from here

Canterbury & South Island:

Environment court rules electricity provision in Christchurch more important than pollution when power cuts imminent. (9 July, Stuff/The Press).

Fears that Canterbury water will profit foreign corporations. Japanese giant Mitsui corporation is a major shareholder in Synlait, which has signed an agreement with Central Plains Water Ltd (CPWL) over its controversial proposed irrigation scheme. Central and local government politicians say that could turn what is supposed to be a community scheme benefiting the region into a cash cow for overseas interests. (8 July, Stuff/The Press).

ECan consent for $34m Waimakariri River secondary stopbank protection of Christchurch and its environs. (9 July, ECan).

Quail Island/Otamahua: Closed July 10 - 31, for Mouse eradication - a well-earned boost to restoration (mice are the island's only remaining mammalian pest). (6 July, DOC).

Bus exchange set to go underground. (7 July, The Press/Stuff).

Botanic Gardens Centre design chosen. (6 July, CCC).

Youtube competition: Unleash your inner film director! Part of city libraries' promotion of all types of learning and recreation. (3 July, CCC).

Marlborough/Cook Strait: More whales spotted. Month long survey finishes this week. (8 July, Marlborough Express/Stuff).

Nelson: Documentary film-maker puts foreign charter fishing under the lens. Says foreign charter fishing vessels catching New Zealand quota have cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars. (8 July, The Nelson Evening Mail/Stuff).

South Canterbury: Rules to reduce air pollution approved. To take effect 1 May, 2011. (6 July, ECan).

Geraldine: Students start salmon hatchery. (9 July, Tmaru Herald/Stuff).

South Canterbury: Move to stop fruit in schools 'stupid and short-sighted'. (9 July, Timaru Herald/Stuff).

Mackenzie Basin, Waitaki, Mt Cook/Aoraki: Approval for DOC's 1080 and pindone plans. (8 July, Timaru Herald/Stuff).

Lower Waitaki River: 34 km tunnel 'too damaging' for ecosystem. (7 July, The Press/Stuff).
Also: Claim new scheme would reduce greenhouse gases. (7 July, Otago Daily Times).
Also:
Lower Waitaki: Decision on power scheme now in Environment Court's hands. (8 July, Otago Daily Times).

Clutha River: US environmental watchdog says plans for dam projects potentially 'river wrecking'. (8 July, Southland Times/Stuff).
Also:
Clutha River: Group formed to oppose dams. (9 July, Otago Daily Times).

Dunedin councillor: Sand dunes 'not a playground' for four wheel drivers. (9 July, Otago Daily Times).

Catlins: Rat numbers balloon. (6 July, Otago Daily Times).

Invercargill: Biotech company opens plant to breed pigs for human transplants. (3 July, NZ Herald).

Southland: Wyndham windfarm application delayed. (7 July, Otago Daily Times).

Southland: The discovery of hundreds of dead toheroa at Orepuki Beach an ecological catastrophe say scientists. (7 July, Southland Times/Stuff).

Firodland: Small tourism company in battle to protect native birds in Fiordland National Park. A massive task but after three years already a noticeable effect. (3 July, DOC).

North Island & national:

A positive way to an eco-future. National Party and Fed Farmers openly at odds over ETS - that is serious politics. Colin James, (6 July, Stuff).

Greens outraged at conflict of interest. Advocates for NZ's biggest water polluters handed contract to write 10-year Government water strategy. (6 July, Stuff/The Press).

Conservation groups worry Govt will privatise the South Island high country. (8 July, Otago Daily Times).

Cycle tourism on the rise. (7 July, Gisborne Herald).

Malignant melanoma rate among Maori jumps. (8 July, Stuff).

Petition calls for tougher emissions target. 40% by 2020. (6 July, Stuff/Nelson Mail).

Up to 80 MAF border protection jobs face axe. (7 July, NZ Herald).
Also:
Significant risks in axing jobs in border protection, says PSA. (8 July, National Bbusiness Review).

Australian growers confident they will win apple case. (8 July, Otago Daily Times).

University of Otago study: Cost a major factor for thousands to defer primary health care in NZ. (3 July, Scoop).

Popular swim spots spoiled by bacteria. Of 300 tested over the past two summers, just 58 per cent were suitable for swimming almost all of the time. Northland the worst (see below, Northland:). (2 July, NZ Herald).

Manawatu: Turitea Range one of the world's most exceptional locations for wind energy, claims wind farm supporter. (7 July, The Dominion Post/Stuff).

