News

With approximately 22,000 students, Te Herenga Waka–Victoria University of Wellington is its own small city in the heart of the capital.

As a sustainability engagement coordinator, or kaitaupua toitū, Andrea Marsden is one of a small team whose goal is to change the habits of that number for the better, from worm farms to reusable coffee cups.

The world’s climate is changing; the latest IPCC report says there is still time left to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. That means changing behaviours drastically.

Eight New Zealand companies will share a fleet of four hydrogen-powered cars in what is being described as the first commercial application of hydrogen fuel cell technology in New Zealand.

Toyota will provide The Warehouse, Air New Zealand, Saatchi and Saatchi, TVNZ, Beca, Westpac, Spark and Z Energy with Mirai cars which run off green hydrogen (hydrogen produced from renewable energy).

Opinion: It’s time to examine hydrogen-powered opportunities for Kiwis, says Neeraj Lala – chief executive officer, Toyota New Zealand

Hydrogen has the potential to play a key role as we transition to a low carbon economy and this includes a wide range of sectors, not just transport.

Air New Zealand is encouraging passengers to do their bit to reduce carbon emissions when flying by packing light to help reduce the weight of aircraft.

In an email to Airpoints members on Tuesday Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran outlined details about the airline’s “most important journey yet” – what it’s called, and trademarked, Flight NZ0.

Christchurch Airport’s ongoing sustainability achievements have recorded a new milestone – the airport has achieved being beyond carbon neutral, to become climate positive.

Toyota New Zealand says it is making some big changes to how it manages the end of life for hybrid and electrical vehicles, as it aims to be carbon neutral by 2050.

Results from a Nelson City Council and Spark New Zealand joint trial of a ‘smart’ solar-compacting bin in Nelson’s city centre, shows that collection frequency is reduced by more than 50 per cent.

The trial bin, on loan to Nelson City Council from Bigbelly bins, is equipped with a small solar-powered compactor. A sensor inside the bin activates the compactor, which crushes the rubbish, allowing the bin to hold up to five times more than a standard New Zealand rubbish bin.

The red meat industry can regenerate both their land and the relationship they have with their consumers, meat industry experts say.

Speaking at a recent webinar about regenerating the meat industry, Simon Limmer, chief executive of Silver Fern Farms, said the agriculture industry needed to adapt to survive in an environment where consumers have changed the way they approach meat.

Meat was not the centre of the plate any more, with conscious consumers thinking of both the health benefit and the environmental impact of the products they consumed, Limmer said.

Hawke’s Bay is one of the country’s biggest food producers, which also means we are one of the biggest creators of food production waste.

But an exciting new project is set to tackle this.

The recently launched initiative – Sustainable is Attainable Hawke’s Bay – is working to change trash into treasure, not only keeping waste from landfill but developing high-value by-products. With around 30 local businesses already committed to the project, it’s off to a strong start.

This Saturday, the Sky Tower lights will be switched off in support of Earth Hour, the global initiative shining its own light on climate change.

The tower will ‘go dark’, with the lights going off from 8.30pm to 9.30pm to raise awareness for the need to grow sustainably as businesses, individuals, and a nation.

Fonterra has been busy researching the answer to the dairy industry’s million-dollar question; how can we stop cows from burping?

The co-op’s research and development (R&D) centre has been looking at natural ways to inhibit cows from producing methane and has come up with something they’re calling Kowbucha.

The aim of Kowbucha is to create new fermentations that switch off the bugs that make methane in cows.

Kiwi businesses that don’t know the level of greenhouse gas emissions they produce are being advised to start “doing the numbers” to work out their footprint.

ASB’s Head of Corporate Responsibility Miranda James says for most small businesses the main source of emissions is likely to be their fuel, gas and electricity bills.