March - Kapiti Coast District Council

On To It
Great ideas for a Sustainable Kāpiti March 2012
Subscribe Unsubscribe This edition has eighteen pages
In this issue:
Neighbours’ competition (page 1), Sustainable Home & Garden Show round up (pages 2, 3), Greenest
Street update (pages 3, 4), Cloak of Protection game (page 4), March’s Organic Garden (pages 5-7), Enviroschools
(pages 7, 8), Water Wise Gardens at the Show (pages 9, 10), World Water Day (pages 10,11)
Book of the Month (page 11), Lost in cyberspace (page 12), Kapiti Timebank (page 12), No 8 Wire workshop
timetable (pages 13, 14 ), Workshop presenter’s details (pages 15, 16), Funding assistance for water
conservation (page 17), What’s On (page 18).
Show us your neighbours and win
Get together with your neighbours in March and you could go in
the draw to win $400 for a celebration with your street.
With the Sustainable Home & Garden Show and Neighbours Day
Aotearoa on the same weekend this year —24 & 25 March—there’s
never been a better time to make the acquaintance of the people next
door, over the road, or three doors along.
This year’s Show is about Building Sustainable Communities. In the
spirit of encouraging people to make links with their neighbours, Kāpiti
Coast residents are encouraged to bring along a photo of themselves and
two or more of their neighbours to enter the draw for food and drink for
a street party.
Bring your photo to the Neighbourhood Support tent on either day of
the Show, and stick it on our map of the Kāpiti Coast to enter.
Council’s Sustainable Communities Coordinator Stacey Gasson says,
“Getting to know your neighbours is a really good idea in so many ways.
Neighbours can be a source of friendship and practical support that
makes our lives better, whether we are cleaning up after a storm, dealing with a full-blown disaster or we
just need someone to feed the cat while we’re away. We hope this competition will help people get to know
the people next door better and take the first step towards building a more resilient community in their
street.”
“When you bring your photo to the Show you’ll find information about establishing a Neighbourhood
Support Group, and plenty of stalls highlighting ways for you and your neighbours to make your home
and community more sustainable. There’ll be non-stop free workshops, displays by Civil Defence, Kāpiti
Coast’s Greenest Street Competition, Transition Towns and others, activities for kids and chances to meet
and hear TV personality, Te Radar."
More information on the Show and the neighbours competition can be found on the council website
www.kapiticoast.govt.nz/homeandgarden. For more ideas and resources visit www.neighboursday.org.nz
or see www.safercommunity.org.nz if you‘d like to start or join a Neighbourhood Support Group.
On To It is a publication of the Kāpiti Coast District Council

See you at the Show
By Stacey Gasson, Sustainable Communities Coordinator
On To It is a publication of the Kāpiti Coast District Council
Page 2
Come and be inspired at the Sustainable Home and Garden Show on 24/25 March!
With over seventy eco-themed vendors and a range of displays by the Green
Ribbon Award-winning Council, visitors are advised to bring a large bag, notebook,
and plenty of time.
Popular TV presenter and sustainable lifestyle enthusiast, Te Radar, will be
speaking in the ‘No. 8 Wire Workshops’ tent and on the main stage on both days of
the Show. He’ll also be judging the ‘Water Wise Garden’ and ‘Recycled Garden Art’
competitions for schools and preschools.
“The school gardens will be show-stoppers”, says Council’s Green Gardener, Hannah Zwartz. “Visitors will
see five unique and dynamic gardens that showcase growing vegetables, fruit and flowers in ways that save
water and are suited to local conditions.”
And in the ‘potentially surreal’ section, Te Radar will be judging the ‘Te Radar Lookalike’ competition –
fashion in a field, anyone? Judging will take place at 12.30pm on Sunday, so all budding Te Radar-ettes—
male or female, young or older— should head over to the stage
area in their best flannel shirt to flatter the judge. The winner
will take away a copy of Dr Seuss’ book, ‘The Lorax’.
In addition to live music and healthy food, there’ll be storytelling
in the Green Gardener tepee (including Te Radar telling
the Lorax story at 2.45 pm on Sunday), Enviroschools’ activities
and a Treasure Hunt to keep the younger members busy while
grown-ups decide which of the free talks they don’t want to miss.
Beekeeping, poultry-raising, seed-saving, cheese-making,
natural burials, home-grown herb teas and liquid fertilizer from
noxious weeds are just some of the topics on offer. A full
workshop programme can be found on the Council website.
The Show is on 24/25 March at Kapiti Primary School, Rimu
Road, Paraparaumu. Gates are open 9am to 4pm on Saturday
and 10am to 4pm on Sunday. Entry by gold coin. For more
information: www.kapiticoast.govt.nz
Raumati South School students potting-up in
preparation for the Show.
