Consumers back ethical shopping

Despite a tough year economically, almost half of respondents ranked factors such as buying local, eco-friendliness and buying Fair Trade above saving money.

Green and ethical factors have slipped slightly since last year, while the bottom line increased in importance to become the No 1 driver for almost 45 per cent of shoppers, up from 39 per cent in 2010.

The results show a divide between those whose choices are mostly dictated by the reality of balancing the budget, and those who look to ethical factors first.

Surprisingly, which camp they fell into was not dictated by how much they earned.

Less surprisingly, green concerns are more likely to come into play when a shopper can choose that alongside other factors such as price.

A majority of shoppers showed a high level of concern for factors such as buying local (top of the list for the second year running with just under 62 per cent of people considering it) if they were allowed to take many things into account.

But such concerns disappeared for many when asked to choose just one factor.

When forced to choose, the price tag easily dwarfed concerns about every other factor - price rose from fourth to first place on the shopping list.

Buying local fell to a distant second, with only 12.3 per cent of those surveyed naming it the top factor.

Eco-friendliness came third.

That may sound like bad news for green businesses, but the green shopping basket began to look distinctly fuller when the different social and environmental concerns were added together.

In total, almost half of respondents - 48.8 per cent - picked a social or environmental factor as their single biggest consideration above price, whether it was eco- friendliness, social responsibility or Fair Trade.

As to whether you can believe that shoppers buy the way they say they will - not entirely, according to Otago University marketing professor Janet Hoek.

She said people tended to over- inflate desirable traits in opinion surveys to make themselves sound more ethical.

However, there was a core group of shoppers for whom green and ethical issues were king, although they chopped and changed priorities depending on the product, she said.

For example, some people would buy local and organic fruit and veges from a farmers' market then head to the supermarket for cheaper packaged goods.

Other factors were cost and ease of identifying sustainable products.

For example, Fair Trade coffee frequently cost about the same as other coffee, making it an easier choice. And an ethical label that was easy to spot on a coffee pack might get lost on a cereal box that was "teeming with other graphs and health claims," Hoek said.

Overall, 24 per cent of shoppers said they always considered sustainable factors when buying goods or services, while 58 per cent considered it some of the time.

Seventeen per cent said they never did.

* The online survey of just under 1300 people was carried out by Shape NZ to support Fairfax's Sustainable 60 Series, an annual event to reward and share sustainable business success.

It has a maximum margin of error of +/- 2. per cent.

* Is your business sustainable? Walk the talk and enter the Sustainable 60 Awards. [link] Run by Fairfax Media and PWC, the awards celebrate sustainable excellence in New Zealand. Entries close August 5.

Submitted by SustainableM

Carbon Recycling - a money making chance

11 July 2011 Manawatu Standard  by David Shillington

Carbon dioxide (CO2) continues to dominate the media, not only because of its greenhouse gas effects, but also as an emission gas attracting carbon taxes.

Governments are increasingly desperate to find an answer to our increasing CO2 problem. Ironically, the more than 27 billion metric tons of CO2 produced each year may actually represent an excellent business opportunity.

Energy-related waste carbon dioxide emissions are projected to reach 43 billion metric tons a year by 2030, an increase of 60 per cent.

A new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that growing energy demands from emerging giants like China and India, coupled with a lack of cost-effective alternatives to fossil fuels, means that 77 per cent of the world's power will still be derived from fossil fuels by 2050.

"We will require immediate policy action and a technological transition on an unprecedented scale," IEA executive director, Nobuo Tanaka said.

Thinking imaginatively shows us that carbon recycling for profit could offer an exciting and viable alternative to carbon capture and storage programmes.

Many scientists are looking at what appear to be risky, unworkable and expensive technologies to capture and store carbon dioxide, so as to remove it from the environment and from polluting industries.

However, recycling carbon provides another and more potentially attractive solution.

Carbon recycling may be destined to be at the forefront of research for many years to come.

