A local model of Sustainabile Practice - Transition Valley 473

So how might a sustainable community look? Transition Valley 473 is a local community sub - group of the national group Transition Towns New Zealand Aotearoa.  They run a number of sustainable initiatives such as:- community gardens and orchards, free home energy audits, fruit tree planting and pruning, help with bike repairs and retrofitting of home insulation.

A bike library is another initiative that is being considered.  Two third year Occupational Therapy students, Georgina and Grace, are currently working on a community project assisting North East Valley and the DCC in determining the need and potential success for a bike library in the North East Valley Community.

A Bike library is a nonprofit organization that will allow members of the community to loan or hire recycled bikes, which have been donated and done up within the community. The main idea of the bike library is increase accessibility and usage of bicycles. There are already bike libraries established in New Zealand and overseas, and they are investigating whether a similar project would work for Dunedin.

They have a short survey to ascertain the level of interest. Please fill out the survey if you are interested.

 

 

 

Here is a message from the organisers of Transition Valley 473

Hi. We're a group of residents from North East Valley, Opoho, Dalmore, Liberton, Pine Hill, Normanby and Mt Mera in North Dunedin. We've got together to help the Valley on our transition journey - coping with the climate, energy and economic changes that are coming. We welcome local residents to join us - turn up at an event and introduce yourself, or you can email us at transitionvalley@king.net.nz for more information.

 

 

How much is too much?

Can shopaholics ever be satisfied?  What is it that makes people in this consumer driven economy always want more, even if that means going into debt and sometimes even into bankruptcy.  This video clip takes a look at Paris Hilton's wardrobe.

Is it possible these days to be content with sufficient for our needs rather than our wants.  What is enough?  The magazines television and other media make their livelihoods our of getting us to buy buy buy. 


This next clip takes you on a shopping trip in Las Vegas with Michael Jackson where his stated goal is to spend some serious money and below one of Michaels mansions.  






Rampant consumerism as shown in this video clip is not just an issue for the rich and famous.  People from all walks of life get caught up in the thrill of the hunt for that next bargain. 
This next video clip shows what happens when compulsive shopping is taken to the extreme and counselling and behavioural change is needed for the family to survive.  It is all about how it makes you feel and has litle to do with whether the item is needed or can be afforded.  Debt was once a thing to be avoided  or paid off as soon as possible.  Many people today however want it all now and are happy to live with "affordable debt" as an ongoing and normal part of life.  This, rather than doing without in the short term, and SAVING for  for things that are wanted as was the custom in the past.                                                                       

What sustainability means

This video illustrates man's ever increasing dependence on non renewable resources. It shows, to our cost, how a lack of concern for sustainability as a guiding part of the everyday lives of everyone on the planet will ultimately have ramifications for us all.

DOC Community Engagement: Otago

Each year thousands of people from the community -- be they businesses, iwi, motivated individuals, trusts, landowners, schools -- help in conservation efforts around New Zealand. This year, as part of Conservation Week, Otago decided to recognise many of those individuals by recording their stories on film. This 8.5 minute video highlights the work of groups as diverse as the Yellow Eyed Penguin Trust, Orokonui Ecosanctuary, Air New Zealand, Ngai Tahu, Mitre 10 Mega, and many more. We hope that many more people become involved, so that DOC can achieve its vision of doubling conservation efforts in our beautiful country in the next 20 years.

Preparing for climate change

Set aside the politics: Data shows that climate change is happening, measurably, now. And as Vicki Arroyo says, it's time to prepare our homes and cities for the new climate, with its increased risk of flooding, drought and uncertainty. She illustrates this inspiring talk with bold projects from cities all over the world -- local examples of thinking ahead.Vicki Arroyo uses environmental law and her background in biology and ecology to help prepare for global climate change The climate is quickly changing. Scientists increasingly talk of a new period in the Earth's history, the "anthropocene", in which human impact on the planet has become dominant. Yet we remain unprepared to deal with the consequences: specifically, the disruption and cost. Lawyer Vicki Arroyo, the executive director of the Georgetown Climate Center, works on climate mitigation and adaptation policies as viable solutions to climate change’s inevitable disruptions to current practices. Using the best available science, Arroyo collaborates with US policymakers at both the state and federal level to develop "planetary management" strategies. For a through (and constantly updated) toolkit of adaptation resources, visit the Georgetown Climate Center >>

About

The purposes of this blog are twofold.  One, to fulfill the requirements for the "Education for Sustainability" course in OP's GCTLT qualification and two, to act as a repository for useful sites and materials that concern themselves with sustainable  practice.

People and the Planet. A report by the Royal Society

Here is a report produced by the Royal Society that you might like to read.   
Rapid and widespread changes in the world’s human population, coupled with unprecedented levels of consumption present profound challenges to human health and well being, and the natural environment. The report (above) gives an overview of how global population and consumption are linked, and the implications for a finite planet.

Key recommendations include:

1.  The international community must bring the 1.3 billion people living on less than $1.25 per day out of absolute poverty, and reduce the inequality that persists in the world today. This will require focused efforts in key policy areas including economic development, education, family planning and health.

2.  The most developed and the emerging economies must stabilise and then reduce material consumption levels through: dramatic improvements in resource use efficiency, including: reducing waste; investment in sustainable resources, technologies and infrastructures; and systematically decoupling economic activity from environmental impact.

3.  Reproductive health and voluntary family planning programmes urgently require political leadership and financial commitment, both nationally and internationally. This is needed to continue the downward trajectory of fertility rates, especially in countries where the unmet need for contraception is high.

4.  Population and the environment should not be considered as two separate issues. Demographic changes, and the influences on them, should be factored into economic and environmental debate and planning at international meetings, such as the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development and subsequent meetings.

Other recommendations made in the report focus on: the potential for urbanisation to reduce material consumption, removing barriers to achieve high-quality primary and secondary education for all, undertaking more research into the interactions between consumption, demographic change and environmental impact, implementing comprehensive wealth measures, developing new socio-economic systems.

 The 21^st century is a critical period for people and the planet.  The global population reached 7 billion during 2011 and United Nations projections indicate that it will reach between 8 and 11 billion by 2050.  Human impact on the earth raises serious concerns, and in the richest parts of the world per capita material consumption is far above the level that can be sustained for everyone in a population of 7 billion or more.  This is in stark contrast to the world’s 1.3 billion poorest people, who need to consume more to be raised out of extreme poverty.

The report goes on to say that the highest fertility rates are now seen primarily in the least developed countries while the lowest fertility rates are seen in the more developed countries. This fact has a significant flow-on effect in the poorer areas, in the ability of families to feed, educate and provide the basic necessities of life for their off spring.

Developing countries will be building the equivalent of a city of a million people every five days from now to 2050. The continuing and rapid growth of the urban population is having a marked bearing on lifestyle and behaviour: how and what they consume, how many children they have and the type of employment they undertake.  Urban planning is essential to avoid the spread of slums, which are highly deleterious to the welfare of individuals and societies.

The Royal Society, a fellowship of the worlds most eminent scientists,  seek a more equitable future for humanity where consumption levels between developed and developing nations is rebalanced alongside a stabilisation of the worlds population by voluntary methods.