Waiheke Islanders have come up with an innovative way to help
the environment, while reducing their dependence on imported oil.
The Island's Waste Resources Trust has developed a biodiesel plant,
which converts waste cooking oil from its restaurants and fish
n'chip shops into fuel for its vehicles.
Trust spokesperson, Denise Roche said it was a volunteer driven
project, "we saw all of this oil being sent to the landfill, and
thought what could we do with it?".
Students from Auckland University's Engineering Projects in
Community Service (EPICS) team helped the Trust develop a solution,
which, as well as producing high quality fuel, creates soap as a
byproduct.
Other communities around the world are starting to take an
interest in what Waiheke is doing, says Denise. Representatives of
the Niue Government recently visited the plant, which could
eventually produce up to 30,000 litres of oil a year.
The environmental benefits are many. Less waste ends up in the
landfill, while the energy used to import oil to the Island, and
transport waste from it, is reduced. That is good news for the
climate, and good news for the people of Waiheke Island.
Niki Harre of Pt. Chevalier in Auckland believes that the power
to address climate change lies with communities.
Two years ago, Niki, and neighbour Bevan Woodward, organised a
meeting of people in their suburb.
They were concerned that it was not safe for children to walk or
cycle in their area, and that residents' dependence on cars was
unsustainable, contributing to air pollution and climate
change.
Everyone agreed on the solution - Slower And Less Traffic - and
an organisation called SALT was born.
Niki says the group's vision is "a community where people ride
bikes and walk, and where kids as young as five can walk to school
and be safe doing so."
SALT did a survey of people in the neighborhood to find out who
was interested, and identified "street representatives" who could
work with smaller units of people.
The aim was to reclaim the streets back from the cars which
dominated them. Street barbeques were arranged, where neighbours
gathered with their families, often meeting each other for the
first time.
"The big thing anyone can do is get out on their street," says
Niki, "when I ride my bike up the street, I feel part of a
community. It's incredibly reinforcing."
Niki, a psychology lecturer at Auckland University, is also
editor of the newly released book "Carbon Neutral by 2020".
Every single thing we do makes a difference
Natalie Cutler-Welsh of Christchurch is among the thousands of
Kiwis making a difference to climate change in their own homes.
Together with husband Matthew, and their one-year-old daughter
Ruby, they've made a lot of small changes that make a real
difference to their environmental impact.
As well as using eco-shopping bags and buying locally produced
food, the Cutler-Welshes are also vegetarians. It was a choice
motivated primarily by environmental concerns such as the amount of
land required to produce meat, says Natalie.
They also buy second-hand wherever possible, to reduce the
energy and resources used in manufacturing new products, although
Natalie says they still manage to "dress well and have nice
furniture".
"It all comes down to the feel good factor," says Natalie,
"every single thing we do makes a difference. We do what we can,
and are always open to new ideas, but it doesn't mean denying
ourselves the things we want to do".
Natalie says it's important people don't see making personal
changes as an "all or nothing" thing. The most important thing,
she says, is "to think about what you do, why you do it, and be
aware of the consequences".