The huge technological challenge lies in the "reduction" of carbon dioxide, the chemical term used to denote the removal of oxygen from carbon compounds, a process that plants and forests do easily every day.

Sadly, these natural processes occur too slowly to balance the effects of increasing industrialisation and growth of China and others in the developing world.

Extractive metallurgists are able to reduce any oxide compound to its elemental form. Examples of this are found in the manufacture of iron from iron oxides, aluminum from aluminum oxides, and hydrogen from hydrogen oxide (or water). Carbon dioxide is similar to any other oxide and can be reduced to its respective elements by applying energy, a process that could minimise the amount of CO2 released into the air and, thus, result in improved fuel self sufficiency.

As with other oxide compounds, "reductions" require the input of some form of energy to overcome the tendency of carbon to form compound oxides.

Such reductions into fuels would be better environmentally than simply capturing CO2 and pushing it back into the ground, but they cost both money and energy.

An added difficulty is that unlike most other solid oxide compounds metallurgists work with, CO2 is a gas, which adds to the complexity and cost of its collection and capture.

Carbon recycling options being developed globally, vary considerably. The range includes the biochemical conversion of CO2 into algal biofuel, the thermochemical conversion into methanol, and the biocatalytic or solar photocatalytic conversion of CO2 to fuel.

Each has its own set of advantages and disadvantages and some are more feasible than others. A new technology, named the electro-reduction of carbon dioxide (ERC), aims to take CO2 directly from industrial waste gases and convert it to formate salts and/or formic acid, both of which are used in a variety of industrial applications.

Formic acid also has the potential to play a leading role in fuel cell development.

We are living in an era with an exciting range of projects calling out for solutions from economists, politicians, scientists and engineers. David Shillington is head of the School of Applied Health Sciences at UCOL.

Submitted by SustainableM

Prunes win New Zealand's worst packaging title

An American company which individually wrapped its prunes has beaten 100 others to

earn the dubious title of worst packaging on New Zealand shelves. The Unpackit

Packaging Awards received 9000 public votes on products which had non-recyclable,

poorly labeled or frustratingly fiddly packaging. Sunsweet Ones, imported from the United States, claimed the award because of its nonrecyclable wrappers for each piece of fruit, with further layers of non-labeled or nonrecycled plastic. Unpackit spokeswoman Sophie Ward said it was one of the "all-time" worst examples of unnecessary and excessive packaging.

"Without exception, every single person I have talked to ... around the country has been

amazed that something so ridiculous exists." The competition's organizers said the

company's defence - that it prevented a sticky mess - was weak. "I can't see there being

a great number of pocket prune-carriers out there," Ms Ward said. "It's great if people

want a healthy snack, but I'd encourage them to make it healthy for the environment too

by taking a few unwrapped prunes in washable container."

Sunsweet beat eight other short-listed products for the award, including the nearly

impenetrable packs for Brother Ink cartridges and Oral Braun toothbrushes. Large

multinational companies dominated the shortlist, in particular brands which sold

convenience foods and single-serve snacks.

The best packaging award went to Potatopak takeaway containers, from a shortlist

made up of small and medium-sized businesses. The Blenheim-based company turned

potato starch, a waste product from potato chips, into completely compostable plates

and bowls.

Unpackit praised the transformation of a waste stream into a valuable resource, which

could be fed back into the soil without harm. The company's owner Richard Williams

said it has been working with Plant and Food for five years to create a food-grade

container which can carry hot or wet food, or meat.

Expected to be ready by the end of the year, he hoped it would replace meat trays in

supermarkets, which cannot be recycled because they are contaminated with blood.

The competition also proved innovation was not essential to eco-friendly packaging. The

second and third-place winners were time-honoured, simple designs - the Speight's

swap-a-crate and the egg carton.