Mount Bruce: The clear benefits of captive bird breeding - ie to be continued. (8 July, The Dominion Post/Stuff).

Palmerston North: Mighty River seeking resource consent for new turbines. (6 July, TVNZ).

Taranaki: Editorial: Holding firms accountable. Two oil spilling companies sentenced. (9 July, Taranaki Daily News/Stuff).

Waikato: Organic dairy co-op eyes $7 payout. (7 July, Waikato Times/Stuff).

Whangarei: Death of kiwis angers conservationist. (7 July, Northern Advocate).

Northland: Freshwater swimming spots the dirtiest in the country, report says. (3 July, The Northern Advocate).

Thinking of changing your car, your light bulbs or your appliances?
Check out: www.rightcar.govt.nz, and www.fuelsaver.govt.nz;
For light bulbs see: www.rightlight.govt.nz;
and for appliances, here (www.energywise.govt.nz).

Visit Green MP Catherine Delahunty's Save our Enviroschools web page. (1 July, Green Party).

RSNZ Manhire prize for creative science writing: The place - past, present or future - of human beings in the universe. Closes 22 September.

Re-linked awards, submissions, consultations etc:

• Southern Right Whale sightings. DOC wants the public to report sightings as they (whales) make their way south.

• Submissions invited: on draft Kahurangi National Park management proposals. Including, for e.g., proposals to trial mountain bikes on the Heaphy Track. By 1 September.

• Have your say: CCC current consultations. (There are 9 presently, 3 more within the next month).
  

• Call for Heritage Award nominations in Hagley/Ferrymead area. (30 June, CCC).
  

• Have your say on the Brooklands Lagoon area parks plans. Consultation closes 31 August.

• Character housing maintenance grants open on 1 July. Close 14 September. (22 June, CCC).
  
  
• School Food petition - please sign. MP Sue Kedgley is circulating a petition calling for the reinstatement of nutrition guidelines in schools, which the government repealed earlier this year. With guidelines gone, schools are free to sell as much junk food as they like. Find (& print) a copy of the petition here. To be returned by July 31.
  
  
• Nominations open for 2009 Roger Award. CAFCA (Campaign against foreign control of Aotearoa).
  
  
• ECan's Environment Enhancement Fund open: 1 June - 31 August. Anyone can apply for up to $5000 for projects that benefit the health of ecosystems in the region. More info/applications: www.ecan.govt.nz/eef.
  
  
• Sign On: help avoid catastrophic climate change. Sign on here. (www.signon.org.nz). Greenpeace climate change campaign - to
  get NZ to commit to target of 40% GHG reduction by 2020 at UN climate talks in Copenhagen in December.
  

& from there

• UK: Al Gore accuses governments around the world of exploiting ignorance about the dangers of global warming to avoid taking difficult decisions. (8 July, Times Online).
  
  
• UK: Blair commissioned report says countries must urgently take practical steps to save energy in climate fight. Renewable power, and more efficient cars, houses and factories the most effective means. (6 July, Reuters).
  
  
• US: What is Obama's international climate strategy? - working on several fronts to regain a sense of momentum. (Faith in the UN climate process has dimmed). David Roberts, (7 July, Grist).
  
  
• UK: Britain plans a Green Revolution - the most ambitious bid ever to transform, in little over a decade, the economy, industry and sources of energy. Could create 400,000 jobs. (4 July, The Telegraph).
  
  
• US: The elusive green economy. It feels like 1977 all over again: economy in the doldrums, crisis in the Middle East, and a charismatic new Democrat in the White House preaching the gospel of clean energy. Can Obama succeed where Carter failed? Joshua Green, (July/August, The Atlantic). (Carter charismatic?? - ed).
  
  
• Amsterdam: Oxfam to G8: Chronic hunger may be "the defining human tragedy of this century," as climate change causes growing seasons to shift, crops to fail, and storms and droughts to ravage fields. (6 July, China Daily).
  
  
• UK: G8 shifts focus from food aid to investing in farming. For the US, the world's largest food aid donor, this reverses a two decades old policy and could prove contentious. (6 July, Financial Times).
  
  
• UK: Fears for the world's poor countries as the rich grab land to grow food. (3 July, The Guardian).
  
  
• US: Department of Energy cancels nuclear reprocessing project. The move could signal the end of the Bush Adminstration's Global Nuclear Energy Project (GNEP). (3 July, ecopolitology).
  
  
• China: Can I clean your clock? Soon you won't just be buying your toys from China. You'll be buying your energy future. Thomas Friedman, (4 July, New York Times).
  
