On the edge of the Mataura River, a disused paper mill is filled with thousands of bags of toxic waste. Locals want to find out who’s responsible for it – and they want it gone before disaster strikes. First published November 10, 2020. The Paper Mill is part of Frame, a series of short documentaries … Read more
Three decades since it first emerged on our screens, Captain Planet and the Planeteers will always be remembered as the show that introduced an entire generation to corporate greed and environmental protection. Children of the late 1980s and early 1990s had a number of iconic cartoons to choose from: Transformers, He-Man, Gummi Bears, My Little … Read more
On the edge of the Mataura River, a disused paper mill is filled with thousands of bags of toxic waste. Locals want to find out who’s responsible for it – and they want it gone before disaster strikes. The Paper Mill is part of Frame, a series of short documentaries produced by Wrestler for The … Read more
It’s been a battle beset by fear, floods and corporate negligence. But will big business finally take responsibility for the toxic waste dumped around Southland? The Paper Mill is part of Frame, a series of short, standalone documentaries produced by Wrestler for The Spinoff. Made with support from NZ On Air. Watch more here. It … Read more
The country’s biggest bulk wine supplier has begun turning gigantic flexibags into plastic fenceposts. But the fencepost manufacturer protests that a lack of government funding is barring the way from doing so much more, reports Phil Pennington for RNZ. Multinational giant Hillebrand spent months trying to find a recycler to complete the lifecycle: to take … Read more
Unfortunately, this is an imaginary letter written by nomadic, wild-living Miriam Lancewood to be read at Wellington’s Verb Festival next week. Verb opens on Thursday, October 29 and will run until Sunday, November 8. For the showcase event on Friday night, nine writers were asked to write letters with this prompt: “An envelope with your … Read more
A team of Kiwi scientists is using pictures taken by satellites in orbit to enable farmers to spot pollution on their land. New Zealand scientists are looking to put satellite imagery to good use by identifying pollution on Kiwi farms, helping make tomorrow a tiny bit greener. University of Auckland’s Intelligent Vision System lab (IVS) … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Fears for cities with loss of trees, competitive battle looms for Dunedin mayoralty, and teacher strike talks to take place amid new secondary strike action. New Zealand’s urban environments are losing worryingly high numbers of irreplaceable mature trees, reports Charlie Mitchell at Stuff. It comes a decade after … Read more
Living in a city polluted with dirty air is among many facts of life that Londoners pay for, not just with money but with our health, writes Elle Hunt. There is a company that sells aerosols of “100% pure Australian air”, “farmed” from pristine locations including Tasmania and the Blue Mountains, for AU $246.24 for … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, the latest on New Zealand’s efforts to fight plastic pollution. What’s all this then? It’s a wrap on plastic, with everyone from Countdown to Coca-Cola joining a pledge to (eventually) eliminate things like straws and bags from their … Read more
The chief scientist of the Environmental Protection Agency has been making waves since her appointment, articulating a pro-farming message around water use. Has agri-business captured our environmental regulator? Outspoken farming critic Rachel Stewart thinks so. Apparently if you don‘t trust the decisions made by the Environmental Protection Agency, you’re part of a growing trend in … Read more
Combining the power of US capital and Kiwi engineering, O2O2 Facewear is on the forefront of anti-pollution technology. Jihee Junn talks to CEO Dan Bowden about how the future of filtration is transparent. In densely populated megacities like Beijing, surgical face masks have become a regular sight. But despite their near ubiquity, woven cloth masks … Read more