(Thanks to Sustainable Rangitikei for this news)

Submitted by SustainableM

Kiwis Winging Way to New York to Save Our Bees

One of NZ’s biggest economic risks, that of the loss of the honey bees, necessary to protect over 30% of the food we eat, is being tackled head on by a couple of passionate kiwi ladies. Two members of the Charitable Trust Save Our Bees are flying to New York to learn from the experts on urban beekeeping and run the New York marathon to raise awareness of the plight facing New Zealand’s bees and economy. New York has only recently made bee keeping legal. New Yorkers successfully keep hives on rooftops and apartment balconies.

A range of factors are decimating the NZ bee population and large scale numbers of small urban backyard beehives will be a critical part of answer. Bees now require our managed care to survive. This is because of Varroa mite, insecticide use, mono cropping and new bee diseases. How big is the risk? Albert Einstein was quoted as saying if bees were to disappear from the Planet, Mankind would follow in as little as four years. NZ reliance on bees equates to $5.1 billion of exports per annum.

There are other huge benefits for families as well, says Janet Luke co-founder of the Save Our Bees Trust. Local raw honey helps treat allergies and is full of medicinal qualities, keeping bees helps to educate children about the importance of them and urban bees do much better than their rural sisters due to a rich and varied source of nectar and pollen.

They are seeking corporate sponsorship to support them in their campaign which is targeting 500 new urban beekeepers and hives over the next 12 months.

For more information contact Janet Luke
janetluke@xtra.co.nz
ph 06 877 9639
Janet Luke,
P.O.Box 8794,
Havelock North,
Hawkes Bay, 4130.
info@greenurbanliving.co.nz
www.greenurbanliving.co.nz

Submitted by SustainableM

Kiwis Winging Way to New York to Save Our Bees

One of NZ’s biggest economic risks, that of the loss of the honey bees, necessary to protect over 30% of the food we eat, is being tackled head on by a couple of passionate kiwi ladies. Two members of the Charitable Trust Save Our Bees are flying to New York to learn from the experts on urban beekeeping and run the New York marathon to raise awareness of the plight facing New Zealand’s bees and economy. New York has only recently made bee keeping legal. New Yorkers successfully keep hives on rooftops and apartment balconies.

A range of factors are decimating the NZ bee population and large scale numbers of small urban backyard beehives will be a critical part of answer. Bees now require our managed care to survive. This is because of Varroa mite, insecticide use, mono cropping and new bee diseases. How big is the risk? Albert Einstein was quoted as saying if bees were to disappear from the Planet, Mankind would follow in as little as four years. NZ reliance on bees equates to $5.1 billion of exports per annum.

There are other huge benefits for families as well, says Janet Luke co-founder of the Save Our Bees Trust. Local raw honey helps treat allergies and is full of medicinal qualities, keeping bees helps to educate children about the importance of them and urban bees do much better than their rural sisters due to a rich and varied source of nectar and pollen.

They are seeking corporate sponsorship to support them in their campaign which is targeting 500 new urban beekeepers and hives over the next 12 months.

For more information contact Janet Luke

janetluke@xtra.co.nz

ph 06 877 9639

Submitted by SustainableM

As Part of ReelEarth there will be a seminar series

Submitted by SustainableM

Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival 7th Festival Season

Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival  7th Festival Season

 Reel Earth is the Southern Hemisphere’s leading juried film awards and festival in the nature and environment genre.  Opening 6 May in Palmerston North, our 7^th Festival Season offers an entertaining and inspiring lineup of over 50 film premieres, with a emergent focus on water and the catalytic power of one.  Reel Earth fuses New Zealand reputations for winning film productions and a stunning natural environment into a globally recognized international film festival experience in the Manawatu.  Founded in 2004, each year the festival attracts the best in new film from over 40 countries including New Zealand, with production budgets in excess of $50M.  This is the festival’s first season under the direction of Lynda Williamson, whose ability in creative stage presence and events brings a vibrant new edge to the Reel Earth experience.  Festival sponsors include Palmerston North City Council, Massey University and MWH Global.  The festival is a channel and platform for the leading edge of global creative works on film, including documentary and animation.  The coveted international Reel Earth Awards are conferred by professional juries and carry cash prizes in excess of $10,000 with the added cache of bronze and blown glass trophies crafted by some of New Zealand’s finest artists including Paul Dibble.  This year the awards gala is hosted by Lisa Chappell (Claire of McCleod’s Daughters) and features an appearance by leading business and political commentator Rod Oram.  Attracting visiting filmmakers from throughout Australasia and as far afield as Canada and Spain; the Festival uses sustainable practices including virtual presence & carbon offsetting for necessary travel to demonstrate through action the capacity to live and celebrate sustainably.  Filmmaking seminars, a community sustainability expo, and the magnificent green carpet awards gala at the Regent Theatre are the apex of the festival’s final weekend, 13 – 15 May. 

