KEY POINTS:
A local-council initiative offering night classes on subjects like waste management and decoding shopping labels is going national.
The Sustainable Living Programme is expanding and its national co-ordinator Rhys Taylor is looking for people to run the five- to eight-session educational programmes in Auckland.
The programme began five
years ago with the support of eight councils, mostly in the South Island.
Now it is a shared project between 23 district or regional councils, with funding from the Ministry for the Environment as it goes national.
Mr Taylor said there was increased interest nationally as people increasingly wanted to connect everyday life choices with environmental issues.
"It is so much more topical now with real awareness of climate change issues and concerns about peak oil production ... there is a new sense of urgency."
Mr Taylor said the programme was ready to launch into the Auckland area this winter with the support of the Auckland, Waitakere and North Shore councils.
Evening classes are planned through school community education programmes around environmentally friendly lifestyle issues.
"It is about prompting people to make changes and learn new skills."
Mr Taylor said because the programmes had the support of councils, localised information like how to handle waste and recycling could be provided.
Mr Taylor said the "plain English" information and tips had been "tried and tried".
For instance, successful recipes were provided for homemade cleaners using ingredients like bicarbonate of soda, along with high-tech cleaning cloths which just required water. "You can do most of your cleaning at home with good quality washable cleaning cloths and water. You don't need most chemicals and in many cases you can get similar results with lemon juice and vinegar ... much of what our grandparents did is sensible."
Mr Taylor said people who attended the classes found they could chop their power bills by about 10 per cent and learn more about water efficiency.
The classes encouraged people to buy more durable items and less plastic junk, and taught them how to shop and de-code labels.
"People want to know what are reliable and reputable organic labels and what is rubbish ... people are selling stuff without any certification."
The material provided in the courses had been peer reviewed by central government agencies.
Now Mr Taylor wanted tutors in Auckland who had already begun to "walk the talk" and actively wanted to do the right thing for the environment.
Mr Taylor said preliminary research showed that people began by taking small steps, but after a year were often looking at bigger choices like modifying their houses or changing their cars.
* Interested in becoming a tutor?
Contact Rhys Taylor at:
rhys@sustainableliving.org.nz
www.sustainableliving.org.nz