On Saturday, September 11 one of the 10 extraordinary New Zealanders featured in last year’s full length documentary Earth Whisperers/Papatuanuku is coming to Wanaka to lead his “Urban Eden” workshop.
Dirt Doctor founder Jim O’Gorman’s “Urban Eden” workshop shows how to create a highly productive garden to feed a family of four by spending an average of half an hour a week working on the garden.
Suitable for home gardeners and micro-farmers, the Urban Eden workshop runs from 9.30am – 4pm on Saturday 11th September at 59 Rob Roy Lane and costs $80 for waged and $60 unwaged. Prepayment is essential to secure your place.
The Urban Eden workshops are limited to 25 participants. For more information or to register, contact local organiser Tim Ryan on 022 615 2247 or email tdokta@gmail.com
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For more information on the film Earth Whisperers Papatuanuku, visit www.wickcandle.co.nz
For more information about Jim O’Gorman go to www.dirtdoctor.co.nz
Posted in: Blog.
Calling all Expressions of Interest for “Showcasing Sustainable Practice” – an expo run by the Queenstown Lakes Sustainable Business Programme
The expo is planned for Friday 5th November 2010 at Memorial Hall in Queenstown.
The event will support and showcase local businesses and community organisations from the Queenstown Lakes District who are delivering sustainable practice through their products and services.
It will showcase the district as a leader in best sustainable practice by capturing, sharing and celebrating success stories from individual businesses and organisations.
The Expo will include displays, a keynote speaker series and discussion panel and will be open to the public and media to attend.
Opportunities exist for you to display your business or organisation at the Expo and/or be included in the Expo publication.
To Register your Interest – please download this form (EOI Showcase Sustainable Practice) complete the attached form and return to Sharon.schindler@op.ac.nz
Posted in: Blog.
Dear Earth Hour council & community supporters,
I am writing to ask if you have considered making a submission on the government’s Draft Energy Strategy, currently out for public consultation?
WWF are deeply concerned with the themes of this document – it prioritises mineral and fossil fuel extraction as a means to economic growth while failing to address fundamental domestic energy issues of road transport fuel alternatives, ghg emissions, unstable oil prices or local energy generation to name just a few. I’ve attached our analysis for your information.
If you are a position to do so, please make a submission on the Strategy by next Thursday 2 September. We’ve created a draft submission you may want to use. Its on the WWF website here.
More information on the strategies and on making a submission can be found at the Ministry for Economic Development site here:
We believe taking forward the strategy as it stands will be damaging to New Zealand’s society, environment and international reputation for many years to come.
Lee Barry, Climate Change Campaigner, WWF
Posted in: Blog.
Media release from Otago Polytechnic, 27 August 2010
Central Otago businesses can learn how to benefit from social media while using their own business situation as a case study and collect credits towards a valuable qualification as they go.
The new four-week Social Media for Business course offered by the Otago Polytechnic runs from 15 September to 7 October in Queenstown and Wanaka and adds 15 credits towards the 60 credit Certificate in Sustainable Practice (Level 5) – a new Otago Polytechnic qualification.
The course is run from 3pm to 6pm on Wednesday afternoons in Wanaka and Thursdays in Queenstown.
Numbers are limited to 10 participants and the course takes place over eight, two hour sessions.
For further information please contact:
Barbara Emmitt, Otago Polytechnic
Phone: 0800 765 9276
Email: Barbara.emmitt@op.ac.nz
Posted in: Blog.
With, winter winding itself up and the festival just around the corner the event organisers are teeming with enthusiasm and excitement for Willowridge Wanakafest and hope you too.
The desperately need volunteers to help during the week! It is a great way to get involved with the community, meet new people, show your support and just have fun! Some jobs that we need people for are to run booths, sell raffles, help with Passion for Fashion, Marshal the street parade and Marshal the bike race!
If you are available and want to help out or if you have a team of people. Please contact Laurel: info@wanakafest.co.nz
www.wanakafest.co.nz
Posted in: Blog.
