently the action hasn't changed the Transport Agency's position on pedestrian and cycle access to the Bridge one bit. Whether that holds true long term remains to be seen. But, what the gathering achieved straight away was to make a huge proportion of New Zealanders aware of what getacross and other organisations are trying to achieve. That in itself seems like a success to me.

Laptops: out with the old; in with the new

When I started Uni, my parents bought me a laptop as a gift for graduating from high school. It was fabulous, it has served me well, but it was six years old this February. That's pretty much geriatric in laptop years. It was showing its age. It took about ten minutes to start up, couldn't go more than five minutes without being plugged in to the power supply, and using multiple programs at once was often a bit too much for it to handle. A couple of months ago I accepted it was retirement time for my faithful assistant and bought myself a new 13 inch Apple Macbook. It's beautiful and it works like a dream. It also stacks up pretty well in the environmentally friendly stakes. The LED backlit display is very energy efficient, a lot of the components are recyclable, and they have eliminated many of the toxins that are commonly used in manufacturing laptops.

Ever since I got my new Macbook, my old laptop has sat neglected in a corner of my room. I didn't think it was worth trying to sell on Trademe, because new computers are so cheap these days, but I thought it would be nice if someone else could get some benefit out of it. So I decided to list it with DonateNZ. The DonateNZ concept is fabulous. Donors can list items that they think someone else out there might want, and recipients (who have to meet certain criteria) can browse the donations on offer or post their wishes. It was very quick and easy to list my laptop, and it was snapped up by a school the same evening. They were very grateful, and I even received a "warm fuzzy" from them in my email the next day. The good feeling I got from donating my old laptop far outweighed the benefit of the measly amount of cash I might have made if I'd managed to sell it. There are plenty more wishes waiting to be fulfilled - can you help?