Environment Centre deals with questions from all generations

Press, 11 October 1979, Page 14

Environment Centre deals with questions from all generations

By

LEONE STEWART

Life is busy at the Canterb u r v Environment Centre these days. The public is finding its way to the centre's rooms at the Arts Centre in increasing numbers. The telephone can be insistent at times, too. What do people want to know? Environmental veterans want to get in touch with one of the centre’s affiliated organisations. School children seek material for projects. Homemakers ask about recycling. Some of the callers are regulars, like the “dear little old lady” from Cashmere who parcels up her old newspapers and brings them into the centre faithfully every month. Lack of wide-spread, reliable recycling facilities for domestic waste is a sore point with the centre. “In Christchurch we have no plastic recycling,” said Wendy Browne, the centre's paid secretary. “We have no city-wide outlet for bottle tops, which are easy to save and recycle.”

The centre is particularly disappointed that rhe Christchurch City Council's recycling scheme did not “take on.” Four areas of Christchurch were covered in the experimental scheme. Householders were asked to separate their garbage into four categories: newspapers, glass, rags, and cans. About 50 per cent of householders particpated. The centre has been told

the scheme proved uneconomic. ' “We believe that some sections of the council, didn’t want the scheme to work," said Wendy Browne. "We know that some people started off halfheartedly and then got keen. Others who were not at all enthusiastic didn’t have to bother because there was a conventional rubbish collection each week.” Apathy has to be fought by providing incentives,

she said. “Our resources are running out. We can extend the life of things by recycling. Then there is the problem of finding rubbish dump areas in this city.'’ The council’s plans for having irregular weekend sites for depositing recycling materials do not satisfy the centre. People need to get into the habit of recycling, not just make it a special, occasional effort. Any collec-

tions of used items like newspapers need to be reliable.

The Canterbury Environmental Centre has about 500 members. The first centre of its kind in New Zealand, it has now been joined by centres in all the main cities. Its major means of communication is the monthly journal, the “Canterbury Environment .Journal.” With a circulation of 1000, it is a bright-looking, interesting mix of news from affiliated societies,

columns like Gillian Poison's "The Herb Farm.’’ and articles on environmental issues in the news. The October edition highlights a recreational study of Banks Peninsula, and protection for the Port Hills. “We have worked hard to get the journal as professional as possible,” said Wendy Browne. Like so much of the centre’s activities it relies a lot on voluntary- team work. Content is organised by an editorial committee comprising Helen Crabb and Roger Browne. A group of 10 is respcmsible for over-all production, including typing, art work, and the lively cartoons. During the last week of each month a team of volunteers spends the day at the centre stapling, wrapping, and addressing the journals ready for distribution. The journal is sold by subscription and is available at about 20 bookstores. An increasing number of Government bodies are subscribing. People of all ages and interests contribute to the centre’s activities — students, homemakers, professional people, men as well as women. The centre is often asked to provide part-time work for people who have been out Of the workforce through illness and are regaining a place. It sees education of the public as its No. I priority. A leaflet reference library on all environmental topics is kept up-to-date. References to books on the most specialised topics can be obtained from the centre, and it is a service many teachers and students use.

In the last, few years the centre has been active

in producing its own publications. “Household Ecology,” full of handy money-sav-ing hints on cutting electricity use, food buying, household cleaning, and composting, was the first. Published in 1978, it is still much in demand.

This year an environmental handbook has been produced for secondary schools, and a handbook on pollution has been published. Proceedings from the big 1977 environmental conference in Christchurch are also being recorded. Weny Browne draws

great encouragement from her contact with the public. “Yes, you have to be dedicated to be an-, environmentalist. But people are not all apathetic. People are caring more and more about the future of our planet."