The air travel conundrum by Angela Caldin
My younger daughter and her family have been visiting Auckland for the last ten days and flew off back to the Sunshine Coast this morning. My son lives in New York and is bringing his family to visit us in July. If we want to see each other in person, we have no alternative but to fly. There is no other means of transport we could use. That means that our carbon footprint as a family is large and we are making a disproportionate contribution to climate change. What should we do?… Read More
Carbon footprint by Angela Caldin
I’m getting increasingly concerned about my family’s carbon footprint which is fast assuming the proportions of a giant’s imprint. Yesterday we took our younger daughter and her partner to the airport for their journey back to Brisbane after a brilliant family Christmas here in Auckland. They took with them, as well as the usual suitcases, two mountain bikes in enormous cardboard boxes and a surfboard with its cover stuffed with all sorts. They’ve set up in Australia after two years in the UK. Our elder daughter lives in Auckland and our son… Read More
The climate will change by Susan Grimsdell
By the time our children are grandparents, our world will be like nothing we can even imagine. The planet will have a climate not seen for hundreds of thousands of years. Oceans over a metre higher, flooding and rainfall like we’ve never experienced, together with severe drought and forest fires, and large numbers of migrants trying to get into New Zealand. These are the facts, this is what we are facing. But how many of us are taking climate change seriously? We give lip service to awareness that the climate is changing,… Read More
It’s Good to Get Away by Trevor Plumbly
Getting Away New Zealand Style One of the oddest things about New Zealand is the enormous enthusiasm most people have for ‘getting away’. Given the size of the country, it’s pretty tough to get really far away from whatever moves you to flee the nest several times a year. I tend to be a bit cynical about it all really; it seems to me that most people getting away from ‘it all’ want to pack most it of ‘it all’ in the car with them, before heading off with thousands of fellow… Read More
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