Fabulous fashion + beautiful bikes + Wellington women = Wheel Stylish! Bikes are back baby (not like they actually went anywhere) and there is *such* a range of cycling experiences to be had. You’ve got your hipster fixie rider, your lycra-clad fit freak, your sensibly attired public servant with the backpack who did not get […]
This weekend – 16 and 17 October, admission to Zealandia is free! Admission to Wellington’s world-first wildlife sanctuary, ZEALANDIA, is free for all locals this Saturday and Sunday! We are now 15 years into an incredible journey to restore a corner of NZ as closely as possible to the way it was before humans arrived. […]
Earlier this month we read about an octopus off the South Coast that mugged an innocent diver and took his valuable new camera. The news flashed around the world and everyone had a bit of a chuckle at the diver’s expense.
Not so fast, laughing boys (and girls).
It turns out that this is but the latest episode in a long history of criminal behaviour by the city’s cephalopod citizenry.
We need only look at another, earlier encounter between a Wellingtonian and a rogue octopus to prove the point. An encounter that, just like our earlier story made world headlines… but back in 1888.
Read on, after the jump.
Support the Earth Hour initiative tomorrow (Sat 28th) and turn off your lights between 8pm-9pm.
But it will be dark!
I know … fun eh!? Light candles, play spooky games (I recommend Werewolf) or tell ghost stories – in essence HAVE FUN!
And it’s not just about the lights, that’s the minimum. If you can turn off anything else then do so – how about turning off the computer!!!
More info:
And finally – how do we feel about Christchurch being the official New Zealand Earth Hour rep … crap eh, it should be Wellington!!
Write to both Kerry Prendergast (Mayor – kerry.prendergast@wcc.govt.nz) and Ray Ahipene-Mercer (Portfolio Leader: Climate Change – ray.ahipene-mercer@wcc.govt.nz) asking for a big push for 2009 – think of the coverage we’ll get internationally, all because you all got behind it and asked!
As promised:
NEWS RELEASE
26 February 2008Wellingtonians encouraged to turn off the lights for Earth Hour
Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast is encouraging Wellingtonians to turn off their lights in support of Earth Hour on Saturday 29 March.
Earth Hour, a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) initiative aimed at fighting climate change, was launched last week in Christchurch. While Christchurch is this year’s official host city for New Zealand, Wellington is eager to participate.
“Earth Hour is a fantastic way for Wellingtonians to show their commitment to fighting climate change. Every little bit helps and if we all turn off the lights for just one hour we all can make a difference. Wellington’s vision is to become the first carbon-neutral Capital in the world, we must do everything we can to make that vision a reality,†she says.
“We will be signing up as an official partner of WWF in this initiative next year and put some resource behind it. This year we will be leading by example and turning off our lights,†Mayor Prendergast says.
Earth Hour will begin at 8pm on Saturday, 29 March. It started in Sydney last year and was a resounding success with the city’s energy usage dropping by 10 percent. Lights on famous landmarks – the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge – were turned off for an hour and businesses and residents joined in. This year cities across Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand are joining in.
Wellington City Council will register as a participant of Earth Hour and will look at what lights it can turn off. This could include the external lighting at swimming pools, libraries, recreation centres and other Council-owned buildings and the lights in the trees in Oriental Bay and Civic Square.
Climate Change Portfolio leader Cr Ray Ahipene-Mercer says Earth Hour is a great way of showing how much we care about the planet.
I love this city and this country when you can email the Mayor of the capital, get a reasoned (if delayed) response and have things happen.
This is the follow-up from Kerry Prendergast regarding my question of how Wellington City Council is going to participate in this year’s Earth Hour:
Dear Mike
Thank you for your email of 10 January regarding Earth Hour.
I’m sorry it has taken a while to reply. We needed to wait until everyone returned from holiday to discuss the idea and make a decision.
You will be happy to hear that the Council is going to participate.
The recent flap (no pun intended) over noisy tui may seem like a typical silly season non-story, but believe me, it’s a real problem. I live above a major central city intersection, and people sometimes ask whether I’m disturbed by road noise. “No,” I say, “but those bloody birds wake me up at 5 in the morning!” A small patch of harakeke eight floors down is enough to attract hordes of juvenile tui flitting around and chattering and generally carrying on like kids in Manners Mall. Tsk tsk, youth today!
It’s probably just the morning-averse urbocentric biophobic grump in me, but does anyone else notice it? And what is the best collective noun for tui? A disturbance? A larrikin? A raucous?
What are you doing tomorrow? I hope it involves walking, or taking the bus, or staying at home in bed all day. Why? Because it’s World Car Free Day.
You can find out more on the Governement’s new sustainability portal:
Living sustainably means living smarter. Through this site you’ll learn how to live smarter, reduce your impacts on the environment, and save money. You’ll find information to help you make important choices about how you use fuel, electricity and water and what to do with your rubbish.
And if you recognise the joke in the title of this post, perhaps you might like to consider switching to an organic cotton alternative – or a moon cup?
Well, did you?
More info once every other man and his dog stops hammering the GeoNet website.
Update. Well, there ya go: a 4.8 shake, focal point 50km deep, 30km west of Porirua, out in Cook Strait. A decent rattle.
(And if you did feel it, report your experience here. Do your bit for science.)
If you’ve become all festivalled out recently, or, like this Wellingtonista seem to find the whole thing sliding by you without seeming to make any impact despite best intentions otherwise, then take heart: life does continue elsewhere. For example, this weekend, the suburban environmentalist can get their car’s emissions checked at: […] the Westpac Stadium […]