Submitted by SustainableM

The times, the places, the speakers, the workshops --all you need to know about A Greener Way

www.agreenerway.co.nz

  A GREENER WAY PROGRAMME

The Manawatu’s only Sustainable Living Field Days is almost here. A Greener Way Team is proud to bring you this free event hosting exciting, professional and passionate Speakers, Businesses and Entertainers. Over 2 days they will share, exhibit and showcase the best of organic and sustainable living.

 INSPIRING AND INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES, WORKSHOPS & DISPLAYS

FRIDAY 1st & SATURDAY 2nd APRIL

KID'S ZONE

Junk and Disorderly, Jim and Bridgett will keep the kids really busy creating and crafting recycled arts

Horizons Green Rig educational truck

HANDS-ON WORKSHOP

Meet and interact with Michael Lawley from EcoInnovation, Cliff Glass from Envirobuild and Lynn Kirkland, herbalist and owner of the herb farm

TRADERS

Ranging from Eco furniture, Agriculture, EcoBuild Clothing, Health, Wellbeing & Beauty

DISPLAYS

 Manawatu Gliders; New Zealand fastest Motorbikes; CleaNfuelZ a much more

MUSIC N'STREET ART PERFORMERS

On Friday & Saturday Artists are welcome to perform in our Buskers ‘n Street Performer area. So join us and let's play some sounds.

 Saturday homegrown music bands selected by Radio Control will be performing all day on the big stage till 9pm.

RAFFLES & PRIZES

A Gift-basket full of Ecostore products will be up for grabs and Great prize for the most sustainable stall. Prizes will be given away on Saturday around 2pm

This is a not for profit event & public donation are welcome

Zero waste event

info@agreenerway.co.nzSPEAKERS PROGRAMME

Friday 1st April

 Time Speakers  Topic

 9.30 am Jerry Brunetti  Three Legged Stool of Eco-Farming

 11.00 am Mike Daly  Effective Microorganisms

 11.30 am Hugh Lovel  Nitrogen Fixation

 1.00 pm Alan Thatcher  Cost Comparisons Organic V     Conventional

 1.30 am Glen Atkinson  Biodynamic Farming

 2.30 pm Tineke Verdake  Homeopathy

 3.00 pm Ewan Campbell  EcoFarm / Probitas System

 4.30 pm Jerry Brunetti  Biology, Geology & Physics/Energy

 6.00 pmClosed

Saturday 2nd April

TimeSpeakersTopic

10.00 amJerry BrunettiFood as Medicine – Farm as Farmacy

11.00 amAshhurst GroupMoney System Loaves

11.15 amSuper GransBackyard Gardening

11.30 amMike DalyEffective Microorganisms

12.00 pmHugh LovelHazards of GE in food

1.30 pmClaire BleaklyGE Free NZ

2.00 pmGreen Party

2.30 pmShabari LovelFood Nutrition & Fermentation

4.00 pmJerry BrunettiCancer Myths & Fallacies

5.00 pmClosed

Submitted by SustainableM

Gaps in the market for sustainable business

Three out of top five sustainable brands are Business Council members

Business Council members Ecostore, Toyota and Meridian are three of the top five New Zealand sustainable brands according to the recent Colmar Brunton Survey.

