The funding is being cut.

If this funding is cut, can we continue such a good program? Is one running in your local school? Do you have gardening skills and an afternoon a week? Is there a way that allows the local parish and the local school to work together on this? If there are people in your Parish who have time (just retired perhaps) maybe they could pop along to the local primary and have a chat with the headmaster. I’d love to hear the results.

Every one of us is used to the idea of a budget. If you ignore your budget it does not mean you get away without one. It means the limitationsof the resources available will catch you by surprise and you budget will be imposed upon you rather than by your choice.

I don’t envy the job of making a budget for a nation. It is hard enough making a personal budget. And yet, it must be done. I expect it to be done. The larger the range of the budget the bigger the consequences for not doing one. If I do my personal budget poorly, I will be adversely affected. If the government doesn’t do a budget the nation will be adversely affected. Limited resources into the government purse are simply a fact of life. We don’t argue about it. It simply is. You don’t get skeptics saying that there is no limitation in the budget, spend as much as you can. No sane person ignores the budget.

The limitation is not an enemy, it simply is, we must work within it.

The earth is approximately 510 million square kilometers, about 71% of which is ocean. There is constant growth and decay and systems that purify and clean; it is not static. But there is still a limited amount of biomass that a particular size piece of land can produce and a limit to the resilience of any eco system. There is a finite amount of pollutants that the oceans can absorb before they are adversely affected. There are a specific number of fish in the sea. A cow takes a known amount of space. There is a limited number of cattle that could survive on all the availiable pasture land. Land for which there are competing uses. Yet there seems to be an inability or unwillingness to consider the possibility that we live with a limited system.

A global resource budget is required. A budget is not the enemy. It allows us to make choices to live within finite resources. Otherwise, limitations will be imposed upon us. Neglecting a personal budget is foolish; neglecting a national budget would be tragic; neglecting a global budget would be catastrophic, but we are doing exactly this. A global case of the tragety of the commons.

However, we are resourceful people. There are several approaches being advocated. One that is worth thinking through is the idea of placing global commons in trust. Here is one example; the Earth Atmospheric Trust.

Home insulation: Green Party’s deal with the devil

from www.tvnz.co.nz

“It’s a big week for the Greens. Today has seen the announcement of the home insulation package they secured from National as part of their Memorandum of Understanding … Given that the Greens have won $323m to help insulate 180,000 homes, $244m of which is new money, it’s a winning day for the minor party.”

Energy Efficient

The university of Missouri-Colombia in the US has put out an excellent design for an energy efficient greenhouse. It involves using raised beds to maximise heat received by plants and black drums filled with water that soak up the heat in the day and release it at night.

Foldable Plastic

Dutch designer Daniel Schipper has created a greenhouse design that could possibly be made out of recycled plastics and is also completely foldable.

Plastic Bottles

REAP, a sustainability group in the north of Scotland came up a design based on plastic fizzy drink bottles. They cut the bases out of each bottle and fitted them inside each other along a garden stake. These are then assembled onto a frame. They have put an instruction guide together, and you can get it here. There is also a good photo of it here.

This is a call out to individuals from communities all across Aotearoa to join in organising an ongoing project which aims to start a Peoples Movement actively addressing the Root Causes of Climate Change

Join us at Parihaka for a weekend of tasting and devouring, information, discussions and workshops on climate chaos and climate justice. The bases of the gathering is to share skills, up skill and take action. Some of the workshops are on topics such as permaculture, collective organising and direct action strategies. For more information please contact: climatecampnz[at]riseup.net http://www.climatecamp.org.nz/HOME.html

What is a Climate Camp?

Climate Camps have been successfully held in several countries. Each camp has generally covered the following themes: direct action, education, direct democracy, sustainable living and building a movement to effectively tackle climate change by both resisting climate damaging activities and developing sustainable solutions. The camps are a place for anyone to take action on climate change; for anyone who’s fed up with empty government rhetoric and corporate spin; for anyone who’s worried that the small steps we’ve been encouraged to make in our personal lives aren’t enough to match the scale of the problem; and for anyone who’s worried about our future and wants to do something about it.

How is this organised?

Previous camps have been organised in a community based and collaborative way. Before and during camp regional groups [Auckland group / Whangarei group / nelson group / Christchurch group / new groups] work and organise by making decisions together and sending prooposals to one another. This is different from coming as a representative of an organisation, and is far more democratic, sustainable and conducive to building a peoples movement. There are already many regional and issue based working groups up and running that you can join, maybe there’s one in your area, if not feel free to get in touch and start one up yourself.

Hope to see you at Parihaka!

• The second biggest killer of children under five worldwide is the lack of clean and accessible drinking water.
• Nearly 5,000 children die every day as a result of water-related diseases including cholera, typhoid and malaria.
• Just $1 can provide a child with safe drinking water for 30 days.  

What’s the Tap Project about?

This is the second year that New Zealand has taken part in The Tap Project (also running in the US) and already a record 300+ restaurants and cafes across the country have signed up to participate, including a number of major chains (all listed on our website: www.tapproject.org.nz).  

In the lead up to World Water Day on 22 March, the campaign celebrates the clean and plentiful tap water Kiwis are lucky enough to enjoy, while helping UNICEF provide safe drinking water for the world’s poorest children, with this year’s proceeds going to specific projects in Laos. 

