Arthur Williamson

With his 80th birthday just around the corner in May and after seven years on the SIFT Board of Trustees, it is time to say good bye to Arthur Williamson as a SIFT trustee. Arthur has a breadth of knowledge which has seen him play an integral role in over-seeing the governance of SIFT and our many and varied projects over the years.  As the former head of Chemical and Process Engineering and Dean of Engineering at the University of Canterbury, as well as being the founder of one of New Zealand’s leading manufacturers of solar heating equipment, Thermocell Limited, Arthur not only has a valuable science background, but also holds a vast knowledge on what it takes to successfully run an environmentally sustainable business.

We spoke to Arthur to find out about his favourite SIFT projects, what he hopes for Canterbury’s sustainable business future and what his plans are for his retirement years.

Do you have a memorable SIFT project that you enjoyed working on the most?
The Waste 2 Energy (W2E) project that we have on at the moment because it has developed so much over time and the project itself presents some very interesting opportunities.

Is there a particular environmental issue facing Canterbury that you like to see tackled by a local business?
Not specific to Canterbury, but the country needs to get onto overall renewable fuels and transport systems; otherwise we will be in trouble in the very near future.

Do you have any specific hopes for Christchurch’s central city rebuild?
I hope that a group will get together that will produce an integrated sustainable development programme for the city.

What are your plans for the future, now that you have retired from your position on the Board of Trustees?
Do a few more things that I want to do!

Many thanks to Arthur from the Sustainable Initiatives Fund board of trustees and management for his advice, support, expertise and excellent engineering and energetics knowledge that have been very useful. We hope that you enjoy doing all that you now wish to do.

A new petition has come through to SIFT from one of our new projects (and through my connections with the Lincoln Envirotown Trust) to make our voice heard to the government that we want to rebuild Christchurch sustainably. This is a great idea and I only hope that lots of people sign it (like all those who signed the pledge and more!) and that the town leaders, government, city planners and designers all listen.

This is a fantastic opportunity to rebuild Christchurch for a future whereby the buildings and citizens of the city have a positive environmental impact at all levels of sustainability (and are ready for the impacts of climate change).

After finding that there is currently no leadership on this issue Lou Warren (from over the hill in Diamond Harbour) started the petition on change.org.

You can sign the petition here and we encourage as many Cantabrians and New Zealanders alike to sign it and let our voice be heard (now’s our chance): “We, the people of Canterbury, the people of New Zealand and our friends internationally, want you to deliver a well-planned, environmentally sustainable re-build of Christchurch.”

Thanks to Lou for setting this up and we look forward to seeing how many people sign, who listens and the plans for our lovely city.

SIFT Vision Poster on the wall at our After 5 Drinks and Nibbles event on Tuesday

Welcome to the end of another working week. We met some potential new projects, had a bit of an After 5 drinks and nibbles event for few key people at our offices, met with current projects to get updates and generally continued to do what we do.

On the way we also found some interesting tid bits that you might be interested in perusing. Here are this week’s Friday Favourites:

• A great article here from Nick Potter on his affair with the word “sustainability” – what will be the new words? You can see more of what Nick Potter does on his website Re-Be.
• A dining room made from recycled plastic bottles that floats – a unique eating experience here.
• Another great link from the team at Re-Nest who found an article in a recent Martha Stewart Living magazine about using real peanuts for packing (definitely better than styrofoam “peanuts”).
• The latest Environmental Indicators Quarterly from the Ministry for the Environment here (pdf).
• A great little tutorial on how to make reusable sandwich bags – (no velcro, glue, and only minimal sewing) – great idea here.
• A move in the US to replace ornamental gardens with food producing gardens here.
• More disrespect for and damage to the environment – will the fine work? More here.
• The kitchen of the future – bringing the vege garden inside – more here.
• The fridge that grows food not just stores it here.

Have a great waste free weekend.

Prof. Emeritus Arthur Williamson

Long time SIFT Trustee, Professor Emeritus Arthur Williamson is our Green Collar Job Q&A for this week. Arthur Williamson is the founder of Thermocell, one of New Zealand’s leading solar water heating manufacturer and also former head of Chemical and Process Engineering and Dean of Engineering at the University of Canterbury. He has conducted extensive research on thermodynamics, industrial energy management and solar energy (and taught others on the subjects) for over 30 year. He is a wonderful source of information, expertise and insight to the science, technology and business management  of  SIFT projects. You can read more about Arthur here.

1.    What do you do to live more sustainably (with a low impact) in your life?
I try to reduce my domestic energy consumption by using efficient methods of doing things around the house like heating, lighting and refrigeration. I have solar water heating installed in my home. I also avoid fashion and trends so I wear my clothes until they are worn out – some of my items of clothing have patches especially on the elbows.

2.    How do you live more sustainably at work?
I try to minimise my use of paper but not very successfully and am conscious of the waste produced and turn my computer off when I am not in the office.

3.    What do you  think is the biggest environmental issue we need to deal with in Christchurch/New Zealand?
What relates to Christchurch are things that are of global significance such as vehicle fuel use – our use of fossil fuels for transport. And our expansion of the major ruminants in the interests of economic development which leads to excess water use, waterway pollution and the evolution of large amounts of extremely bad greenhouse gas called methane.

4.    What makes you smile?
Jokes based on incongruity, which most are.

5.    What is your biggest pet peeve?
My biggest pet peeve would be our obsession with monetary evaluation of all decision making processes.

6.    What is your favourite colour and why?
Red because that’s what colours Ferraris are.

7.    Do you have a favourite place in the world? Describe why?
My two favourite places are our holiday home in Bealey Spur and our house in Christchurch.

8.    What’s your connection to SIFT?
I am a long time SIFT Trustee.

9.    Do you remember your favourite teacher and why they were your favourite?
My fourth form science class teacher at High School (Hutt Valley High) because she encouraged me to become a scientist.

10.    What do you want to leave behind?
Your real immortality is your children and your grandchildren.
Whatever else you do is going ephemeral and will fade – almost all of the science I have done has been surpassed and is now out of date. I would like to think I have left behind some things that will influence the country for a better future, what those are I don’t know.

11.    What do you think the future will bring?
I think the future will bring a recognition that we do need to reduce the population of the planet, it’s a major part of sustainability. Whether we can achieve that without killing each other off in resource wars will be a matter for the politicians.

12.    Who is someone you really admire and why?
Bob Scott, one of my former bosses, is probably one of the most honest, clear thinking people I know.

13.    What is happening outside your window right now?
The sun is shining.

14.    What is your favourite breakfast?
Cup of tea, toast and marmalade.

15.    What is the best piece of advice you can give us?
Just keep trying.