The other two brands are Air New Zealand and the Body Shop.

The results are reported in the most recent edition of Marketing Magazine’s stop press (http://www.stoppress.co.nz/news/2011/03/its-not-easy-being-green-hoi-polloi-choose-new-zealands-most-sustainable-brands/)


New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development Chief Executive Peter Neilson says our member companies are succeeding by being seen as the most sustainable brands in their market segment.

“Sustainability is the sleeping giant of New Zealand business; both our own ShapeNZ and Colmar Brunton surveys show New Zealanders want to buy from more environmentally and socially aware companies - but often can’t tell who to buy from.

In ShapeNZ surveys commissioned by the Business Council, 32% of New Zealanders are prepared to shift to a more sustainable supplier provided the product costs about the same.

As in the Colmar Brunton surveys, most New Zealanders in ShapeNZ surveys say they cannot name a more sustainable provider in most product or service categories.

“This represents a major market opportunity for New Zealand business,” Mr Neilson says.

“Whoever is first to establish themselves as the most sustainable supplier in a business category can pick up a much larger market share.  Despite the recession New Zealanders have stuck with their sustainability values and companies that meet those aspirations have a more secure future.”

Submitted by SustainableM

An interesting job vacancy has arisen for the Ashhurst/Pohangina environment and community

Intern wanted for short-term contract

 Interns are encouraged to apply for a three- to four-month position (beginning in April) with RECAP : The Society for the Resilience and Engagement of the Community of Ashhurst and Pohangina Incorporated. RECAP is a start-up Transition Town type organisation whose purpose is “to promote the sustainability, diversity, and resilience of the local economy, ecology, and community of the Greater Ashhurst and Pohangina Region.”

 The position requires an average commitment of 10 hours per week, with remuneration of $18-20 per hour. There may be some flexibility around the weekly commitment by varying the end date for the position. This contract will not exceed $2500 total. We hope to offer the position to someone who is able to work flexible hours, including some weekends or evenings, but we have some capacity to accommodate other commitments, such as study or child care. The position will at times require physical presence in Ashhurst and the Pohangina Valley, but it is otherwise a work-from-home position and requires Internet access. The successful applicant will be responsible for their own tax.

 The intern’s primary and minimum duties will involve:

 ·         Liaising with formal and informal community groups around Ashhurst and the Pohangina Valley to create a central, online database that can be used as a single information source for community activities, volunteer opportunities, and contact information;

·        Providing leadership in a pledge drive for RECAP’s alternative currency project, LOAVES;

·         Providing information about RECAP and its activities at local events, such as the village market;

·         Meeting fortnightly with member(s) of the RECAP board to account for progress.

 This position may also require:

 ·         Assisting to coordinate a bush conservation project;

·         Assisting to coordinate a community garden or orchard project;

·         Writing profiles of community groups for the village newsletter;

·         Writing grant applications.

 Desired skills:

 ·         Excellent social and community networking skills, including being articulate and a good listener on the phone and in person and having a positive, outgoing personality;

·         Initiative and the ability to set priorities and work independently with regular accountability to others;

·         Good writing skills, especially for email;

·         Basic web editing skills a bonus.

 Preference may be given to someone with local knowledge of the Ashhurst/Pohangina area.

 Applicants are encouraged to view the society web site (www.recap.org.nz) and, prior to applying for a position, to contact Sharon Stevens, Chairperson (info@recap.org.nz) or Harvey Jones, Deputy Chairperson (h.jones@inspire.net.nz). To apply, please send a letter and a CV by 25 March to Sharon Stevens, either as an email attachment or by post.

 Email:   [e-mail];        Post:     RECAP, Inc.

                                                            c/o Dan Fyles, Secretary

                                                            142 Winchester St.

                                                            Ashhurst 4810

News Categories

Misc • Consumers back ethical shopping • Carbon Recycling - a money making chance • Prunes win New Zealand's worst packaging title

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