Sustainable Waikato (SW); an organisation of like-minded people, from all walks of life, who are aiming to get good councillors into local councils at the upcoming election.
Visit http://www.sustainablewaikato.org.nz to get introduced to the group.
We need councillors who can assess a range of issues nationally and make decisions based on sound evidence, enhancing our region's sustainability in the near and intergenerational future. The issue of what to do is now urgent as local elections approach and it is our local representatives that have the most impact on our regional environment - some say perhaps even more than our government...
Sustainable Waikato is a self-organising group of concerned citizens who got together to advocate and support the candidates that we deserve. See our vision statement on the site. We are not affiliated with any political party - we are simply loyal to our regional economy and environment and insist on clean air, water and healthy soil for ourselves and the generations to come.
In the weeks leading up to the elections we will carry out a series of activities, including reviewing governance of our local representatives in the Hamilton City Council and Environment Waikato.
More information will be posted on this website as we progress.
What can you do? Any number of things below!
1. Raise awareness
How far can you reach? We each know from 50 to 100 people in our immediate circle. Take responsibility to spread the word amongst your circle. As a first action point, people must register in time for voting!
1.a Forward this email to your friends, contacts, colleagues etc... to raise awareness about the issue. The voting rate is typically just above 30% and very often voters are unsure not only what the candidates stand for, but also what their past performance really is. Sustainable Waikato is working to assemble a list of candidates we will support, based on their actions, knowledge and intentions to serve our region, towns and cities, when they serve as councillors. Sustainable Waikato will inform the public specifically about their actions or lack thereof, in relation to our vision. We can make a difference!
1.b Talk about it in group discussions. Some supporters have offered to bring up this issue at upcoming club meetings, public meetings etc. You can advocate for this directly in your circles.
2. Make a personal statement
List yourself as a supporter of Sustainable Waikato. See the Supporters tab on the website where we are starting to assemble a list of people who are prepared to state out loud their commitment to sustainability issues. Email your name to clb17@waikato.ac.nz to be listed too.
3. Help Sustainable Waikato spread the word further
3.a Pledge money to print election leaflets. We are all volunteers and have pledged money for this campaign as we have no external funding. The money we need to raise is funding to print leaflets to drop in mailboxes. We will make every effort to raise public awareness in other ways, but we know that leaflets play an important role in informing voters.
3.b Print leaflets! If you have printing facilities to lend, please let us know; we'll email you the leaflet and you could print part of the total amount needed - avoiding intermediary costs.
3.c Contribute your time and expertise. We welcome more hands and thinking caps to act now and raise awareness amongst friends & colleagues. Please contact one of us, or reply to this email to discuss what you could contribute to this effort. We have each carried out actions as per our professional expertise and available time - as a self organising group this has worked wonders.
4. VOTE and make sure your group votes too!!
As the election approaches, encourage your circle of connections to vote and remind all the people you had rallied to vote too.
We are looking forward to your support and in so doing shaping together the sustainability of our region.
