Kazel's blog

I am moving to Tauranga, and my home is now for sale.

We have around 60 fruit trees and about 20 raised gardens and all the hard work of planting has been done for you.  There is enough room for chickens, rabbits and bees.  I have a chicken coop, and woodshed with enough firewood to get through the winter. » Read more

http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/2010/10/october-11-2010-all-your-n...

On the right is a banner where you can buy a password to view Nicole Stonleigh's presentation.  It costs $12.50 US ($16.30NZ) and for that you can view it unlimited times, but you can't download it.

You probably can, however, give your password to someone else. » Read more

After the election results came in I took some time to reflect on what is really important, and what path I should follow.  It’s natural to feel disappointment when the outcome is different to what you expect and hope for, but I also feel extremely grateful. » Read more

Russel Norman, Co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa is coming to Opotiki on Tuesday afternoon to present a talk called ‘Economic sovereignty and dignity’, where he will address the question “Is New Zealand in charge of its own economic destiny?”  It will be a presentation and discussion on foreign ownership in New Zealand.

On the other end of the spectrum from buying local and creating local community is foreign ownership.  The globalisation of trade is poles apart from creating Transition Towns.  » Read more

Greenpeace activists barricaded Fonterra’s Auckland head-quarters last week to raise awareness of what they call ‘climate crimes’ by Fonterra. Our national dairy exporter has been responsible for importing well over a million tones of palm kernel this year, and that amount is set to increase annually.  » Read more

Green is the new black.  In the seventies Kermit the Frog sang ‘it’s not easy being green’ but these days it is cool to flash your environmental credentials. » Read more

Lets get down to the nitty gritty.  Head lice have been around for as long as there have been heads to get around in.  They can’t jump so they usually spread around schools kids playing together give them opportunities to crawl directly from head to head.

Treating headlice (kooties), takes time, and it important to understand your enemy.  Pharmacies stock an array of products for treatment of headlice, but some are ineffective could potentially be dangerous. » Read more

Four years ago Al Gore released his documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ in which he shows the dire consequences that could result if the Arctic Ice melts – dramatic flooding of densely populated coastal areas around the world, and warned that climate change was causing more extreme weather patterns leading to more flooding, with droughts and hurricanes also becoming stronger.  » Read more

Here in Opotiki most people have a pretty special relationship with the sea around us.  The rivers leading into the sea are used for white-baiting, trout fishing, kayaking, and swimming.  We collect pipi from the beaches, gather shells and firewood, make sandcastles and sculptures with the driftwood.  We surf, we swim, we feed chips to seagulls.

Opotiki lives by the beach and people use it for jogging, walking dogs, surf-casting or putting out a long-line.  Brave folk celebrate the middle of winter by taking an icy swim, while the rest of us wait until summer. » Read more

Last Saturday was the day we all went into ecological debt – known as Earth Overshoot Day.  You may have heard of your ecological footprint – the calculated size of your impact on the earth’s resources.  There are lots of sites to help individuals, house-holds and even schools and businesses calculate their Carbon Footprints – which an estimation of how much Carbon Dioxide they release into the atmosphere every year. » Read more