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On To It is a publication of the Kāpiti Coast District Council
Page 3
2011 Clockwise:
Greenest Street participants
Terena and
Bobby and judge Liana;
Rongoa Maori
garden; Green Gardener
Hannah & her
Carbon Corner; a
Green Gardener garden
in a recycled PET
bottle hothouse
Meet the Greenest Streets
By Stacey Gasson, Sustainable Communities Coordinator
The three streets participating in Kapiti Coast’s Greenest Street 2011/12 competition will be at
the Sustainable Home and Garden Show. Alexander Road of Raumati Beach, Grange Park Ave
from Raumati South and Wellington Road of Paekākāriki will be sharing a marquee to
showcase their exploits and share some of their skills with Show attendees.
Many of the participants will be meeting the other streets for the first time, so they’ll no doubt have plenty
to talk about. Judges Robert Glensor, Liana Stupples and Brenda Vale will also be dropping by for a catchup
over the weekend.
So far I understand Grange Park Ave will be sharing their eco-cleaner recipes and demonstrating food
drying. Wellington Road will be sharing the details of their ‘Project Rat Pack’ (complete with a great wee
resource they can email you). Looking at their blog, I see they’ve trapped 28 rats to date—an impressive
haul and well-worth the effort!
Alexander Road have decided that if they’re going to be building more bio-digesters to liquefy their
noxious weeds, why not share their know-how? Bio-digester building demonstrations will be held at 2.15
pm on Saturday and 3.00pm on Sunday in the Green Gardener’s space. And I hear there’ll be an interesting
presentation of some of Diane’s haul from her three Sea Week beach cleans.
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To find out more about happenings in the streets, listen to the regular Greenest Street slot on Beach FM.
We’ll have a round-up of news about the streets at the Show on 3 April.
For more information about the competition can be found at www.kapiticoast.govt.nz/greenest-street.
Or contact the Sustainable Communities Coordinator on 04 296 4700.
Weave me a cloak of feathers...
On To It is a publication of the Kāpiti Coast District Council
Page 4
After “years of stubbornness” (nine to be exact), it
looks like first-game designer, Jil Hemmings, has a
talent. Starting from the simple desire to “do
something on birds”, Jil came to understand the role
predators have played in the demise of New Zealand’s
native inhabitants and created a card game.
‘Cloak of Protection’ recalls the history of Aotearoa/
New Zealand as a land of birds, their feathers
creating a great cloak over land, sky and sea. Players
are introduced to the predators, hungry mammals, and must weave a new feather Cloak of Protection in
one of the four realms (forest, sea, settlement, extinct).
Looking for a word to describe the game, I keep returning to “rich” - from the art quality imagery, to the
four realms complete with gods, the strategic play, the image of making and breaking our world, and the
supporting information booklet. Jil has previously written fiction for TV and newspaper and it shows in
the depth she’s built into the game.
Jil explains that games are normally based on the ‘heroic’ model, but in this case play is founded on a base
of strategy, cooperation and trading. Winners are those who are alert and aware of what’s happening
around them. It’s a model that has demonstrated its appeal to the students Jil has taught to play— in some
cases, they’re still playing a day later when she’s gone back.
The information about the predators was provided by John Innes of Landcare Research. He also wrote the
accompanying booklet and Jil suspects his colleagues tested the game for her in their lunch breaks,
providing useful feedback. The game itself is a work in progress—discussion on the website may influence
a future reprint, and Jil is keen to include lizards alongside the birds, reflecting this other element of
Aotearoa’s native fauna.
The airbrushed images—actual and mythological—were created by Morgan Rothwell, a local artist
specialising in wildlife and fantasy images. Jil describes him as an illustrator with a love of skeletons,
telling me she spent eight months driving around with him and an ever-present plastic bag, just in case
they came across something interesting to pick up off the road. He then created the images in an intensive
two-week burst, resulting in a series of portraits she describes as having been envisaged from the inside
out.
Now armed with a game that has turned out ‘better than I imagined’, Jil will be spending this year
marketing it. She says she’ll go anywhere to play it and can be contacted through her website—
www.kakarikigames.co.nz. The game is also for sale via the website or a range of retailers including
Mahara Gallery, Nga Manu Bird Sanctuary, Zealandia and Pataka Museum of Arts and Culture.
Or you can see the game being played at the Sustainable Home and Garden Show.
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March and ahead in the Organic Garden
By Hannah Zwartz, Green Gardener
IT’S SHOWTIME ! I’m getting excited about the Green Garden, which for this Show
will include a kids’ space tepee with storytellers; herbal tea garden (where I’ll be
sampling fresh teas with Te Radar); hugelkultur bed (find out how to build one); a
worm bath and beehive; and displays and workshops on natural pest control.
Ever wondered how to tell the good insects from the pests? Or read about hoverflies
but wondered what they actually look like? Find out how to encourage the good guys into your backyard,
at the Green Garden. (We’re extending the show’s theme of ‘Building Sustainable Communities’ into the
insect world.)
