[tigerlily]

I'm just wondering how NZ got the reputation for being a very environmentally friendly place to live? I mean, does everyone recycle at the curbside? Is the bicycle a popular way to get to work? I do know about the clotheslines instead of dryers (that would be a quite committed environmentalist here in the US). Also about the lack of central heating- we'll be generous and call that saving energy. Anyone?

[Jules]

We went to a recycling centre yesterday in Rotorua and I was very impressed, alot more organised than the UK. You can recycle nearly everything!!!!

:clap :clap

Jules

[Diny]

I guess they are pretty hot on the recycling issue. I seem to remember that various inlaws separate their rubbish, i.e. bottles in one box, cans in the other, paper in the other etc. However, it is all collected from the end of their driveway, I don't know how many people would be so particular if it was up to them to voluntarily deliver it to the recycling centre ????

On the other hand, I remember walking behind a 'local' in a Manawatu town last year, he had just finished his drink of coke and he threw the empty bottle into somebody's driveway. My natural and immediate reaction was to say "hey - what are you doing" ......... he turned on me and said "so what - this place is a s**t hole anyway"

Guess it all depends on which side of the fence you sit.

Diny

[veronica]

Yep there is a lot of recycling but no emmision test for the car. There could be a lot more done though to make the 'invisible' things more prominent though. Just take the fact the houses aren't insulated... that means you are using a lot more power to heat the homes whether that power be electicity or wood burner. As it used to always say on my school report...there is room for improvement!

[deebat]

Here are some quotes about recycling from the immigration guide that I recently purchased:

"Every house is expected to place all its glass, cans and plastics (which must be rinsed out) in a special green bin to be collected and sorted"

"Newspapers, magazines and cardboard...must be neatly stacked and tied"

"You may get some unapproving looks if you try to throw away any dead leaves, grass, plant cuttings or tree prunings. People are encouraged to compost these and other items by using their own composting bins or piles"

"[For heavy garbage producers you can buy a] "wheelie-bin" - a wheeled plastic rubbish bin [that is] provided by and serviced weekly by various private rubbish collection companies for monthly costs of NZ$35 and up. "

"If you're the type that likes to burn your cuttings, be aware that many areas nw require you to obtain a permit."

Hope that helps!
-Dan

[eric_amanda]

Recycling here in Whangarei is quite poor in my opinion.

They have a reasonably OK recycling centre, although for us this is a 10km drive, but no kerbside recycling yet, although I understand this is to start in some parts early next year.

What I really miss is local bottle banks and newspaper banks. Where you can just chuck a few things in the car on the way to the shops!!

I also miss wheelie bins! Although we could buy one and put it out every week, it would take us 10 minutes to walk it to the end of the roadway where rubbish is collected from. We have to put it in the back of the car at the moment!

Kiwi's ALL have cars and Drive to most places. I guess this is not very environmentally friendly!

[tigerlily]

Interesting.

What about organic food? This has caught on in a big way in America, what about in NZ? Are there health food stores?

[veronica]

yep there is organic food and health food stores etc.

[tigerlily]

Oh great thanks to all! I am much relieved!

tofu, my love, we will still be together!

[jo b]

Well I hope they don't use up all the leccy with Xmas lights that's not eco friendly at all.

Jo

[ruthyroo]

This is one of my favourite soapboxes! I firmly believe that NZ has gained a reputation for being 'green' purely by accident and not design. The simple fact is that it is a very empty country, so there is very little in the way of population pressure to fill it up (except the growing urban centres), and similarly there has been relatively little industrial development. Also, farming / forestry are still big earners in NZ, so the landscape often looks green and wholesome... but there are major environmental concerns here. Agricultural systems here are some of the most intensive on the planet - they have to be to maintain their economic importance - and the outcomes of that include a lot of invasive, non-native species, pollution of waterways and lakes, and loss of native vegetation, as well as concern about the levels of pesticides and other residues in foods. Intensively planted forests can look very pretty when they reach maturity - less so when they have been clearfelled, resulting in topsoil erosion and loss of all the forest habitat, for what its worth. There is bugger all public transport - NZ has one of the highest rates of private car ownership in the developed world. Add to that the introduction of exotic and invasive species by immigrants (including pet cats and dogs) which have totally out-competed (or just eaten!) the local fauna and flora.

There, another nail in the myth of 'clean and green' NZ! Just becuase somewhere looks green doesn't mean it's environmentally sustainable.

Off the soapbox now. :clap

[tigerlily]

ruthyroo-

I'm trying to figure out just how this environmental image came about. Is it because of the anti-nuclear stance?

I've lived in the Pacific Northwest of the US for a long time- a place where the forests have been clear cut and where agriculture has become a massive scale endevour that only multinationals seem to be able to make money at. But organic farming is certainly gaining steam here, and it gives me hope.

I'm very curious as to the extent which Kiwis are buying organic or growing organic?

[Nicola]

Can somebody from NZ perhaps put me right on the following myth.

