Kia ora everyone Welcome to Sustainable Wellington Net's Newsletter #8 SITE NEWS The Wellington Community Network, which kindly hosts our site, is under renovation. Their new home page now lists the groups they host and member groups are required to include the WCN logo on their home pages. The logo is now at the bottom of our home page and is another good source of online Wellington groups (not just environmental ones) Some new walks and parks have been added to the Wellington Green Map. Can you spot any we've missed? We'd like to welcome Doug Self who's joined our Green Map project. Doug is currently obtaining a better electronic map for us and will be involved in the ongoing development of the Green Map VARIATION 17 More than 2,000 people packed the Town Hall on the 1st of February to meet against the proposed changes to the Wellington waterfront. The Council's received more than 400 submissions, most of them against the changes. It's now looking like the Council will be extending tomorrow's deadline for submissions. It's important to put in your submission if you haven't already - the pessimists think the Council's moving the deadline to give themselves more time to drum up positive support Check our next newsletter for a followup article on Variation 17 FLAXROOTS TECHNOLOGY: CLAIMING THE INTERNET FOR COMMUNITY The planning group is now working on inviting people to present one hour workshops, with an emphasis on case studies of communities where the technology is being used to serve community. They are keen to attract people to this first conference from within flaxroots communities, interested in finding out the How and Why of how communities can harness the technology to help build and empower the community. Also flaxroots people who are already doing it, and able to pass on their experiences. For more details see our Calendar page . If you're interested in getting involved, please e-mail Ross Himona GE NEWS: ANSFA Extracts from The November-December 1999 Muller Report : Last month ANSFA talked to a number of us about the proposed labelling provisions for GE foods (Food Standard A18). The good news is that they are proposing full labelling, with no threshold for GE-free foods. That is, if a food is labelled "free from genetic modification" it means no GE elements in the food or the processing of the food item. Other categories are "GM", "May be GM", "Not sourced from GM ingredients" While this is good news, they have delayed the process, even though after 2 or so years the Ministers in New Zealand and Australia agreed to the full labelling. It would appear that pressure from the US government (i.e. biotech industry) meant the Australian PM put the brakes on the process, so that labelling will come into force in 2001. This no doubt means that we get to eat the GE foods that Europe has rejected. The good news is that already some foods have been labelled as GE free, e.g. Mexicano corn chips. Once this starts others will follow. As with the UK, retailers and manufacturers follow the market, and are well ahead of the government, which tends to follow big business. If you see food labelled GE free - ring the 0800 number and praise them. Also, ring 0800 numbers on foods you buy and ask if they have GE in them - this pressure will swing them. NATIVE FOREST ACTION PRODUCE The NFA CD has been completed and is now available for purchase from the national office for $20.00. It includes 16 tracks from some great New Zealand artists including Mystery, Nina Lane, Decay Dance, Inunga Funga, Resonance, and Steve Abel. They also have copies of "Secrets & Lies" by Nicky Hager and Bob Burton for $25. E-mail Nick Young if interested DOWNTOWN RECYCLING Abridged article from City Voice, 27 Jan 2000: A colour-coded recycling service is being offered in downtown Wellington from the beginning of February. The new scheme is aimed at both apartments and offices, and fills a gap caused by the City Council's "green bin" kerbside recycling service not covering the inner city It's being offered by a private company, FERN (Friendly, Economic, Recycling, Nous), and costs up to $20 per bin per month. People using the scheme will be able to choose up to 4 different colours of wheeliebins - you may have seen them at the Stadium open day. Green for paper, Red for bottles, Blue for shredding, and Yellow for all other rubbish. These colours are used internationally, including the Olympics FERN: 568 5521, e-mail . Also listed on our Retail page OTARI-WILTON BUSH LOOKING FOR HELPERS Are you passionate about Otari-Wilton's Bush? Do you enjoy meeting people? Do you have an interest in Otari-Wilton's Bush, plants, and botany in general? Can you spare about 4 hours a month? Why not become an Otari-Wilton's Bush Host? The Otari-Wilton's Bush Host scheme will involve trained volunteers staffing the Information Centre at weekends and public holidays For more information see the WCC press release . If you're interested please contact Leanne Killalea, phone 472 5684 or 801 3071 or e-mail KEEP IT BLUE On the 3rd of February, Jo Le Guen set out alone and without help to row across the South Pacific from Wellington to Cape Horn. In addition to being a personal endeavour on Joe's part,ĘKeep It Blue is an operation to raise awareness in terms of preserving the oceans. Apart from following the day to day progress of the crossing,Ęthe Keep It Blue site will present details on the main types of pollution encountered by Koum the albatross with the giant wings on his journey around the world. BOOK REVIEW: GREENHOUSE GANGSTERS VS. CLIMATE JUSTICE Corporate Watch's Parent Organisation, TRAC, has released a new report on "Climate Justice" The report, "Greenhouse Gangsters vs. Climate Justice", reveals that: * Just 5 giant oil companies account for 10% of all carbon emissions contributing to global warming. * These same companies - Shell, Exxon-Mobil, BP-Amoco-Arco, Chevron, and Texaco are also top polluters in local communities throughout the US and around the world. * The report also documents how "the most powerful industry in the world" violates human rights from Burma to Ecuador to Nigeria. * The authors put forward a vision of "climate justice", in which poor communities do not bear the brunt of curbing global warming. The report is well researched and written. It's available to order from the above page or as a free 2.3 Meg download in PDF format RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ACT FOLLOWUP Drastic changes to the Resource Management Act introduced into Parliament prior to the election may yet be thrown out by Labour. Labour has promised to rescue the RMA from National's amendments. Labour says it will split the Resource Management Amendment Bill 1999 and bring back only widely agreed amendments. It is also promising to provide funding for a Community Environmental Advocates network and enable environmental and community groups to apply for legal aid for Environment Court hearings. Submissions on the RMA Amendment Bill closed on the 1st of October 1999. No date has yet been set for hearings. For more information contact ECO, phone/fax 385 7545 or e-mail LOCATION EFFICIENT MORTGAGES IN THE US OF A An interesting article from the Sustainable Transport Network Newsletter #8: During the second half of 1999, location efficient mortgages (LEM) became commercially available for the first time in the USA. The LEM are available for homes in neighbourhoods which stress accessibility: residents can walk to the grocery store, ride the bus or train to work, walk to the park on weekends. Residents are likely to own one car (rather than two or more) and drive low annual mileages, or own no car at all. Fannie Mae, the largest source of home loan funds in the USA, piloted the new mortgage product. The LEM recognises home-buyer savings resulting from the purchase of a home located in a densely populated community served by efficient public transportation. Seattle and the Bay Area of California were the first areas of the country targeted for participation. The LEM is another innovative product, developed along similar lines to the "Energy Efficient Mortgage" - whereby households spending less on energy by purchasing an energy efficient home have more disposable money to spend on mortgage repayments. These two types of loan initiatives will help Fannie Mae achieve its "One Trillion Dollar Commitment" to expanded home ownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income households and for low- and moderate-income neighbourhoods. More information on Location Efficient Mortgages is available at: and by searching the Fannie Mae website at: GREENING WELLINGTON ;-) http://www.sustainable.wellington.net.nz/ See you again, Ka kite ano