What can the NZ Government do?
○ Take peak oil and climate change seriously at all levels
○ Is the government going to look at alternatives to population growth based economic growth? This is unsustainable but politically difficult.
○ Accept/acknowledge that there is a problem
○ Educate our population
○ Support movements that propose to deal with the problems
○ Listen to the other countries initiatives to take actions on peak oil & climate change, take the best out of that & implement!
○ Help us educate & transform, we may have the initiative but we lack resources.
○ Listen to the people and try to be more proactive
○ Support people who are ‘thinking’ of other ways to look at things
○ Abstain from Government and let someone better have a go
○ Electrify the railways, and create incentives for electric cars
○ Encourage energy saving/efficiency programmes
○ Subsidies for solar panels & hydrogen/hybrid vehicles
○ I saw Country Calendar (April 12 2009) it was all about what Timaru is doing with waste & recycling it – all cities should be doing this
○ Support local and national production & manufacturers – e.g. Fisher & Paykel, Army clothing contracts. By losing these industries we lose skills to overseas, it means we have to use huge amounts of oil – transportation of goods.
○ Keep imports to a minimum be a self sufficient not a dependant country
○ Promote internal tourism, boost national economy, use less fuel travelling
○ Let’s see more government officials on bicycles!
What can Invercargill do?
○ Council initiatives to encourage less energy use/more sustainable practices
○ Encourage community initiatives to discover more about the sustainability of our city
○ Offer financial incentives to motivate people/organisations/farmers
○ Invercargill can learn about what faces it – we have the resources to provide for ourselves, we just need to stop sending them overseas
○ Become a strong group that supports one another – networked with a wider Southland/national web of passionate committed people
○ Be part of a community building group.
○ Share resources and skills
○ Get involved in the TT movement
○ Surprise the district by developing a few model examples of ‘how to do it’
○ Keep talking to others about the issues
○ Make all the people who come to the videos come to the talks
○ Encourage ‘cell groups’ – small groups of people around local issues/support each other to do
○ More farmers markets, community gardens & cycleways
○ Encourage more gardens & market gardens i.e. down centre of Esk Street, weekly Saturday morning
○ Invercargill can transform some of its green spaces into producing land - not just trees in Queens Park etc
○ Start planting road sides with more edible species e.g. fruit and nut trees
○ Develop a city project Perma-Culture, Bio-diverse woodland & garden i.e. Donovan Park – get volunteers & schools etc involved
○ Publicise walking and biking
○ Close off central city to all traffic except bicycles
○ Make Esk Street a pedestrians only zone – open for deliveries only at certain times
○ Have bike depots for people to take a bike, leave a bike – bikes with carriers, chain guards, fenders and a bell
○ Have bicycle centres around town, take a bike when needed, leave it at a depot when done. Paint bikes (e.g. lime green) for all to use. They need to be basic and with a carrier basket, chain guard, wheel fenders, & a bell (this works I have seen this in a small community in Canada)
○ Organise public transport systems
○ Stop repainting road markings every 4 months - get paint that lasts 6 or more years
○ Encourage all homeowners to insulate. Those home owners who are existing in uninsulated houses – told to insulate or be fined. Demolish & rebuild houses unfit for living. We should have no tolerance for houses not insulated.
○ Make it easier for people to recycle (all plastics, all paper)
○ Refer to Timaru waste/composting system (see Country Calendar April 12 reference above)
○ Seed Banks
○ Support community groups in growing local produce
○ Research into real solutions – not just for research sake
○ Increase available energy efficient public transport
○ Plant more nut trees, make current green space productive not just pretty!
○ Establish a sister city transition town
What can I do?
○ Be diligent in the way I use energy resources
○ Keep talking about the issues & support others who are making a difference
○ Decrease the tempo of my lifestyle
○ Walk the talk more
○ Manage with less stuff
○ Work with my community
○ Talk about peak oil with others
○ Notice the part energy plays in my life and find ways to minimise it
○ Share these ideas with others, let me share information
○ Learn about the problem, find out more
○ Reduce my own energy needs
○ Tell other people about what I learn – increase awareness
○ Consider vegetarianism – uses less energy to produce some veges than meat? (I think)
○ Think about these issues – not be afraid or complacent
○ Choose to have one car-less day
○ Use my bike more
○ Car pool, bike
○ Start biking to the transition town talks
○ Walk or bike to work/school
○ Limit car use, consider a hybrid car
○ Use products that don’t have combustion engine or electric motor
○ Grow own veges, give them away
○ I can learn how to plant and maintain a successful vege garden and teach others
○ Grow my own
○ Produce more home grown vege products
○ I can plant some more veggies, eat less meat, source food locally, use less plastic, cycle more, use public transport, inform others
○ Chickens for eggs and meat
○ Lobby local and central government for schemes like warmer homes
○ Insulate house well
○ Vote for a Government that will prioritise sustainability above economic growth
○ Lobby the government, the Council to act
○ Develop a hard core underground branch
Other Thoughts
○ Pass laws to ensure our international commitments are met
○ Keep having low key events & encourage others to learn
○ Promote education, seminars, and resources about issues
○ Reduce my demand for resources
○ Learn from countries who are not so dependant on oil & realise we do not need to make the same mistakes as some other countries
○ Put the emphasis on ‘The Power of One’ which combined make the power of millions
○ Need to encourage each other to make the changes & make a difference locally
○ Can we find someone who knows about making alternative remedies from herbs etc to teach us how to do this?
○ NZ still hasn’t reached our population limits from resources – why? Why have other countries?
○ Antarctic oil reserves
○ Lack of knowledge – of the scale and the problem itself – this is the beginning
○ Using ‘kiwi ingenuity’ for a kiwi way of using recycled material in producing daily life things as well as in art etc
○ Thank you for your initiatives! Keep it up.
○ Population growth – where is this going? Present growth unsustainable.
○ Keep it moving. Don’t be afraid to change.
○ Address population growth globally through education as a matter of urgency.
What Can the NZ Government Do