And if you’ve been thinking about getting a rain tank or greywater
system to make better use of water in your garden, the Show is
the perfect one-stop shop to see all the different sizes, shapes and
prices. Find out more about the Council’s funding scheme to help
ratepayers install these systems, up to the value of $5,000; it’s all
at the Show.
Late Summer Jobs:
• Beat the late summer garden blues with a big clean out,
emptying beds of non-performers, piling up spent calendula,
lettuces and the like on the compost heap, with
manure and seaweed, for next spring’s compost.
• Save seeds of lettuce, calendula, silver beet etc. as they dry
out. Find out more at Anna Butterfield’s Seed Saving
workshop at the Show (see program on page 13).
• Plan your winter garden, preparing beds for garlic, leeks, Death and decay have an up-side: mulch new plant-
winter greens, brassicas, carrots, beetroot, green manure ings with your old compost, to make room on the
crops. Find out more about seasonal crops at Cree
heap for an autumn clean-out.
Hatfield’s Urban Productive Garden workshop at the Show (see program page 13).
• Dig in any green crops (this could include areas of borage or calendula) and add manure and
compost for brassicas or leeks - but not for root crops. If growing from seed, sow them now to be
ready for planting out in about 3 weeks.
• Root crops, like carrots and beetroot, grow well over winter. They need good soil but not extra
compost. Sow direct and keep moist, thinning after about one month and then at two months old.
• Pest patrol: Pests are out in full force, breeding like aphids in the autumn conditions. Use digital
control (finger and thumb) to squash green shield bugs and looper caterpillars. Spray brassicas with
organic Bt spray, or cover with nets, to stop white butterfly damage. Find out more at Natural Pest
Control workshops at the Show (see program on page 14).
• Add liquid feed, like seaweed concentrate, to your watering can, especially for plants that are
fruiting. Keep watering feijoas and citrus to fatten their fruits. Keep bags in the car for seaweed
collecting.
• If your own garden isn’t producing, go foraging for wild foods. Find out more from Steve Porteous’
Wild Food Walk at the Show (see program on page 14).
On To It is a publication of the Kāpiti Coast District Council
Page 5
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Plant: Brassicas, silver beet, lettuce and other salad greens, red onions, leeks.
Sow: Carrots, beetroot, coriander, rocket, calendula, peas, green crops (direct); alyssum, lettuce, spinach,
silver beet, peas (in trays). Also kale, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower (in trays, protected from white
butterflies.)
Broccoli grown by my Paekakariki
neighbour, ace gardener Joanne
Morgan.
Spotlight on brassicas: kale, cabbage, cauliflower,
broccoli and mustard.
• They love lots of good compost and seaweed. Add plenty of
nitrogen (eg. manure) for leafy cabbages and kale, with extra potassium
(eg. wood ash) for `headers’ like caulis and broccoli.
On To It is a publication of the Kāpiti Coast District Council
Page 6
• Plant a variety, for different harvesting times – you may not be
picking sprouting broccoli until spring, but you’ll be glad of it then.
Purple frilled kale, or purple cauliflowers add some colour to the bed.
If you’re not growing from seed, the newspaper parcels at the supermarket
are good value, but don’t leave them sitting round - get the bed
ready first, then buy them.
• Sometimes it’s hard to find space for the winter crops when
summer ones are still growing, but getting in brassicas early (March at
the latest) is crucial if they’re not to stay accusingly small all winter.
Make new beds if needs be.
• Plant seedlings lower than they were in punnets, firming them in
`up to their necks’ (ie. right up to the lowest set of `leaves’ - actually the seed leaves or cotyledons.)
This reduces wind rock, a common reason for crop failure - it’s hard to grow big when you’re being
shaken back and forth by every gust. Compost can also be piled up around brassica stems as they
grow.
• Water in each seedling with a cup of liquid feed (seaweed or manure tea). Keep watered in dry spells.
• Protect cabbage from white butterflies and their green caterpillars using netting or a bT spray. bT is
an organic bacterial spray that interferes with caterpillars appetites, starving them to death without
affecting other insects. Derris Dust, formerly organically approved, has now been linked to nerve
damage and Parkinson’s disease.
• Mustard is a great, easy cover crop over winter. It can be broadcast-sown (sown directly onto beds) in
autumn; young leaves are picked for salads (delicious with something sweet, like grapes, and a
squeeze of lime juice); older leaves can be cooked in stir-fries or boil ups and any leftover leaves and
stems can be dug in as green manure or put on the compost heap.
Mustard is rich in sulphur, a natural steriliser, so it’s good to grow where
you’ve had disease problems.