I was told years back to buy NZ fruit as a lot of the pesticides that are used here are banned in NZ. That apples grown here or in France should really be peeled to get rid of the worst of the chemicals on them. But NZ fruit did not. So for years I have either bought organic fruit or New Zealand fruit.

Is this an urban myth, or is it true?

I live in a rural part of Northumberland and see the affect that Farming (driven by subsidies) has around here. Is it the same in NZ. Or because the Farmers do not rely on subsidies is the farming not as devastating to the land.

Another point is the GM crop problem. Has NZ bowed to the American pressure of the large conglomerates yet, like the Blair goverment has. Or are they managing to keep them out. Personally I would say there is a big market for countries that keep out GM crops and their side affects. Although our governement is trying to claim there are none. I for one am not convinced. Especially when the driving force behind GM is for money not for the benefit of feeding more people as they keep shouting.

Ooops seem to have got on the soap box again.

Regards
Nic

[Diny]

Nicola

There was a posting about this subject a while back but I can't for the life of me find it to refer back to.

It's my understanding that pesticides definately are used and the fruit coming out of NZ are no 'cleaner and greener' than those from anywhere else. Whether the same can be said for the fruit & veg that is kept in NZ for the 'locals' - well I can't comment on that.

Quote Ruthyroo:

There, another nail in the myth of 'clean and green' NZ! Just becuase somewhere looks green doesn't mean it's environmentally sustainable.

I couldn't agree more.

Diny

[jo b]

On the fruit thing.

Lots of fruit that is transported a long way or needs to be kept fresh longer is coated in a waxy substance hence many apples that are waxy and greasy feeling.

WARNING: always peel fruit especially apples and pears as the waxy substance locks in the pesticides and no matter how much you wash and scrub them the pesticides will not come off as they are protected.

Joanne

[Nicola]

Which all means that by telling my kids to eat the peel on the apples as it is good for you, I have in fact been encourageing them to eat poison. :uhoh Though we usually go for local organic stuff as much as possible so we should be OK.

Feel like I have been told there is no Santa Claus anymore. :no Which of course there is, though he has not brought me any pressies for a long time so I must have been a bad girl for years.

Any one got any nice tales of NZ and green policies.

Nic

[jo b]

Sorry Nicola,

I didn't mean to dampen your mood. But better being safe than sorry.

My kids always get us to peel thier fruit but if you are buying organic it shouldn't be as bad. Just check the feel if they are greasy peel them.

Apparantly Pears ingest lots of pesticides so be careful, my advice is peel all fruit. Yes even bananas :laugh

Jo

[Nicola]

No worries Jo ;)

Better to know the facts than to remain eating the pesticides. The kids very rarely eat pears, unless they are from the trees in my Dad's garden, so no problem there.

Just a bit down on Christmas at mo. Have not even started my christmas shopping yet, not a decoration in sight in our house. Not through choice, but through work commitments and commuteing.

Nic

[ruthyroo]

I guess it's just another one of the myths that get passed around about NZ among hopeful migrants - like the 'lower cost of living' one (but let's not go there now!!)

Nicola

Re. Farming. It has really struck me how unusual NZ is, in that it is probably one of the only 'developed' countries in the world that relies so heavily on primary production i.e. farming and forestry etc for its economic well being. That doesn't happen with organic farming systems - they simply aren't productive enough. There are organics here, but less so than the UK at this point IMHO. Again, it's the image - just becuase you are buying at the farm gate - as you can do quite easily here - doesn't mean you are buying organic - in fact you are likely to be getting the dross that the supermarkets don't take!! NZ farmers are a thrifty bunch - it doesn't cost them owt to set up a stall and honesty box to offload the mishapen fruit and veg to passers by. You are right to say that there are no subsidies as in the UK, but I can't see how this has had any impact on environmental sustainabililty in farming. probably the opposite - at least in Europe subsidies are increasingly tied to more sustainable methods of production where as here it's every man for himself.

I live out at the lakes near Rotorua, and there are huge problems here with algal blooms and toxic algae in the lakes every summer. This has largely been caused by intensive dairy farming in the surrounding catchements, and the high nutrient run-off from effluent and fertiliser use. the problem has been known about for many years, but no attempts have been made to control it - and the farmers themselves are burying their heads, denying the reality, and continuing to top dress the grass with fertilisers and increase stocking levels. Meanwhile we've already had the first lake closure of the summer due to toxic algal presence. So much for Anchor butter and the rest!

GM is still 'under discussion' as far as I know.

Pop pop go the bubbles! i guess it's all part of the learning experience. One thing that coming to NZ has taught me is that the UK aint all bad in comparison.

[veronica]

Good to see a bit of realism there ruthyroo!. although there are good organic shops in some places. In Chch there is one on Kilmore street that is a co-op. and has lots of dried foods too (rice beans etc).

[Diny]

Quote:

Pop pop go the bubbles! i guess it's all part of the learning experience. One thing that coming to NZ has taught me is that the UK aint all bad in comparison.

Ruthyroo ...... never before has such an exact comment been made on this forum IMHO.

:nice1 :nice1 :nice1

Diny