  
• US: California's IOU to the world: The budget crisis that has paralysed America's wealthiest state could be a taste of what's in store for the rest of us. (2 July, The Guardian).
  
  
• US: Urban retrofits. How to make a city green - without tearing it down. (28 June, Boston Globe).
  
  
• US: Tucson's rainwater harvesting law drawing interest. (6 July, Taiwan News/AP).
  
  
• Japan: Windpower may have its own environmental problems - e.g. infrasonic waves cause health problems for some. (5 July, Physorg.com)
  
  
• Australia: Deadly warning as tropics advance. (7 July, NZ Herald).
  
  
• Australia: NSW Premier bans bottled water. "Bear this in mind. You take a 600ml plastic bottle, 200ml of oil has gone into its production. That's leaving aside the C02 that comes from transporting it around the place." (9 July, Sydney Morning Herald).
  
  
• Greenpeace releases its annual "Guide to Greener Electronics" - ranking leading electronics companies on their policies towards toxic chemicals, recycling and climate change. (2 July, ecoGeek).
  
  
• UK: Organic meat, handmade pasta, own grown veges... they're doing porridge, serving thyme, etc, at The Clink: Britain's first prison restaurant. (2 July, The Independent).
  
  
• US: Street farmer. When you’re producing a quarter of a million dollars’ worth of food in such a small space, soil fertility is everything. “Creating soil from waste is what I enjoy most,” he said. “Anyone can grow food.” Elizabeth Royte, (1 July, New york Times).
  
  
  Technology:
  
• Rice concrete cuts greenhouse gas emissions. (7 July, Discovery News).
  
  
• France: Solar powered blimp set to cross the English Channel. Designed and built by high school engineering students. (7 July, Inhabitat).
  
  
• Japan: Toyota creates brain steered wheel-chair. (29 June, ECNmag.com).
  
  
• US: Using urine to produce hydrogen. (7 July, eocGeek).
  
  
• 8 Electric vehicle start up companies to watch. (6 July, Mother Nature Network).
  
  
• UK: UK's largest eco-village gets go ahead. 195 zero carbon homes. (5 June, architectsjournal.co.uk).
  
  
• France: New (vertical axis) design incorporates wind turbines into transmission towers. (6 July, CleanTechnica).
  
  
• US: Doing something cool with solar: 7 great weekend solar power projects. (25 June, planet green.com).
  
  Natural world:
  
• Japan: Fears massive jellyfish invasion. Up to 450 lbs. (1 July, Pink Tentacle).
  
  
• Hebrides, UK: Latest effect of global warming: Shrinking sheep. (3 July, Times Online).
  
  
• Antarctica: Alarm grows over big melt. (4 July, NZ Heral).
  
  
• Aquatic deer and ancient whales. Support for the idea that whales evolved from water-loving creatures that looked like small deer. (7 July, BBC).
  
  
• NZ: Non-aboriginal skull washed up on Sydney beach pre-dates European contact by 500 years. (7 July, Otago Daily Times).
  
  

Using ecoNet

Is easy. Just send in to the editor information about an event, activity or submission you want to share and it will go in ecoNet....as long as it's appropriate of course.

ecoNet is put out (Fridays) by Christchurch Branch of NZAEE (NZ Association for Environmental Education), a non-profit, national organisation of people working to promote and support environmental education, lifelong learning and sustainable behaviour throughout New Zealand/Aotearoa.

How do I contribute?

Use the links below to:

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• Talk: Teaching the 60's: Is it history?

  How far back do we have to go for something to be history?
  Speaker: Dr Philip Ferguson.
  When: 4.10 pm Friday, 10 July.
  Where: Room 321 Rutherford Building, University of Canterbury. (map here).
  All welcome.
  (University of Canterbury bridging programmes seminar).
  
  

• RNZ Talk: The Reith Lectures 2009: A New Citizenship.

  Part 4 of 4: A new politics of the common good.
  Speaker: Professor Michael Sandel.
  When: 4.06 pm Sunday, 4 July.
  Where: National Radio.
  Background and archived episodes: here. (www.bbc.co.uk).
  Produced by BBC.
  
  

• Invitation: Join Sustainable Otautahi Christchurch (SOC) for a mid-winter shared meal and Matariki celebration.

  Also featuring artist, gnomologist and smile missionary, Henry Sunderland, from CPIT's school of Art & Design. 
  When: 7.00 pm Friday, 17 July.
  Where: WEA, 59 Gloucester St.
  Bring: Food to share.
  
