Sustainability

A large crowd squeezed into Mahara Gallery at lunchtime today for our forum Making a Sustainable Kapiti. The conversation was expertly moderated by Dan Ormond from Ideas Shop.

Dr Mike Joy started off the discussion with some very sobering statistics regarding our enormous individual impact on the planet. I was stunned to think about the number of acres of land that it takes to maintain the average lifestyle of just one New Zealander. Perhaps we, all 7 billion of us, are underreacting to an issue that we have known about for years but failed to take swift and sufficient action to curtail.

The conversation moved to sustainable housing where Hugh Tennet from Tennent + Brown Architects discussed how we can house our populace sustainably and effectively. He talked about the future of Christchurch and the power of the designs for urban housing that provide an alternative to traditional apartment living.

Sophie Jerram talked to us about where she thinks sustainability is heading. She told the audience about a set of sustainability tools developed by the Sustainable Business Network which are available to businesses seeking to lower their environmental impact.

To listen to this forum now in full click here and you will be taken to the relevant page on the Mahara Gallery website.