Posts Tagged ‘Green Collar Job post’

Green Collar Job Q&A – Sam Fisher

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011 by Admin

samSam Fisher is our go to guy for all things PR and Comms related. He runs a great boutique PR company in Christchurch called Green Eggs Communication so we thought we would ask him for his answers to our Green Collar Job Q&A – our first for the year. Love that he actively offsets his company’s emissions by planting trees in Little River.

1.    What do you do to live more sustainably (with a low impact) in your life?
I try.  I’m not one of the world’s great sustainable living practitioners, but following advice I have had from people who are, it’s about minimising impact where I can.

2.    How do you live more sustainably at work?
I work from home and do a lot of work by phone and internet. For my business; Green Eggs Communication, I’ve paid for native trees to be planted near Little River on a block of land to help offset carbon and other emissions. Personally, I find the basis on which a proportion of carbon credits were awarded (particularly around coal power factories) offensive so would rather ensure the mitigation I use is real and practical. I’d like to get more into this.

3.    What do you  think is the biggest environmental issue we need to deal with in Christchurch/New Zealand?
Answers.  The single biggest issue is having answers and being able to act with confidence.  I’ve found easy or intuitive answers can be very wrong.  It’s very hard to work out what’s the ‘best’ thing to do.

4. What makes you smile?
Classic Brit com (DVDs are a fantastic thing) and my kids.

5.    What is your biggest pet peeve?
Currently, barking dogs. Usually taggers.

6.    What is your favourite colour and why?
Yellow. I tend to have a lot of yellow things. It’s a positive  vibrant  colour.

7.    Do you have a favourite place in the world? Describe why?
The banks of the Avon River around Beckenham, St Martins and Opawa. It’s where I grew up; my Turangawaewae.

8.    What’s your connection to Sift?
I’m helping with communication work.

9.    Do you remember your favourite teacher and why they were your favourite?
Yes, a Mrs Williamson. She was very understanding and encouraging.

10.    What do you want to leave behind?
Happy memories and no loose ends.

11.    What do you think the future will bring?
I have no idea!

12.    Who is someone you really admire and why?
Douglas Adams, he was very funny and talented, made people think and it turned out he really cared about bigger issues.  His Last Chance to See book and TV on endangered animals was brilliant.

13.    What is happening outside your window right now?
A City Care van has just driven passed at way over the 30km speed limit. And there are ducks.

14.    What is your favourite breakfast?
Fried vegetables and rice

15.    What is the best piece of advice you can give us?
Value flexibility.  Any piece of advice is only relevant in the right context, and there are probably no absolute answers which can be applied in 100 per cent of situations (including this advice).

Thanks Sam!

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Green Collar Job Q&A – SIFT Trustee Prof. Emeritus Arthur Williamson

Thursday, April 1st, 2010 by Admin

Prof. Emeritus Arthur Williamson

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.

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Green Collar Job Q&A – Ed Swift from PlainsFM Mornings

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 by Admin

Plains FM Mornings' Ed Swift

Plains FM Mornings' Ed Swift

Ed Swift is the presenter and producter of Plains FM Mornings in Christchurch, one of the few local radio shows in Canterbury. Ed presents the SIFT sponsored Green Biz segment on Monday mornings when we talk about sustainable businesses in Canterbury.

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

One of the big things I do is bike and walk to wherever I need to get to, and if it’s not within walking distance, I’ll try to catch a bus! We also use the three bin system as much as possible (recycling, organics, etc.) and we use a push lawnmower on our little patch of grass (it’s hard work but it’s not using petrol and polluting the place).

2. How do you live more sustainably at work?

We recycle as much paper as possible, making little note pads out of any scrap possible. Also basic things like turning off the lights in rooms I’m not using and turning off the computer and screen at night – it’s just common sense.

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

I think we’ve nailed the rubbish problem pretty well with the 3 bin system, but now we all need to look at the difference we can make at home and work.

4. What makes you smile?

Having a good laugh with mates, and seeing my 3 year old niece.

5. What is your bigget pet peeve?

Being trained as a journalist and having a mother who has exceptional grammar, I get peeved when people don’t get apostrophes correct, and also when people don’t know the difference between “affect” and “effect”. It seems weird but it just bugs me for some reason!

6. What id your favourite colour and why?

Red – not too sure why, I just always have! I could say something funny here like “red things always go faster!”

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

Sumner Beach, a great place to be at in the summer, sitting in the sand, swimming in the sea, and there are lots of good cafes around too!

8. What’s your connection to SIFT?

I present and produce Plains FM Mornings, where we have a weekly slot with SIFT on Monday at 9.10am looking at sustainability (shameless plug – tune in weekdays from 8am on 96.9FM or streaming live at plainsfm.org.nz!).

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

Dr Huffadine from King’s College in Auckland – wasn’t officially my teacher but he was my Housemaster and he taught us a lot at school, and was always up for a game of pool in lunchtime.

10. What do you want to leave behind?

As little waste as possible.

11. What do you think the future will bring?

Who knows – 2 years ago I would’ve never predicted I would be hosting my own radion show in Christchurch, so I’ve given up trying to predict the future!

12. Who is someone you really admire and why?

My mum – she’s raised 4 children (of which I’m the youngest) while finding time to volunteer in the community, work as a part-time journalist in Auckland, and finish her BA with First Class Honours last year – now all she needs to do is start her PhD!

13. What is happening outside your window right now?

I see trees of green (but not red roses too), plus the redevelopment of Visions of Campus at CPIT.

14. What is your favourite breakfast?

Nothing beats scambled eggs on toast, especially if a nice flatmate brings it to you in bed (hint hint).

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

Always have a positive outlook on life, and don’t forget to smile.

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