Rugby star kicks off global climate working bee
Home » Blog » Rugby star kicks off global climate working beeVodafone Wellington Lion and All Black Conrad Smith has announced that he is supporting the 350 Aotearoa Global Climate Working Bee, set for Sunday 10th October.
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The environmentally conscious rugby star Conrad Smith, a Project Litefoot Ambassador, is joining us in calling on New Zealand communities and workplaces to put on their own climate working bee and initiate an action that will help reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and have fun doing it.
“As Kiwis we can be true clean green leaders,” says Conrad. “Getting involved in the Global Climate Working Bee is about taking one step towards this.”
“Yes, we’ll be helping to address climate change, but there are heaps of other benefits. By working together on things like insulation, bike lanes or community veggie gardens, we’ll be building stronger communities, saving money and be healthier too.”
350 Aotearoa supports the goal of reducing carbon dioxide from its current level of 390 parts per million (ppm) to below 350 ppm, the safe upper limit according to the latest science.
Over 4,000 events are already registered globally for 10/10/10. Activities will range from tree planting and community gardens to bike workshops and awareness raising events. Over 70 events are currently registered in New Zealand—let’s get to 100!
Some of the inspirational actions include:
- The Auckland Big Bike Fix Up will include bike skills workshops and free fix-ups on Auckland's Viaduct Harbour.
- Volunteers will be planting native species in Earthwise Valley, on the Coromandel Peninsula, throughout October to convert degraded farmland back to native rainforest.
- 350 locally sourced natives will be planted in Carterton, Wairarapa, to regenerate wetlands and clean up the polluted Kokotau swimming spot.
- The 10/10/10 Wellington Wander will showcase the best walking shortcuts in Wellington to encourage swapping the car for your feet.
- At Scarborough beach, south of Timaru, volunteers will clean rubbish from along the shoreline and plant native trees in the nearby wetland.
- Frocks on Bikes will take a tour around Christchurch city.
- An environmental awareness and education festival aims to bring all Marlborough has to offer in terms of sustainable practices together.
- ‘Swap it’ encourages Dunedin locals to spring clean their closets in a sustainable fashion.
- Sustainable Dunedin City aorganising a ‘Local food picnic extravaganza’ in Dunedin with live entertainment.
Action in the community not only has the potential to minimise the effects of climate change directly, but also has the power to influence and inspire change in other sectors such as business and government.
After the events, all eyes turn to Cancun, where world leaders are meeting in December to build an international treaty to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions. The failure of world leaders to reach a binding agreement in Copenhagen last year makes the negotiations especially critical.
Tue October 05, 2010 @ 09:04 AM
