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Interview with Jo Wynne – winner of our Styrofoam Recycling competition

Monday, November 2nd, 2009 by Admin
Paul Ryan with fellow competition winner Jo Wynne

Paul Ryan with fellow competition winner Jo Wynne

Interview with Jo Wynne – the winner of the most artistic/creative category of our Styrofoam Tray recycling competition back in September.

What do you do to live more sustainably (with a low impact) in your life?

Recycle – love the Christchurch bin system and challenge myself to keep the red lid bin empty. Grow vegetables. Shop at the Op shop for clothes which I often redesign – for example I’m opening some silk scarves to make a crazy patchwork jacket.

How do you live more sustainably in your work?

I’m retired but in my last job I used public transport and walked to work and reduced paper use.

What do you  think is the biggest environmental issue we need to deal with in Christchurch/New Zealand?

Water allocation and quality, and transport.

What makes you smile?

Sun, flowers, babies and The Conchords

What is your biggest pet peeve?

Any negative judgement based on difference

What is your favourite colour and why?

Blue: we have amazing skies – I love to look at different cloud shapes against the blue background. Also I love the blue-green colour of some rivers and lakes – for example Hokitika Gorge.

Do you have a favourite place in the world? Describe why?

Tauranga Bay and any part of the West Coast coastline that has the wild sea crashing on the rocks and huge sea spray. This comes from living on the Coast as a child.

What’s your connection to Sift?

I have an ongoing interest in sustainability but only came in contact with Sift through winning the Creative section of  the recent competition what to do with non- recyclable styrofoam meat plates.

Do you remember your favourite teacher and why they were your favourite?

My favourite teacher was enthusiastic, funny and liked me.

What do you want to leave behind?

Good memories

What do you think the future will bring?

More awareness of the interconnectedness of all life.

Who is someone you really admire and why?

Nelson Mandela  for his apparent lack of bitterness, anger, revenge for the unjust treatment against himself and the blacks of South Africa.

What is happening outside your window right now?

Flowers and new leaves opening by the minute, weekend walkers and dogs.

What is your favourite breakfast?

Homemade muesli with raw fruit – kiwi, orange , apple, orange and Greek yoghurt

What is the best piece of advice you can give us?

It feels as though you are on the right track by using interesting fun ways to get across a serious message and lead people to rethink their lives. So do keep on doing the same thing and at the same time find more ways to reach even more people.

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Highlights from WasteMinz Conference

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 by Admin
wasteminz-logo

wasteminz

Here are Linda’s top 14 highlights (in no particular order) from last week’s WasteMinz conference held here in Christchurch. There were four days of workshops, site visits and networking – a must for anyone involved in the waste industry.

  1. Lisa Smith – The Thinker – ground breaking thinking
  2. Tyres – discussed the models and the realities of recycling tyres in New Zealand
  3. Louisa Palmer – the future of recycling and the bottle bank on her trade stand
  4. Sulo Talbot & SIFT’s basketball challenge at the Smart environmental recycling stand – prizes galore…business card holders, wine and even a cafe table and chair set up for grabs – well done to both who received a high score on Day 2 with 96 points in 45 seconds! Great conversations and lots of fun. Apparently it even generated a business idea, but shhh mum’s the word!
  5. FriendlyPak/Agpac – biodegradable products
  6. Presentation by Mark Inglis – innovation in R&D which is much needed in NZ, “in the last 100 years we have learnt more than in the past 20,000 years – what are we going to learn in the next 10 years?”, communication , connections and being proactive about what you need to do for the future. Mark also talked about how people need to become more socially responsible and businesses need to lead the way as change makers. “We need to be optimists as opposed to optimalists.”
  7. Christian Noble – debunking the waste to energy myth – experiences from Denmark so we can broaden our knowledge
  8. Presentation by Martyn Pinckard, Director of Operations from MfE
  9. E-Waste – Kumar Radharkrishnan, SIMS recycling services, APAC – what’s being recycled and is there a model for Canterbury? Can Canterbury lead the way for e-waste as well?
  10. Visit to Kate Valley Landfill – surprised the slick operation and cleanliness.
  11. Product Stewardship – A commercial study – turning nappies into compost
  12. The formal dinner at the Christchurch Airforce museum – just an awesome location…
  13. Sulo Talbot’s Worms on Wheels product – great idea
  14. Trade Commission of Denmark – forever helpful in connecting NZ and Denmark

Photos of the highlights will be up next week.

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Video of interview with competition winner Paul Ryan

Thursday, October 8th, 2009 by Admin

Finally, after a few technical difficulties and a bit of a YouTube learning curve we have been able to load our little video interview of the Sift Styrofoam Meat and Vegetable Tray Recycling Competition winner Paul Ryan. Have a look and let us know what you think. Feel free to rate it too!

