The last lot of hebes sold so quickly that we've taken delivery of another 50 hebe seedlings.  

Available for purchase here at the Waikato Environment Centre right now we have 50 hebe seedlings for sale, being leftovers from the Forest & Bird plant sale.  Ready to plant out now.

Make us an offer! Proceeds go to Forest & Bird.

Waikato Environment Centre, Level One, 25 Ward Street, Hamilton

07 839 4452

www.envirocentre.org.nz

By popular demand, The Greenspace is re-running a great evening seminar on thrifty eco-renovation.

6:30pm Monday  10 October 2011

The Greenspace

60 Te Aroha Street, Hamilton

You’ll see two informative presentations from owners who remodelled character homes – as well as a “backstage” view of The Greenspace to find out why it wins awards for green building design and management. The projects on show offer insight into the marriage between economic and ecologic renovation, proving that greening your home need not be expensive.

$10 entry including hot drinks.  Cash only.  

Register at: www.thegreenspace.co.nz

Sustainable Home and Garden Expo

10am - 4pm, 9 October 2011

Cambridge Town Hall

Sponsored by Waipa Networks

For further details see: Sustainable Cambridge, info@sustainablecambridge.co.nz, www.sustainablecambridge.co.nz

Hi everyone,
Just a heads up about a great opportunity to take part in a community orientated major city event next year.

The Waikato Winter Show Assn is reinventing the old Winter show as The Waikato Show at Claudelands Event Centre - see background and info below and it will be a much more community event. (it is not winter)

The huge venue is free, (although there are running costs in personnel etc) but I think it will be a fantastic opportunity to showcase environment and have fun as well - there will be a range of other community organisations, so it will have broad appeal for families. The theme is Waikato River.
So I will be talking with potential partners, and we are also looking at encouraging the event to be zerowaste, so lots of potential.

Because of Christmas and the holidays planning really needs to start now and the Winter show organisers are hoping to have undertakings from interested groups by the end of October so that the publicity materials can be put together.

As it is over a three day period, I realise that raises issues for organisations for manning a stand etc so I think a coordinated combined approach might be preferable.

Please start mulling this over -
- thinking how your group could participate, more from the aspect of putting together something interactive and fun
- whether your group would want to do something on their own or cooperatively as part of a larger stand.
- would you want inside and/or outside space - both will be available.
- would you want to run workshops (there are 3 rooms with AV upstairs available)

Keep in mind the cuts that HCC is likely to be making to services around the city, and think about how can we get more involvement from the general community.
So thinking hats on, let your imagination run freely! I will put out a form for more formal responses soon, but want everyone to have a good hard think about how we can really make the most of this opportunity.

The Environment Centre will be able to help groups to some extent through our support from Trust Waikato, so start thinking laterally.

cheers
Katherine

Waikato Winter Show Association was created in 1908 under the Agricultural and Pastoral Act. It was a group of businessmen in the Waikato that wanted to link the Agricultural community with the townspeople of Hamilton. Originally, the show was in Ward St, in the central city and wasn’t moved to Claudelands until 1968. The Waikato Winter Show Association and the Waikato A & P Association jointly owned the Claudelands Showgrounds, and the Waikato Show Trust was set up to manage this for them. When the land and buildings were sold back to the council, the WST continued to manage the investment and now both associations get a grant every year to ensure their continued operation.

As part of that sale and purchase agreement, both constituents have the right to all the land and buildings for 14 working days each year, unencumbered. This means we do not have to comply with the existing contracts that the Claudelands Event Centre have within their venue i.e. Montana Catering.

The Waikato Winter Show has had some significant changes in recent years, and took on an entertainment theme. This has proved to be an unsuccessful enterprise and these days we are going back to the historical roots and bringing the community back together. We will run a 3 day event that is focussed on attracting loyal and large numbers to the show through strong working relationships with all the various community groups around the Waikato, including business, sporting, cultural, service groups, education, agriculture and many more.

The proposal is that we The Waikato Winter Show Association provide the space within our show, and the enviro centre can effectively utilise that space to promote themselves and other community groups within it, to create an interactive and engaging presence within our community.

There will be no charge for the space used, but all costs that you incur will need to be covered. We want to work with you to create and build these programmes for the next 3 years and beyond. This will be advertised within our promotion and marketing material, and we encourage you to do your own advertising as well.

The Waikato Show will run over the 27th - 29th April 2012 and the opening times will be:

Friday 12:00pm - 8:00pm
Saturday 10:00am - 8:00pm
Sunday 10:00am - 4:00pm

Waikato Botanical Society warmly invite you to an informative and lively evening:

“How insects have influenced the way New Zealand plants have evolved”

Dr Nod Kay (SCION)

Monday 10 October 2011, 5.30 pm – 7 pm

Waikato Environment Centre, Level one, 25 Ward St, Hamilton

Please join us afterwards for discussion and then dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Plant biodiversity has been attributed to their co-evolution with insects. New Zealand has a very distinct biota, assembled and evolved only from those organisms capable of long-distance dispersal. A flora, as the foundation of an ecosystem, reflects the character of the component species that make up a community. For example, it is considered that the dull floral  display of many New Zealand plants is because we have few insect pollinators. Other elements of the New Zealand fauna, because there was no mammalian competition or predation, evolved typical dodo-like characteristics and became unregulated grazers of the plants. Some plant characteristics typical of many species in New Zealand e.g. divarication and juvenility, have been attributed to that pressure. However, there are a number of less obvious floristic quirks of the New Zealand flora that may be attributed to unregulated grazing by insects.

For your diaries:  
 “Is Maungatautari restoring pollination and dispersal services to native plants?”  Jenie Isles.  Monday 14 November 2011, 5.30pm - 7.00pm

Please start thinking about our last meeting for the year 12 December 2011:  Show and tell your botanical highlights of 2011.  Ten slides and 5 minutes

Contact Cynthia Roberts, email: croberts@doc.govt.nz; 07 858 1034 (day), 07 849 4935 (evening).

The Great TV Take Back

Supported by the government’s Waste Minimisation Fund, the Great TV Takeback will run until 4 October 2011 to enable you to drop off at participating Warehouse stores unwanted televisions regardless of age or brand – and regardless of whether you have any intent to purchase a new television.

Recycling of the televisions is said to be according to strict environmental standards and recycled by an approved specialist recycler. Recovery rates of the embedded materials in each television are estimated to be up to 96%.

To encourage participation The Warehouse is offering prizes and discounts on purchases of new televisions and digital receivers to customers returning their old sets.

However purchase is not necessary in order to drop off your unwanted television at any of the participating Warehouse stores: Albany, Ashburton, Belfast, Bell Block, Eastgate, Gisborne, Greymouth, Hastings, Invercargill, Manukau, Masterton, Nelson, Palmerston North, Petone, South Dunedin, Te Rapa, Timaru, Waipapa, Whangarei.

Further information: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1109/S00402/free-tv-recycling-launched.htm

Our composting worms pee a lot. We have available at the Waikato Environment Centre several 2-litre milk bottles full of worm "tea" - the only urine you'd want to sprinkle around your plants, worm tea is naturally high in nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.

"Tea" made freshly each day by our hardworking worms.

Do your plants a favour; come grab a bottle.

Available for purchase here at the Waikato Environment Centre we have 6 pseudopanax seedlings, and approximately 25 hebe seedlings, being leftovers from the Forest & Bird plant sale.  Ready to plant out now.

Make us an offer! Proceeds go to Forest & Bird.

Waikato Environment Centre, Level One, 25 Ward Street, Hamilton 07 839 4452 www.envirocentre.org.nz