Companion Gardeners
Every second Tuesday morning Companion Gardeners meet to do some
weeding, pruning or planting and share seeds and skills - not to mention the
coffee, talk and baking. “It’s sociable, enjoyable and we get work done,” says
organiser Jill Duncan.
There are anywhere between four to a dozen people each time, alongside
children and babies. From working only in each others’ gardens, the group
want to move on to having monthly get-togethers at other people’s gardens,
Good Companions: gardener Jill
Duncan and friends.
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says Jill - maybe elderly people who are finding it hard to keep up with their garden, or others who need a
hand.
Companion Gardeners started in 2010 through Raumati’s Te Ra Waldorf School (a centre for biodynamic
gardening) aiming to link people needing some inspiration, who’d maybe tried gardening without a lot of
success with those with skills and resources to share with others. It’s open to anyone interested in organic
gardening, says Jill. If you are interested please call her on 902-2851 or email
jill.duncan@paradise.net.nz.
The Council Green Gardener, Hannah Zwartz, offers sustainable and waterwise gardening advice to
local residents, community groups and schools.
Community Visits are free. Get together five friends or neighbours and invite the Green Gardener
round.
Workshops: Formal 2-hour workshops cost $50 (you can charge participants).
To contact the Green Gardener, call the Council on 04-296 4700 or 0800 486 486, or see
www.kapiticoast.govt.nz/greenservices
Enviroschools at the Show
By Nicola Easthope, Kāpiti Enviroschools Facilitator
Kāpiti enviroschools are once again enthusiastically involved in the Kāpiti Sustainable
Home and Garden Show. As well as participating in the Council’s sustainable
garden and garden art competitions, the
schools and preschools will be busy in the
Enviroschools tent.
Saturday 24 th :
9am-11am - Raumati South School—displaying their weta hotels.
11am-1pm - Little Earth Montessori Preschool—hosting an interactive
activity, where children can make coffee ground fossils! Check
out Principal Anja Geelen’s blog here.
1pm-2.30pm - Raumati South Kindergarten—selling bird feeders
made from pinecones, worm wee fertiliser, and swan plant seedlings
planted in tins painted by the children.
From 2.30-3.00pm, Te Radar will be in the tent as a one-man
‘panel’, fielding questions from student envirogroups about
sustainable living.
Sunday 25 th :
On To It is a publication of the Kāpiti Coast District Council
Otaki School making cards
10am-1pm - Paraparaumu Playcentre (tbc)
Paraparaumu Playcentre potting up.
1pm-3pm - Waikanae Kindergarten—sharing a display of their
enviro-journey, and offering an interactive sand tray for children to make their own art or garden. They
will also be selling insect homes, potted seedlings, succulents, and white butterfly protectors.
And more! More plans are in progress… come along to the Enviroschools tent, find out about the
Enviroschools programme and be part of the fun.
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Waikanae children get creative at Mahara Gallery
By Nicola Easthope, Kāpiti Enviroschools Facilitator
In one gallery, a boy gazes at a finely lined landscape and wonders how the artist did it; in another, two
girls puzzle over five paintings of a yellow jersey, suddenly excited as they share a ‘eureka’ moment. In the
corner of the gallery, a group of children huddle around a small table, swapping cards in an effort to
prevent native birds from becoming extinct.
The creative juices are flowing for pupils of Kapanui and Waikanae
schools, who have begun their school year engaged in a ‘Native Habitats’
project at Mahara Gallery. Using the gallery’s three current exhibitions
and a unique card game as inspiration, the Year 5 and 6 students are
writing poetry and creating artworks around local nature, extinction and
conservation themes. One 9 year old boy thinks it’s so amazing, he brings
his mother in the following day, pulling her around from painting to
woodcut and back again: “Look Mum, here are the gods and goddesses!”
Ten-year old Callum Edwards, who likes drawing, chooses a painting from
Barbara Strathdee’s Waikanae Stills: “It really interests me because of the
shapes and colours. In the background, there is Kapiti Island; in front
there is the dark water and then the sand.” After brainstorming five ideas,
which together read like a poem in itself, ten-year old Isaac Kerschbaumer
begins his piece, “The cycle of life goes quickly round…”
On To It is a publication of the Kāpiti Coast District Council
Page 8
Janet Bayly, Mahara Gallery Director explains, “We aim to show all the
Goodman discussing painting.
artwork and poetry the children produce, and a small number will be given
awards and published in a book. The Native Habitats: Waikanae Children’s Creations exhibition will run
alongside our annual Mahara Arts Review. These works will then be gifted to Nga Manu Wildlife Centre
for display in their new education suite”.
Meanwhile, the children are quickly becoming adept at playing
the ‘Cloak of Protection’ card game. Created by local artist Jil
Hemming, and illustrated by Morgan Rothwell, the unique
game, while competitive, requires cooperation between players
to save New Zealand’s endangered birdlife. Nga Manu will host a
game play-off between the two schools in a few weeks.
