The Official Launch

Sunday saw the arrival of the judges to our street for the initial ‘meet and greet’. A few of the street members were unable to make it due to prior commitments (we did only enter a week ago), but while the numbers were low, the enthusiasm was high.

The judges are:

Mayor Jenny Rowan

Liana Stupples, special advisor to the Hikurangi Foundation

Joy Darke, Wellington region Gardener of the Year in 2010

Robert Glensor Owner of Paraoa Bakehouse, Sustainable Business of the Year 2008 winner, Organic Enterprise of the Year by Organic Aotearoa New Zealand, 2010.

Brenda Vale. Architect and academic concerned with sustainable architecture and lifestyles.

Also present were Councillor K Gurunathan (Guru) and Stacey Gasson who is coordinating the competition.





The Judges
 L-R  Stacey, Jenny, Guru, Koy, Brenda and Rob



Rob sang us a wee song.

  

We’d like to thank the judges for taking their time to come and visit us and encouraging us.

And thanks to Joshua (8) for the photos and video.

What Do We Hope To Achieve?

You might ask why anyone would want to make the potentially considerable effort to be greener. I'm asking what being greener actually means.


We all want to get to know our neighbours better, and develop a sense of community and belonging. It’s funny how closely we all live in our communities, without really knowing the people around us. The knowledge our neighbours have, the experience they bring and the differences that we may have to celebrate will make our community closer and more cohesive.


So what is being green all about. Kermit said it wasn't easy. For some of us, it's about making a choice to do without. For others, it's about doing things in a different way. We all consume resources and produce waste. Using fewer resources is a goal, and reducing the amount of waste we produce will be a benefit. We'll save money in not having to put as many bags of rubbish out, and potentially save money by not using as much energy in our homes and vehicles.


We're all fairly normal people on our street. We don't (all) wear sandals or go barefoot, keep chooks or grow our own veggies. We have cars and bikes, work, watch TV and eat food that may not be the healthiest. But we do want to see if we can make a difference and try to reduce our environmental footprint.


How we do these things will be covered over the course of the Greenest Street competition, and hopefully beyond. Follow us as we journey together.

The Residents of Grange Park Avenue

Grange Park Avenue is in Raumati South on the Kapiti Coast. The first residents arrived in 1947, and they watched each progressive house being built. Grange Park is a cul de sac, and that feature is the favourite for all of us. There are a lot of children who live on this street, so it is safe for them to play out on the footpath. Those whose offspring have flown the nest appreciate the quiet because of no through-traffic.

There is a mixture of long-term and recent residents.  Those who are new are made to feel welcome, and we look out for each other. Recently, a neighbour, whom one child-resident had not met, came out to check on him after falling off his bike, and proceeded to instruct him on how best to steer his bike from the road to the footpath.

So even though, at this stage, we all may not know each other well, we do, nonetheless, have a tight-knit community spirit because there is an immediate sense of belonging to this street. We look forward to getting to know each other better over the coming months as we partake in “The Greenest Street” competition.