Halswell Domain

Halswell Domain
View from the Model Engineers' site in the Halswell Domain

Monday, October 22, 2018

THE HALSWELL SHARING SHACK

After many months of dreaming, the Halswell Sharing Shack is finally a reality, thanks heaps to Dave Glassenbury who donated time and materials and built it. 

The Sharing Shack arrived on site at the Halswell Community Hub, 381 Halswell Road on Sunday 9th September. Within 48 hours many items had been donated and collected and a huge amount of food has been shared since then. 

The aim of the shack is to reduce waste and help each other by sharing resources. It’s a great way for gardeners to share their excess produce and to share vege when you have a glut. 

All food items welcome, including vegetable seeds and seedlings. Share what you can and take what you need. The Sharing Shack is for everyone!

Lessening the Pain of Petrol Costs

Petrol prices are on the rise and many are feeling the pain of the extra cost that this adds to the family budget.  Sadly, over the coming years, petrol prices are likely to rise more than they fall, as the oil that we take from the ground gets more expensive to extract.  Add to that that our climate is changing and we need to cut down our use of fossil fuels.   
We must start changing now if we are to avoid even worse hardship in a decade or two.

Sure, a few people out there cannot change the use of their car because of disability, but with a bit of thought and planning, most of us can change the way we travel for at least some of our trips. Many people already have.


Here are some of the things they are doing and that you might do too:

Sharing rides with others. Rather than just driving somewhere by yourself, talk with people who live nearby or who work with you about how you might share transport to places that you all need to go.

Do more things in a single trip rather than doing a trip for each activity.  This takes a bit more thought but is quite easy when you get in the swing of it.

Try walking   

Walking is great gentle exercise that gets you out into the sun.  On top of that, it is really easy to stop and chat to the people you meet on the way. It’s good for both your physical and mental health and, once you know the short cuts, it can be a good way to get around the local area for small shopping trips, to get to events and activities, or visit friends. Most people can easily walk about 2km in half an hour and many trips done in cars are less than 1km!

Jump on a bike.  

The new cycleways and the many quiet streets and parks around Halswell, Hoon Hay, Spreydon and Addington that make it safe and easy to get around by bike. The secret is to avoid routes that are busy and find good back streets to use. The distances you cover fairly easily on a bike can be considerable (it if fairly easy to bike 15km in an hour and most people do a bit more than that).  
Like walking, biking is great for mental and physical health.
Here are some reasons WHY biking might be a good thing even without the petrol cost savings.
If your bike needs fixing, check out RAD bikes to get help with fixing it (or just drop it into a bike shop.  Bike mechanics can often really make a difference to how nice your bike is to ride0.   
If you are on a low income, don’t have a bike, or would like one, the Community Focus Trust BuyCycle project might be able to help (http://www.empowerchurch.co.nz/Community/projects.html or phone 355 4928 to find out more.

Use a bus.  

A number of bus routes go through Halswell to a range of destinations. 
If you are over 65, you can get a Gold Card and travel free between the hours of 9.00am and 3.00pm. If you are not over 65, then a Metro card can get you good discounts on bus travel.  Find out more here.

The Orange line is a very direct service that runs every 15 minutes throughout the day from Longhurst past the New World in Nichols Rd then up Halswell and Lincoln Roads.  Likewise, there are frequent services that go to Hornby and the Airport , and to Beckenham and into the City.

Call in to the bus station to find out more or visit http://metroinfo.co.nz


Try out a Lime electric scooter

You need a smartphone and a credit card.  Install the Lime App on your phone and watch this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta9x2aDwagw)  and you are set to go.

Mix and match – 

Many trips can be done using two or more forms of transport – take the car a shorter distance then get out and walk, ride your bike, grab a lime scooter, or get on the bus. Get a lift with a mate and walk to your workplace or home.
Many in Halswell are parking up their bikes or their cars for the day near bus stops, then riding a bus into the City.  You can also take your bike on the buses round the city which is a good way to lessen the distance you have to bike.
If cycling into the City from Halswell is too far, 

  • Try parking on Sparks Rd near the start of the Quarryman's Trail in Hoon Hay the bike in from there or  
  • Park at Princess Margaret hospital, ride your bike down the other side of the river to Studholme St then through the Simeon St Graveyard to meet the Quarrymans Trail Cycleway which takes you into the City, or
  • Park in Aidanfield, go over the overbridge and get onto the cycleway that runs along beside the motorway into the City via some pleasant green spaces.

If you work in the central city, these options will also save you money for parking as well as for petrol.

Recycling – What can go into the Yellow Bin

What can be recycled in Christchurch depends on what the Council can sell.  That depends on what recyclers  can make out of our rubbish.   Markets change and with that, so does the stuff that can go into our yellow recycling bins.