The Native Habitats schools programme is sponsored by the
Philipp Family Foundation, which also funded the new education
centre established at Nga Manu last year. Founder, Robin
Philipp, is in the gallery during one of the class workshops: “I am
delighted to see children engaged actively in this project. Their
Jazmyn Ward, Ioana Mihaila & Callum
enthusiasm is really palpable. We set up the fund to help foster
Edwards.
greater awareness of the interaction between the external
environment and the internal physiological environment within ourselves. My father always said
“Everything in life is connected.” Bringing together the arts and conservation at Mahara and Nga Manu is
an opportunity I feel privileged to support.”
*************************
Marcus Flattery-Donohoe & Charlie
Mahara exhibitions: Native Habitats: Waikanae Children’s Creations and The Mahara Arts Review – 6 May-1 July.
The book of children’s work will be launched on 15 June.
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By Anne Brunt, Water Education Advisor
On To It is a publication of the Kāpiti Coast District Council
Page 9
Young people lead the way with Water Wise gardens
The Water Wise Garden Competition for schools and early childhood
centres will be at the Sustainable Home & Garden Show again this year
with five entries. The Council’s Green Gardener, Hannah Zwartz, says
“These gardens will be show-stoppers. Visitors will see five quite different
gardens that showcase growing vegetables, fruit and flowers in
ways that save water and are suited to local conditions. All the groups
have been given two rain barrels as a water source, but each garden is
unique and dynamic.”
Raumati South School teacher, Michael Stewart, says students from
across the school are involved in creating a garden entitled ‘Our Backyard’.
“It is a garden that people can take with them if they move and
reflects the fact that many of us have gardens that back onto the beach.
It’s a bright, colourful and fun garden.”
Susan Barrett from Ōtaki Kindergarten says their garden is called
‘Sustainable Cycles’ and will focus on their school garden. “Our children
experience seasonal growing cycles for vegetables, fruit and flowers
and learn about recycling of materials wherever possible. Our
school garden creates habitats for birds and bees and our show garden
will include a bee café. Our children are delighted that our chicken will
have an outing to the show too!”
Paraparaumu Playcentre’s garden will demonstrate the guiding principles
of early childhood education. Spokeswoman, Kylie Van Dyke, says
the garden will focus on the hauora or wellbeing of all living things.
“The garden will have four sections representing wellbeing, belonging,
contribution and exploration.”
Year 10 Horticulture students at Paraparaumu College are creating a
vibrant flower and native plant garden that anyone who lives near the
beach could establish. It will feature artworks created from material
collected from the beach and will use natural mulches. A water feature
created from unused items at the college will be solar powered.
Kapiti College special needs students and staff are creating a sensory
garden that teacher Keri Holmes says promotes tranquillity and hauora
(wellbeing). “Visitors will have the opportunity to consider how each of
our senses are engaged when we appreciate a garden.”
“The garden will provide tactile experiences with the opportunity to feel
plants with different textures. There will be plants with a range of
scents. Planting that focuses on patches of colour will encourage reflection
on how what we see influences how we feel. Plants can be picked
and tasted in the garden, which will feature the sound of running water.”
Photos top to bottom: Preparing for the Show—Paraparaumu Horticulture students;
Raumati South School; Kapiti College Special Needs Unit; Paraparaumu Playcentre.
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By Anne Brunt, Water Education Advisor
On To It is a publication of the Kāpiti Coast District Council
Page 10
March 22 is International World Water Day. The day is organised by the United Nations each year to focus
attention on the importance of freshwater.
There's a whole lot of water on Earth, roughly 1,260,000,000,000,000,000,000 litres (12,60 million
trillion litres), but only a small amount is freshwater available for plants and animals to use.
Ninety eight percent of the water on the planet is in the
oceans, and therefore currently undrinkable because of the
salt. About two percent of the planet's water is fresh, but
eighty percent of this freshwater is locked up in the polar ice
caps and glaciers or underground in aquifers and wells.
Less than half a per cent of the planet's total water supply is
found in lakes and rivers and is available for all of us to use.
The rest of the water on the planet is either floating in the air
as clouds and water vapor, or is locked up in plants and
animals. There's also all the liquids (soft drinks, milk and juice) and the food that contains water that you
see at the shop and in your refrigerator.
These figures can be hard to absorb, so you might like to do this activity with your family:
• Collect two buckets of water or 20 litres of water in milk containers. This represents all the water on
Earth.
• Pour two mugs of water from the 20 litre container into a bowl. The water left in the container
represents how much of the world’s water is ocean and salty water. The two mugs represent the
world’s fresh water.
• Pour half the contents of one mug into a cup. The water left in the one and a half mugs represents
that which is locked up in the Arctic and Antarctica.