  

• EARTHWISE, Plains FM 96.9

  Each Monday & Wednesday at 9.00 pm.
  Conservation, environment and peace with justice.
  This week: Bill and Kathy Christison, retired CIA analysts, specialists in the
  Middle East. Recently returned from Israel/Palestine, they discuss the UN investigations of war crimes, recent reports on the ill treatment of child prisoners, the deterioration of health in Gaza and the hijacking in international waters of the Spirit of Humanity.
  Presenters: Martin and Lois Griffiths.
  NB: Listen again to Earthwise programmes on archive.
  
  

Coming up:

• Event: Souped up cycles.

  Free bicycle maintenance & soup for lunch.
  Get help to keep your bike on the road.
  Learn to fix punctures, adjust brakes, oil & grease, straighten wheels, etc.
  When: 11.00 - 3.00 pm Saturday, 18 July.
  Where: Linwood Community Art Centre, corner Stanmore Rd & Worcester St.
  Bring: Old bikes and parts to donate; also
  expertise - if you have skills, come and help.
  Contact/info: Jenny, Te Whare Roimata, 3795 134.
  
  

• Practical Organic Home Gardening.

  Tutor: Lily White, manager of Opawa Community Garden & 'Kids Edible Gardening' programme.
  When: Starts 29 July. 6 Wednesdays, 6.00 - 7.30 pm.
  Where: WEA, 59 Gloucester St.
  Cost: $32.
  More info: CWEA programme. (#14).
  Enrol/contact: CWEA.
  
  

• Te Wiki o to reo Maori/Maori language week (27 July - 2 August).

  
  

• Talk series: Save the world.

  Three evening lectures.
  Speakers: 1 Geoff White, general manager for Trade Aid, on The birth of the stakeholder economy.
  2. Pauline McKay, 9 years with WHO, now director for CWS, on World health issues.
  3. Prof Ian Spelllerberg, Lincoln University, on Is the focus on climate change warranted?
  When: 7.30 pm Thursday, 30 July, 6 Aug & 13 August.
  Where: University of Canterbury.
  Cost: $10. Enrolments close Thurs, 30 July.
  Contact/enrol: 3642 470.
  Organised by: UN Association of NZ, Canterbury Branch.
  
  

• Wellington: Two day Education for Sustainability workshop: WWF's Re-thinking Resources.

  Review of current practices in response to the new curriculum. Collaborate on and help devise a set of principles to apply to the development and production of Education for Sustainability resources in schools.
  When: 8.30 - 4.00 pm, Monday & Tuesday 27, 28 July. (Registrations close 14 July).
  Where: WWF-NZ Head Office, The Treehouse, Wellington Botanic Garden, Kelburn.
  Cost: $50.00 + GST.
  Contact &/or for registration form: Wendy Barry 04 499 2930 or wbarry@wwf.org.nz.
  
  

• National one day workshop, Auckland:

  Incentives for historic heritage: Strategies that protect and reward.
  When: 9.00 - 4.45 pm monday, 10 August.
  Where: Jubilee Building, 545 Parnell Rd, Parnell, Auckland.
  More info/contact/registration: here. And more here.
  Organised by Auckland Regional Council and NZ Historic Places Trust.
  
  

• 2009 International film festival.

  Christchurch showings: 30 July - 16 August.
  Programme: see here.
  

Reminders:

• Short courses and public lectures: July - September.

  University of Canterbury's learning for life programme: courses on social issues, adult education, environment, community development, anthropology, cultural studies, climate change, etc.
  For info/to contact/& registration, see here: www.cbe.canterbury.ac.nz/community-education/courses.
  
  

• Free home composting workshops:

  Hot composting of kitchen scraps & garden waste, Bokashi and worm farms. All methods demonstrated.
  At several sites:
  1. Seven Oaks Education Centre, 35 Hassals Lane. 1.00 - 2.30 pm each Saturday.
  2. Okeover Community Garden - University of Canterbury, Engineering Road. (Map here). 12.00 - 1.30 pm each Wednesday.
  3. Lyttelton Community Garden, 54A Oxford Street, 10.30 – 12.00 pm each Saturday.
  More info/contact: Annmarie 021 190 4559 or 942 7190 (evenings).
  Also:
  4. Strickland Street Community Garden, 188 Strickland Street, Spreydon. Details and contact information: www.sscommunitygarden.net.nz/Get-Involved/Home-Composting-Workshop.
  All supported by CCC.
  
  

• Wanted: Used milk cartons for use as tree planting pots.

  Info & instructions here: www.treesforcanterbury.org.nz.