Sift and Paul Ryan on YouTube

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Collaboration for change – New World Lincoln

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 by Admin
The new Lincoln New World with rain water harvesting (image: TVNZ)

The new Lincoln New World with rain water harvesting (image: TVNZ)

There are four integrated cogs to environmental change: individuals, community, business and government. It is key that all lead together to make the necessary changes to live more sustainably and reduce our impact on the environment. Leadership from the first three cogs has occurred today with the opening of the new New World Lincoln supermarket, just south of Christchurch.

We were so pleased to see this TVNZ news story video of the opening. Two wind turbines out the front for power, compostable trays for deli food, rain water reticulation for watering the garden and the heat from the refrigerators/coolers is used to heat the supermarket. Way to go. We are buzzing. This has been a great connect between local Lincoln individuals who are passionate about the environment, local Lincoln community groups working towards environmental change and the Foodstuffs supermarket coporate proactively and strategically including sustainability in their business and operational practices. This is a positive and highly beneficial move that will be great for our local Lincoln community and the wider environment.

Lincoln New World wind turbin (Image: TVNZ)

Lincoln New World wind turbin (Image: TVNZ)

We need to see more direct environmental leadership and action that is relevant to individuals’ lifestyles and communities and yet shows the way forward. We can live differently and live better. Congratulations New World Lincoln. Will be in on the weekend to check it out.

Press release from Foodstuffs.

TVNZ Story to go with the Video.

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Joining the Dots

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 by Admin
Saatch and Saatchi S Do One Thing

Saatch and Saatchi S Do One Thing

Sift is all about connecting the dots. Connecting together people, processes, organisations (public and private), the community and adding in some funding to improve our environment. Helping one entrepreneur, organisation or start up to produce a new and innovative way to reduce waste by giving them some funding will reap big benefits in the future. Not only will it improve our environment by decreasing the amount of waste that goes to landfill but it could bring job creation and show sustainability leadership from Canterbury. It might also inspire others to apply for funding for their projects which in turn will also have benefits. Our sometimes small actions will add up to create  lasting changes. Tackling climate change and living more sustainably is about lots of actions by many people. Action, collaboration and community.

Speaking of DOTs recently, Saatchi and Saatchi S’s (Saatchi and Saatchi’s sustainability arm) Kevin Roberts blogged about implementing “nano-practices” at their work to reduce carbon emissions. They have called it DOT – Do one thing. Pick one thing to change your life and do it on a regular basis. One good way to change your habits to live a more sustainable life  is to start with one habit to change and then build on that with other small changes so in a year you are living a much lower impact life. If you are new to tackling climate change and living more sustainable it can be a bit overwhelming (lots of information out there) and changing habits is not always easy. So,  just pick one thing you can do today and everyday to ensure the change is manageable and lasting.  You can then work up to the big projects like installing solar water heating.

Some great resources for sustainable living/climate change actions are Sustainablity.govt.nz,  Good Magazine, Sustainable Living courses and the original Eco Kiwi book written by Jane and Simon Cotter. Talk to your family, friends and neighbours about what they are doing to reduce their impact as well.

Our DOTs for this month are:

Linda – Investigating more ways to be more self-sufficient especially with energy.

Olivia – sow more seeds so I can truly eat local and organic from my own vege garden.

Let us know what new actions you will be tackling this month to live more sustainably.

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Kiwis in the City – Conservation Week

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 by Admin
DOC's Dean Turner with a Kiwi at Riccarton Bush

DOC's Dean Turner with a Kiwi at Riccarton Bush

The Department of Conservation/TVNZ 6 Conservation Week is underway with many great events happening around the country. Conservation Week is all about encouraging New Zealander’s to get involved; celebrate and experience “New Zealand’s unique wildlife, natural areas and historic places.”

New Zealand has many special and unique flora and fauna not found anywhere else in the world – like our kiwi and tuatara. As we live our lives we have an impact on the environment and the other species that live within the different ecosystems. It is important to understand the habits and habitats of other species so we recognise how to lessen our impact and promote their longevity as a species. From the native worm to the wondrous bird species we have a lot to celebrate and look after for future generations.

There are lots of great ways to be apart of Conservation Week to learn, explore and conserve. You can take action both at home (learn how to make a pinecone feeder, making your garden more attractive to native birds or building homes for lizards) and in your community (take part in one of the events). This is also a great way to get children involved in learning about their natural world and how to look after it. If you are a teacher DOC have listed some projects that you can organise with your class.

For Central Canterbury and Christchurch residents there is a biodiversity restoration field day happening from the Motukara DOC nursey this weekend, with field trips to locations around central Canterbury. More information here.

Kiwis in the City

Back in August four Great Spotted Kiwi/roroa juveniles were released into Riccarton Bush, in the middle of Christchurch. As space was getting low over at Willowbank DOC asked the Riccarton Bush Trust to see if some kiwi could be released into the protected, safe and rodent free bush to winter over (see photo above). Giving them the space to grow from chicks will help to increase the declining kiwi population. As part of Conservation Week some school children will get to see to kiwi in Riccarton Bush up close. It will be great to walk through the restorative bush at Riccarton knowing there are kiwi around. If you do go remember to stick to the paths and respect their habitat. More information here.

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