• From the cup, take out three teaspoons of water and keep it safe! It represents the less-than one
percent of the world’s water that is fresh and can be easily reached in lakes, rivers, the soil, plants
and animals.
• The water left in the cup represents the fresh water that is underground and can’t be reached.
As the world population increases there is increasing pressure to use our finite supply of freshwater.
People in different parts of the world use different amounts of water.
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Food security - the theme for World Water Day 2012
On To It is a publication of the Kāpiti Coast District Council
Page 11
The world is thirsty because of our need for food. This year
the focus of World Water Day is food security. Each of us
needs to drink 2 to 4 litres of water per day. But it takes
2,000 to 5,000 litres to produce food for one person in the
developed world for a day.
Today’s world population is over 7 billion and is expected to
reach 9 billion by 2050. To feed everyone we need to secure
adequate good quality water supplies.
To investigate world food security issues visit the United Nations website and view the brochure and the
frequently asked questions.
Safe drinking water here on the Kāpiti Coast
Many of us drink a cool refreshing glass of tap water without [giving a thought to where it came from and
why it is safe to drink.
On World Water Day a 12 minute DVD ‘Our Safe Drinking
Water’, will be linked from Youtube to the Council’s Website.
The DVD describes how water taken from streams and bores on
the Kāpiti Coast is treated and delivered to your taps. It explains
why you can drink that glass of water with confidence, knowing
that the water is of good quality and safe to drink.
The DVD segment is part of a longer DVD developed for use in
schools and shows students from Paekakariki School visiting the
Waikanae Water Treatment Station. Copies of the longer DVD can be borrowed from local libraries.
Book of the
month
Green guide for artists: non-toxic recipes, green art ideas &
resources for the eco-conscious artist. By Karen Michel, 2009.
The author, motivated by her concern to safeguard health, home
and the wider environment, relays the growth in her awareness of
how to make sound product choices. Her guide to choosing paints,
adhesives, paper, canvas and recipes for paints, dyes and binders
is a work of art itself in its layout and illustrations. One chapter
describes projects with collage, papier mache, beads, bookmaking
photographs, found objects and sewing. Chapter four, “Artists’
gallery” by Kristen Hampshire describes and illustrates the works
of accomplished artists who use a wide range of media.
The resources listed at the back are mainly in the northern
hemisphere however there are bound to be ideas for downunder
artists, young and experienced.
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This month's pick of sustainability on the internet
On To It is a publication of the Kāpiti Coast District Council
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Going green—12 simple steps for 2012—the Worldwatch Institute brings you ecoresolutions
for the new year. There’ll be nothing new here for you converted
greenies, but a reminder’s always good and it’s a nice summary of the issues and
practical actions.
Inspiration—www.projectlitefoot.org—Project Litefoot is a charitable trust fronted by seven of New Zealand’s
top sportspeople, seeking to lead by example and inspire New Zealander’s to make simple lifestyle
changes to reduce their environmental impact. Aware of the pulling-power that high-profile sportspeople
carry, PL targets sports and business communities to collectively reduce the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions
by 1 million tonnes. Environmental action is simplified and reframed as a fun way to free up resources
for sport, communities and future generations.
Food —Lyttleton’s Honest Cooks - a profile of a really interesting project. Wanting to “create the future
they want to see” this group are working towards a sustainable restaurant. In the meantime they offer local
food parties and a supper club with all food made from scratch using local ingredients.
Design—http://www.whiteroofs.org.nz/ - White Roofs is a simple idea offering one of the fastest and lowest
cost ways of helping reduce global warming by mimicking how the polar icecaps reflect sunlight back
into space and cool the planet. White roofs have been used in the Mediterranean and the Middle East for
thousands of years to cool buildings, and more recently to improve energy efficiency by reducing the need
for air conditioning. The White Roofs Project NZ want to start an 18-month campaign promoting this idea
here—find out more from their website.
Keep Your Eye on the Timebank
Ever needed some clothing altered, or to revive a crashed computer, get some gardening
help, learn some language for travel or fix a leaky tap - and suspected there were
probably people on your street with the skills to help you easily?
You need to know about Timebanking. Timebanking harnesses the wonders of online
social networking to help communities share skills. Each member can offer or request services - be they
cleaning, carpentry, gardening or piano lessons - in exchange for time credits instead of money. These
credits can then ‘buy' another member’s time and skill - and everyone’s time is of equal value. I can earn
an hour’s credit gardening for Joe, and then spend it getting my haircut by Susan.
Timebanking is a non-profit, grassroots initiative committed to building sustainable, connected communities.
Timebanks are major assets to communities in the face of natural and economic crises - Lyttleton
Timebank was instrumental in the Christchurch earthquake recovery. What’s more, each exchange contributes
to building community interdependence, the free exchange of local knowledge, facilitating integration
for newcomers, and intergenerational networks.
Kapiti Timebank exists within a growing, thriving network of Timebanks nationally and internationally.