Five easy ways to get involved

It’s really easy for everyone to get involved and a great way to make a life-saving difference to the futures of thousands of children.

1. Dine out or have a coffee at participating establishments and make a donation whilst there – all venues listed at www.tapproject.org.nz/restaurants.html
2. Make a donation online at www.tapproject.org.nz or by texting TAP to 833 ($3 automatic donation)
3. Join the Facebook group and help spread the word about the Tap Project. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=11175254404
4. Get your school or workplace involved by running water-themed events or activities, e.g. donations for drinking water from the water cooler. Download free education resources at www.tapproject.org.nz
5. Come to UNICEF’s World Water Day events:  On World Water Day - Sunday 22 March, local councillors will join a water challenge to coincide with Wellington’s dragon boat festival. On Sunday 5 April, an attempt will be made in Auckland to break the Guinness World Record for the largest ever simultaneous squirting of water pistols.   

Celebrity support

Many New Zealand celebrities are supporting the campaign, including Mike McRoberts, Alison Mau, Jay Reeves and Amber Peebles.

Further Information:

• For news, videos, online donation and useful info and links: www.tapproject.org.nz
• Media enquiries: david@unicef.org.nz (David Youngmeyer)
• General enquiries: carolyn@unicef.org.nz (Carolyn Shivanandan)
• UNICEF NZ: www.unicef.org.nz

Van Jones is the founder and president of Green For All, and his work is a model for Christians who want to do community development in environmentally-friendly ways and for those who want to find ways out of the “environment vs. jobs” debate.

Jones points out the many ways in which solving environmental problems can be done with justice. His position is that as long as we’re going to all the trouble to create a clean energy economy, we might as well make a renewed effort to tackle discrimination and inequality, too.

He addresses the involvement of faith communities directly and challenges the “so-called progressives [who] snarl the word ‘Christian’ as if it were an insult or the name of a disease.” He presses activists to become problem-solvers, to become more about “proposition” than “opposition.” In a short list of principles for a new movement, Jones advocates fewer “issues,” more solutions; fewer “demands,” more goals; fewer “targets,” more partners; and less “accusation,” more confession.

I really like the sound of this approach. It rings true with my conviction that as Christians we have a call not to protest but to witness. Not just doing something to protest an injustice, but something that highlights another possible way of living. Turning the other cheek - or planting a garden in the parking lot of a coal power plant instead of holding a placard.

Has anyone read this book?

Pledge and Reward scheme:

NEC is introducing a voluntary Pledge scheme whereby Nelson individuals, households, businesses and eventually schools can make pledges to reduce their carbon emissions in key area such as Energy, Transport, Water, Waste, Food and Biocapacity. The Pledges are at different levels - from no cost or effort to more cost or effort. The greater the effort the greater the Reward. These Rewards have to be compatible with the idea of sustainability and be goods or services provisioned locally and so support local business. The purpose of the Reward systems is to encourage and incentivize long-term behavioural change towards sustainable life-styles.

The launch of the CRRS:

The NEC and the Nelson City Council will be launching CODE:RED on 13^th  March 2009 in Nelson’s Founders Heritage Park.

From 3 pm there will be a Community launch in the Energy Centre- an interactive “how to” expo around the key themes above. It is not a trade show but rather a whole of community awareness building and, hopefully, behavior changing event. The idea is also to demonstrate to people that there is a great deal happening locally in terms of ideas, technology, experience and production in the sustainability arena. Each display will have a themed Pledge above it so that attendees can make a pledge to eg “Reduce my energy consumption by…” on the day and qualify to enter a prize draw. There will also be lots of fun, music, theatre, quizzes and prizes to be won by the whole family.

As the season of Lent draws near, the Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) invites Christians to mark the occasion with reflection and action on water justice.

During the Seven Weeks for Water initiative, theologians and church activists from Africa, Europe, North and South America will share short biblical meditations for each week along with some campaigning ideas and resources.

The first set of materials will be available on the EWN website water.oikoumene.org from 25 February - Ash Wednesday according to Western Christian tradition. EWN also provides an RSS stream for the seven weeks, which allows groups and congregations to give visibility to their participation on their own websites.

“Traditionally Lent is a time for concentrating on what is essential in life and opening our hearts to our neighbours, for example by fasting and giving to the needy,” says Maike Gorsboth, the EWN coordinator. “The Seven Weeks for Water initiative encourages Christian groups and individuals to deepen this experience, reflecting on the concrete issue of water justice.”

World Water Day

Another opportunity to highlight the importance of water comes on World Water Day, 22 March. EWN has already put together a collection of resources and links that can help congregations address the issue, inspired by prayer, biblical texts on justice and on water, and the experiences of church agencies with the challenges posed by inequal access to freshwater and sanitation.

The Seven Weeks for Water initiative was first celebrated during Lent 2008. This year, the resources will for the first time be available in four languages - English, Spanish, German and French.

More information on the Seven Weeks for Water:
http://www.oikoumene.org/7-weeks-for-water

Ideas for World Water Day 2009:
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/activities/ewn-home/resources-and-links/ewn-resources.html

UN website for World Water Day:
http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/flashindex.html