Climate Action Week: ways to help save our planet
Joanna Santa Barbara is co-chair of Nelson Tasman Climate Forum. Greetings and welcome to Climate Action Week. The big team at Nelson Tasman Climate Forum is eager to show you some of the myriad activities in our region from tomorrow which are directed towards acting on climate. You can learn about composting your food and garden waste (saving methane emissions and building good soil). You can try out an e-bike or an e-car (saving carbon dioxide emissions). Better still, you can find out the amenities, times and routes of our new e-buses, due to start in August (saving emissions and traffic congestion). Prepare your travel plan to get on those buses! Did you know they are wi-fi equipped? READ MORE: * Government announces massive emissions-cutting deal with NZ Steel, Contact Energy * How the cost of living crisis could be harming the planet as well as your pocket * Positive industry reactions to 'significant' Budget EV charging commitment * Cycle tour takes in good, bad and ugly of Nelson's roading network There are multiple opportunities to get your fingers in the soil and plant things. You can learn about seed-saving and growing vegetables (improving food security and cutting household costs). How do we green and intensify our city and towns so most places we want to get to are walkable or bikable? One of our webinars will talk about this. Most people in our region are worried about climate change. Many of our young people are anxious about it. In fact, the Student Strike for Climate occurs on May 26, the first day of our Climate Action Week. Lots of people say they dont know what to do about it. A great deal must be done at government level, both local and central. But over a quarter of emissions are within our control, at a household or individual level. That means that our daily decisions have a major impact on, well, the future of the world. By far the biggest matter is how we get around. Theres a lot we can do about that, and its not all EVs or even e-bikes and e-buses. Switch on the webinar discussing transport options in Climate Action Week. A more plant-based diet is another area with a big influence on emissions. Theres a party on the first evening featuring great plant-based food and retro fashions (thats op-shop glamour). The Nelson Tasman Climate Forum is launching a campaign to change the way we consume. Take the JUMP goes under the slogan Less Stuff, More Joy, and encourages us to reduce emissions and protect the planet in our daily lives. The sombre side of the forums message draws attention to the fact that were in big trouble with our damage to Earths systems, and nothing less than urgent social transformation of how we eat, travel, clothe ourselves and purchase things will do. That is: less stuff. The more joy side is that in doing this we gather, we laugh, we create and we have more fun. Join us in Climate Action Week. See page 2 for the schedule of activities.