Join our Facebook group ‘Kapiti Timebank’ to keep up to date and learn more - and look out for us at the
SHAG show 24/25 March!
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On To It is a publication of the Kāpiti Coast District Council
Page 13
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On To It is a publication of the Kāpiti Coast District Council

Who’s that up the front?
The speakers at this year’s Sustainable Home & Garden
Show are a talented lot with a wealth of experience to
share.
Alexis Murti & Mindi Clews – Cheesemaking
Mindi and Alexis are
keen home cheesemakers
and regularly teach
both cheesemaking and
cooking classes
throughout the lower North Island.
www.curiouscook.co.nz
Andrew Beach - Beekeeping
Andrew has been keeping bees
for over 50 years - 25 of them
in New Zealand. He has been
the Chairman of the Wellington
Beekeeper’s Association, is a beekeeper, works
part-time for AsureQuality, and is setting up a beekeeping
club in Kapiti.
www.kapitibeesandwasps.co.nz
Anna Butterfield—Seed Saving
Anna is an edible gardener, seed grower and food fanatic.
She is the instigator of the popular Seedy Sunday
events in Kapiti. In her spare time she researches and
writes about plant varieties and gardening techniques.
www.loveplantlife.com
Clyde Lambourn – Solar Cooking & Cookers
Clyde grew up on a small
farm and so has a wide
range of practical DIY
skills. He spent 25 years
as an Electronics Technician,
then changed
track in 1990 to take up
his present occupation
as a House Renovator and Maintenance Person.
In 1992 he became a founder member of the Appropriate
Technology for Living Association (ATLA), to learn
about and disseminate strategies for 'alternative technology',
and 'low impact' living.
See Clyde at the ‘Sunplugged Solar Cookers’ stall at the
Show.
Cree Hatfield - Productive Urban Gardening
Cree has been gardening organically for over thirty
years and lives in Raumati South, where she grows
most of her household’s fruit
and vegetables. She is a garden
coach and co-ordinator of Raumati
South’s MOA community
orchard. Her interests include
permaculture, biodynamics and
backyard beekeeping.
On To It is a publication of the Kāpiti Coast District Council
Darcy Philp - The Art & Science of Backyard Poultry
Keeping
Page 15
Darcy has been a presenter on the ‘Funky
Chicken Farm’ programme with Simon
Morton on National Radio. He has over 50
years involvement with poultry breeding,
exhibiting and judging. He is the current
president of the Wellington, Hutt Valley &
Districts Poultry & Pigeon Club, and was the president
of the North Island (NZ) Poultry & Pigeon Association
for 12 years.
He has bred a wide range of poultry: Australorps, Orpingtons,
Barred Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island Reds,
Minorcas, Leghorns and Silkies.
Bantams – Pekins, Australorps, Leghorns, Rosecombs,
Rhode Island Red, Wyandotte.
Modern Game Ducks – Pekin, Cayuga, Indian Runner,
Rouen, Welsh Harlequins.
Jenny Lindberg—Native Parenting
Jenny is a sacred birthing midwife
and absolute advocate of natural
birth. She has had two beautiful
homebirths and is strongly modeling
native parenting by living it fully with
her family.
www.human.org.nz
Julia Milne—Low Cost Gardening
Working with the ‘Great Start’ gardening programme
in Taita, Julia discovered locals lacked tools, seeds and
expertise to get gardening. With little money but a lot
of imagination Julia has shown what can be done—
including a glasshouse made of plastic bottles and the
screens from pokie machines, a seed bank and a tool
lending library.
Natasha & Nico Robertson, Emily Williams—
Cooperatives
Tash, Nico and Emily are all active members of thriving
organic food cooperatives. Tash & Nico house a cooperative
in Raumati South, which now has about 80
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members.
Nicky Craig – Naturally Fermented Sourdough & Ginger
Beer
You may remember Nicky from
her columns in On To It. She
lives at the Pukeko Plot in Te
Horo beach with her partner and
two children. They love good
food and so grow and make as much as they can.
Renee Gerlich, Ben McHugo & others – Timebanking
Ben is a Manakau resident,
passionate about community,
and the current chairman of Ōtaki Timebank.
Renee is from Paraparaumu and part of the Kapiti
Timebank, which is a group of people keen to build and
strengthen community between Paekakariki and
Paraparaumu. She works in arts and education and
tutors at Victoria University.
http://www.timebank.otaki.org.nz/
http://www.kapiti.timebanks.org/
Esther Kiernan—Reusable Nappies
(replacing Sarah Hurrell)
Esther has used cloth on her three kids and
sewn hundreds of them for friends and
family.
She’s a long-time member of the Nappy
Network and sells her own nappy patterns.
She’s worked as a writer and editor for an educational
publisher, but is kept busy homeschooling her children.