This year, Conservation Week’s theme is Love New Zealand.
“We look forward to appealing to your hearts, head and feet with an array of stories and activities which will inspire you to engage with conservation in your neighbourhood. To those of you already helping to conserve the beauty of Otago’s environment – we thank you for your hard work. To those of you who are looking for ways to be part of this community – now’s your chance. I look forward to seeing you out there.”
Marian van der Goes, Conservator
Monday 13 – 18 September: Local artist Discarded to Desirable Exhibition and Love New Zealand Photo Exhibition, Mt Aspiring National Park Visitor Centre
Wanaka Monday 13 September: 2pm-4pm: Love New Zealand Afternoon Tea – All welcome. Mt Aspiring National Park Visitor Centre, Wanaka
In other news from DOC – a new 10km loop mountain bike track from Albert Town to Dublin Bay is well underway
with earthworks completed. This is a community project between Wanaka DOC and the Lake Wanaka Cycling Club.
More information on Conservation Week on the DOC website
Posted in: Blog.
On Saturday, September 11 one of the 10 extraordinary New Zealanders featured in last year’s full length documentary Earth Whisperers/Papatuanuku is coming to Wanaka to lead his “Urban Eden” workshop.
Dirt Doctor founder Jim O’Gorman’s “Urban Eden” workshop shows how to create a highly productive garden to feed a family of four by spending an average of half an hour a week working on the garden.
Suitable for home gardeners and micro-farmers, the Urban Eden workshop runs from 9.30am – 4pm on Saturday 11th September at 59 Rob Roy Lane and costs $80 for waged and $60 unwaged. Prepayment is essential to secure your place.
The Urban Eden workshops are limited to 25 participants. For more information or to register, contact local organiser Tim Ryan on 022 615 2247 or email tdokta@gmail.com
_____________________________________________________________________
For more information on the film Earth Whisperers Papatuanuku, visit www.wickcandle.co.nz
For more information about Jim O’Gorman go to www.dirtdoctor.co.nz
Posted in: Blog.
Casual get together with green minded folk.. Come along and find out about green things going in in Wanaka and what Sustainable Wanaka has been up to.
Free chippys for early birds
Posted in: Blog.
Wanaka Sun Thursday 20th May
John McRae on his farm, Glendu Station. Photo: Simon Williams
By Gina Dempster
Wanaka needs an abattoir. Not something I thought I’d ever say, but it all comes from wanting to eat local. In the last few months I’ve come across at least three local farmers who are keen to supply beef and lamb to Wanaka (and I’m sure there are more out there), but they have all come against the same problem. To get the animals killed and butchered, they have to truck them down to Invercargill.
And then, of course, truck them back as meat. It’s costly, and it takes away any advantage for them of selling their meat locally. Not to mention that it’s a bit ironic eating ‘local’ meat when it’s just been on a return trip to Invercargill.
At the Transition Towns talk in Wanaka last week, the 60 participants all had to envisage three things that we wanted for our town in the future. Local, nutritious food came up over and over again.
To get more local production, we need to make it economic for our local farmers to sell here in Wanaka. John McRae from Glendhu Bay Station, who attended the meeting, is passionate about farming without chemicals and producing
nutritious food. He has been inspired by successful farmers overseas, who supply meat directly to local customers (Polyface farm in America and the Ballanee Angus beef station in Australia).
John has committed to investigating whether a small abattoir could work in Wanaka. His vision is to use by-products in Wanaka (for soap or petfood), and deal with the residual waste responsibly, possibly by using a worm farm.
John would like to hear from anyone else who is interested in the project: wanakaorganics@farmside.co.nz
Posted in: Blog.
Sustainable Wanaka has officially entered the blogosphere! We’ve converted our website to a newer, more streamlined format on wordpress. With it we are now able to integrate our facebook page, more easily send you newsletters, update you more efficiently on upcoming events, and generally have a greater presence on the web. We’d love to know what you think, so please post comments below and tell us what new features you like or what isn’t there that you’d like to see!
Posted in: Blog.
