Whats been happening? Think there was a radio interview yesterday with Theresa being our spokes person. Anyone hear it?

Today I brought home from work a big bag of shredded paper for my compost bins.

The rain today will be useful for those of you that are collecting the rain water.

Energy saving

Hi fellow neighbours,

Ive just been looking at the Genesis Energy site and they have some great specials for energy saving! Have a look , just go to their web site and have a lok. There maybe something there you can use or that you can buy for a christmas gift for someone.

I've just ordered a ELTO Power meter for us all to have ago at using! It measures the energy your home applicances are using at any given point so you can see which appliances are using a lot of power. Could be handy! I will let us know when I have it and after we have given it a trial then anyone else can use it for a month at a time to see where they can power.

Was going to talking on the radio this morning but don't know where it is today. Went to local station but they didn't know anything. Must find out more!

Sunny today but was raining this morning. Noticed the gutter grate was blocked so must go out and collect the stuff collected there to throw in my compost.

Today I am also going to take my bike tyres into the bike shop to get them fixed so I can bike to work. Sunny days only though!

I am now doing my dish washing in a plastic bin inside my kitchen sink. (They do this in the UK)

I think it must save water and also I can throw the leftover soappy water on my roses to kill any aphids.

Anyone else with any bright ideas ??? Post on this twitter.

Carolyn has made little covers for her plants from cut off drink bottles. She says she gets the empty bottles from raiding recycle bins so watch out for her! Perhaps she does it in the dead of night. She has veggie plants for sale too, she will have them at Raumati South School Fair this weekend. Fair is 10am til 2pm.

Sunday 13 Nov. Garden Meeting

A sunny morning for a get together to talk and walk about our gardens.
Eight of us met at Number 8 , thanks to Amanda for the home made muffins.

It was good for us to meet some of the others in the street and to catch up with the competitions goals as we have been away over the last couple of months.
A good way to meet those new to the street too.
Its good to get together as we would like to start a neighbourhood watch group which would also link us into Civil Defence.
The best form of support in an emergency is your neighbours.

We talked in general about some of the things we as a street could do, a street garage sale in the New Year. This could perhaps add some funds to a common bank account which could help to fund some of our ideas.
Carolyn is looking at getting the street a mulcher which would be shared amongst us , month and month about.
Sharing our excess produce. At the moment there are Lemons aplenty.
It will be great to be able to swap or buy plants from each other too.

Personal family ideas are changing use of disposable nappies to cloth ones, biking to work , and using the local butcher for meat to cut down on the use of plastic packaging.

The men are keen on investigating wind power using Smartdrive motor and also trying to make some solar power panels.
The families present are keen to do water conservation : for some mulching for others water storage from rain collection.
Carolyn is investigating the way disposable nappies break down.
One family would like to start a veggie garden.

So then it was off to look at each others garden.
We have an interesting variety with large family gardens and gardens for couples.
Some already established and some that are wanting to be extended.

The exciting garden was the one with the possibility of helping to add a vegetable patch.
Maybe we can make this a street project!

Look out for our sign that will be erected outside Number 1. It will have an area where we can leave messages .

Hoping to have regular Sunday morning meetings once a month or as needed, hope some more will be able to join us over time.
Let me know if anyone wants some lemons or if you would like some lemon cordial. I could do with any suitable bottles.

Sue NO.1

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.