She’ll be comparing disposables and cloth in terms of
effort, effectiveness, cost, environmental cost, and
baby-friendliness and examining the different types of
reusable nappy and how to use them
Shona Jaunas – Crime Prevention Through Environmental
Design
Shona Jaunas is the Crime Prevention Manager for the
Kapiti Safer Community Trust.
www.safercommunity.org.nz
Simcha Delft – Tool Care and Sharpening
Simcha has been a renowned
luther (tool maker) for many
years. Since moving to Ōtaki
she has embraced the sustainable
lifestyle, including being
able to function nicely without power if necessary.
Steve Porteous - Wild Foods Walk
On To It is a publication of the Kāpiti Coast District Council
Page 16
Steve has been eating and sharing wild edible and medicinal
foods for the past 12 years. It is an integral part
of his life and a valuable means of feeding his family
hand in hand with their regular garden.
His organisation, Human Bushcraft and Wild Living,
seeks to connect people to nature through classes and
activities for adults, youths, and children from
bushcraft and survival skills, to wild food walks and
nature awareness.
www.human.org.nz
Tamara Linnhoff – Sustainable Funerals
Tamara and partner Andrew Hubbard run TenderRest,
a Wellington-based company creating
modern funeral caskets. Caskets are designed
to reflect the individual – natural
materials in a range of non-traditional
shapes, many ornamented with prints or
bespoke design options that will reflect a
truly individual personality.
Tamara also runs the Good Funeral Guide – an online
information resource dedicated to providing information
and inspiration for more personalized funerals and
final celebrations of a unique life. Tamara will be available
for discussions all weekend at the TenderRest casket
stand.
www.TenderRest.co.nz
www.GoodFuneralGuide.co.nz
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Funding assistance for rainwater & greywater irrigation
The Council supports the use of rainwater and greywater for outdoor irrigation.
If enough households use on-site water sources for outdoor irrigation, our current supplies will meet the
needs of our growing communities for years to come.
On To It is a publication of the Kāpiti Coast District Council
Page 17
The Council is offering funding assistance to residents to purchase and install on-site water supplies for
outdoor irrigation. Currently Council proposes providing up to a maximum of $5,000 for a householder to
purchase and install any of the options below.
The following options are available:
• 5,000—10,000 litre tank installed
• refurbishing an older rainwater tank
• greywater diversion device
• install a pump on a 5,000 litre or bigger rainwater tank
The Council will not fund for irrigation systems for rainwater, or water purification systems.
How will the Water Saving Service work?
The Council will provide funding for a household to install a device. The money will be paid back over 10
years through the household’s rates. The targeted rate is set to the household not the owner. So if the
household is sold and changes hands, the new home owner will continue paying the original funding back.
Who pays the interest?
The ratepayers will pay the interest over the ten years the household repays the funding.
How much will be available to a household?
The Council will provide a maximum of $5,000 including gst.
The overall scheme will be capped and will be on a first applied, first approved basis.
Who is eligible for the funding assistance?
Anyone who lives in a home:
a) built before February 2008
b) that has an unrestricted water supply connection to a public supply
c) has a good rate repayment history
d) must be the property owner and name registered on the title
Come along to the Sustainable Home and Garden Show on 24 -25 March to find out more about
how Council can help you install an onsite water supply for outdoor irrigation.
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Events - What’s Coming Up?
MenzShed, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10am -
12.30pm. Meet with other men at the Council
Depot to work on woodwork projects, socialise,
share or learn some skills. Behind 24 Rangihiroa
St, Waikanae Beach.
Greenest Street II on Beach FM, Tuesday 3 April,
11.30am. Listen to 106.3FM to catch up with the
Greenest Street entrants.
Council’s Green Team on Beach FM, Fridays,
from 9.30am. Hear from a range of the Council’s
Green Services every Friday as they update you on
local sustainability initiatives, opportunities and
ideas.
Sustainable Home & Garden Show,
24/25 March, 9am to 4pm on Saturday,
10am to 4pm on Sunday. At
Kapiti Primary School, Rimu Rd,
Paraparaumu. Entry by gold coin,
children free.
Regular environmental working bees: restoration
group contact details can be found here
Mondays: Waitohu Stream Care Group, 9am—
10.30am.
Tuesdays: Greendale Reserve, Otaihanga, 9am –
12.00pm; Keep Ōtaki Beautiful, 9am—12.00pm.
1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month: Waimeha
Lagoon & Waikanae Dune Restoration Group, 3-
5pm.
Wednesdays: Friends of the Ōtaki River, 9.00 -
10.00am.
Thursdays: Kapi-Mana Forest & Bird:
Kaitawa Reserve Project, 8.30am—12.00 noon.
First Sunday of the month: Whareroa working
bee, 9am—noon, from 4 March.
On To It is a publication of the Kāpiti Coast District Council
Page 18
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