Wakatipu residents will be among the first in the world to
mark Earth Hour 2010 on March 27, when cities, towns and
districts across the world turn off their lights for an hour.
Eight Queenstown companies are taking their sustainable
practices to new levels. They are taking part in a programme
run through the Centre for Sustainable Practice at the Otago
Polytechnic.
Long-serving Wanaka conservationist Stu Thorne has retired
from his day-job of 40 years to volunteer for more of the
same on a remote Pacific Island, 1000km away from New
Zealand.
The amount of money being donated by people using the
Speight's Brewery tap in Dunedin is only a drop in the ocean
to what could be given, leaving an environmental fund short.
A move by three companies wanting to develop dairy farms in
the Omarama and Ohau areas to delay a Government-appointed
board of inquiry dealing with the effluent discharges has
been rejected by Minister for the Environment Nick Smith.
Frustration over Government proposals has prompted the
face of the Department of Conservation, Nicola Vallance, to
pack away her polar fleece and find a new platform for her
environmental concerns. Shane Gilchrist reports.
John McGlashan College pupils (from left) James Phizacklea
(10) William Archer (11) and Ryan Neill (10) work together to
take a water sample at the Kaikorai estuary in Dunedin this
week.
