Environmental | Kiwi Ingenuity

Posted by admin at 28 March 2011

Category: Environmental, Health and Fitness, Recreational

A North Shore business has teamed up with an American company to develop performance enhancing fabric that blocks electromagnetic radiation, making it hard for animals to detect humans nearby. The fabric was initially developed to make it easier for hunters to stalk their prey but is now being used in wetsuits and in medical procedures. FOB Direct was approached by American company Human Energy Concealment Systems (HECS) to develop the technology into a fabric which could be made into hunting suits. It took one year to perfect and an additional fabric has also been developed… Read more

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Posted by admin at 27 December 2010

Category: Environmental, Great Practical Ideas

From www.rubbishfree.co.nz: This site has emerged out of a year long challenge we set ourselves that became known as the Rubbish Free Year. From 1st Febuary 2008 through to 1st February 2009 we tried to avoid creating any landfill waste from our home in Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand. The average couple living in NZ sends about 1.5 tons of rubbish to landfills every year, but through composting, recycling, and careful purchasing we accumulated only 2kg of landfill waste between us! The aim was to create new habits in order to further our journey towards living lightly on… Read more

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Posted by admin at 26 November 2010

Category: Energy, Environmental

So why is it after all the money spent by consumers to replace older (less efficient , pollution-causing) wood burners, they are left with enforced products that perform in a lot of cases worse than what they had previously? The newer certified clean air wood burners report to have difficulty in lighting, let smoke out into the room when loading or lighting, take longer to get to their optimum heating capacity and still chunder out smoke into the atmosphere! Nelson inventor and electrical engineer Neville D’Herville from his experience in developing central heating systems in the… Read more

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Posted by admin at 12 November 2010

Category: Business Innovation, Environmental, Transport

The inventor of Rotorua’s adventure ride, the Shweeb, has always dreamt big. But Geoff Barnett never dreamt he would get monetary backing from global internet phenomenon Google to help turn his concept of a human-powered transport system into a global reality. In 2008 Google launched a project called 10^100 that called for ideas that would change the world by helping as many people as possible. Google evaluated 154,000 ideas submitted by the public and came up with 16 groupings of ideas for the public to vote on. When ‘Drive innovation in public transportation’ turned out to… Read more

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Posted by admin at 11 November 2010

Category: Environmental

What do you do with second-hand iron, old paint found at the dump, screens from the local crusher and enthusiastic staff members? From unlikely materials, Marlborough trucking firm C.D. Broadbridge Ltd has created an award-winning truck washing system. When the resource consent to discharge water to the aquifer expired, Mark and Weir Broadbridge were faced with a problem. What to do with the wastewater generated each week through washing thirty cartage trucks and crates? Aiming to keep costs to farmer clients down, long-time staff member Peter Wells suggested building a… Read more

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Posted by admin at 11 November 2010

Category: Environmental

A small, innovative New Zealand company is being recognised for its contribution to the environment at a global conference in Japan as part of the Earth Month celebrations. Five organisations from around the world have been selected to make presentations at the new Ecozzeria building in Tokyo. The Good Water Company has been asked to speak at the Round Table discussion on June 3 which will focus on “How responsible innovation comes to everyday life”. The Good Water Project promotes the use of sustainable, bio-based packaging which is made from plant material, and launched… Read more

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Posted by admin at 11 November 2010

Category: Business Innovation, Environmental

Marlborough mussel farmers have been the driving force behind a marine pest management programme in Nelson/Marlborough. Working with a range of stakeholders and local and central government agencies to develop and implement the programme, the mussel farmers have been achieving some notable results. The marine pest, Didemnum vexillum, is an invasive sea squirt highly adapted to fouling artificial structures, including marine farms. It was introduced into the Marlborough Sounds via an infested barge in 2001 and was immediately recognised as a potential risk to the mussel farming… Read more

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Posted by admin at 28 October 2010

Category: Environmental, Farm & Garden

Editor’s note: Probitas is a sustainable farming system, and a new kind of fertiliser, that produces astounding results. Below is the preamble from the Probitas website. PHILOSOPHY Sheep meat, beef, venison and dairy producers, arable farmers and horticulturists carry an extraordinary burden of responsibility in that they are, first and foremost, food producers. The food produced is totally dependent on the soil for all its nutrients. Current analysis of farm performance is based solely on production efficiency. The nutritional quality of the food produced is not assessed. Farmers… Read more

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Posted by admin at 21 October 2010

Category: Environmental, Home Building/Improvement

A new locally made building product has been launched to try and reduce the 163,000 tonnes of concrete dumped in New Zealand landfills each year. According to recent Ministry for the Environment statistics building and construction waste makes up 17% of the 3.2 million tonnes of refuse dumped in New Zealand landfills annually. Cemix is an Auckland company, and a tried and trusted brand, which has been manufacturing innovtive construction products in New Zealand for over 25 years. Cemix has developed a new product which will provide an environmentally friendly option for DIY… Read more

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Posted by admin at 21 October 2010

Category: Business Innovation, Environmental, News

NEW ZEALAND — A Kiwi company has hooked up with Starbucks to reuse their old coffee sacks for furnishings in their outlets. The Formary will blend New Zealand Laneve wool with fibre from the sacks to create a fabric called WoJo. The fabric — 70 per cent wool and 30 per cent jute fibre — will be used to cover seating in its coffee shops, according to media reports. The fabric will initially be used in British Starbucks and in other markets in Europe, the Middle East and African regions. The Formary co-founder Bernadette Casey said the partnerships showed that “when… Read more

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