ONLY the following can go into your yellow bin at this time (5th June 2020):

  •     Clean, dry, loose (not bagged!) hard plastics – food containers and bottles labelled 1, 2 or 5 that are bigger than a small yoghurt container.
  •     Clean, dry, loose tin cans (but please put tin lids in the red bin, and please do NOT squash the cans flat ).
  •     Clean dry, topless glass bottles (tops go in the red bin)
  •     Clean dry aluminium cans - please don't flatten the cans - keep them as can-like as you can!
  •     Clean, dry, unscrunched paper, including newspaper.
  •     Flattened Cardboard
  • Nothing else!
Everything that you put into the yellow recycling  bin needs to be CLEAN and DRY.
Anything else needs to be put into your red bin or your green bin or taken elsewhere.  

The following is a list of common mistakes and options for disposing of them.


Please do NOT put any of these into your yellow bin:

Dirty, foodstained or greasy paper or cardboard (e.g. Pizza boxes).  
Put this stuff into the green bin or into your own compost heap or worm farm. 

Tetrapaks
Tetrapaks are used for longlife milk, fruit juice or nut milks) and milk cartons.  
Avoid buying them or if you must, then put them in the red bin.

Coffee cups 
Coffee cups cannot be recycled or composted in council collected rubbish. (Plant based biocups CAN be composted in your home compost heap).
Avoid using these where you can and carry a keep cup with you for coffee.  
When you can't avoid it, put these in the red bin 

Soft plastic
All soft plastic (like plastic bags, biscuit wrappers, biscuit trays) has to go into the red bin.
Avoid buying things packaged in plastic as much as possible and stop using single use plastic.

Find out more at this link - https://www.ccc.govt.nz/services/rubbish-and-recycling/


Saturday, August 25, 2018

Minimalism and its benefits


Thanks to Deb Harding-Browne of No Boundaries Furniture for this article
 


Minimalism has become very popular and it has been influencing our lifestyle trends for some time. It can be seen in new housing developments that offer home decor in white, grey and black or soft natural monotones and in simplified landscaping with a lot of stones and pavings and textured plants, and in our city’s furniture stores. It is interesting to look at why our people are embracing this style.
People often believe minimalism comes directly from Buddhist and Feng Shui teachings, but actually, many other historical figures lived simply as a means to an end. Socrates was a minimalist as was Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, Paul the Apostle, St Francis of Assisi and all those who lived in monasteries and convents. More recently, famous minimalists include Henry David Thoreau, Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Mother Teresa, and Steve Jobs.
In modern times, the sixties hippies called for simplicity, however, this was followed by a blow out in greed in the eighties and nineties that has cost the next generation. It is our young that are developing a much stronger moral conscience about the planet in light of what has happened before them.
In marches the minimalist trend, as an antidote to consumerism and a wonderful way to take a stand against huge corporations. Hundreds of blogs have been started solely devoted to helping us to simplify our lives and the best of them have millions of readers. Usually, the blogs contain a central theme such as financial freedom, healthy habits, volunteering, tiny homes, travel, or home management. And while the philosophy has many forms, proponents more or less agree on the benefits as they are fairly logical cause and effect relationship.


LESS STUFF MEANS…
1. Less cleaning. Less stuff means less stuff to clean and organize and then cleaning itself is easier because you don’t have to lift things before you clean.

2. Fewer decisions. There are endless applications for this, but one example is if you reduce your wardrobe size, you will have means less outfits to choose from. This is an argument for uniform but many voluntarily simplify their wardrobes; Barack Obama wore the same blue or grey jacket every day while in office and Mark Zuckerberg wears a simple grey t-shirt.

3. Less waste. Again, this has applications in most areas of our lives. Let’s take cooking for example. Cooking simpler recipes alone means cutting back on the number of ingredients that need to be bought which means there is a smaller grocery bill and less packaging to be thrown out.
4. Less tidying. Some home managers with children will testify to the fact that they just seem to be putting things away all day which is a frustrating way to spend our lives. Less stuff means less tidying and more time for going to the park, the bush or the beach.
5. Fewer distractions. Less choices in what to do means we can focus on our priorities with less temptations. Minimalists advocate doing one thing at a time because constant considerations leads to restlessness and anxiousness.
6. More focus. Many simple life experts suggest picking three major goals instead of many. Others say no more than two projects at a time. Simplifying goals leads to efficiency and streamlines your life to achieve them more quickly.
7. More savings. American minimalists have often begun their journey because of financial problems where credit card debt got out of control and then they begin to figure out methods to help them get ahead. Once debt is cleared, the same methods are used to save money, which in turn buys freedom.
8. More room. There is the obvious physical component of having less frustration because there is less stuff in our environment to work around but also in a scheduling sense we have more room for leisure.

9. More charity. As we begin to declutter and discover what is a new level of ‘enough’ we begin to think about those around us who don’t have enough. Our hearts become softer and we are kinder and more disposed to helping those with less. Furthermore, as we are not focused on purely material goals as much we will begin to think about what we can do to help our society more.

10. More peace. With fewer distractions and a less cluttered schedule, we have the energy and efficiency to build a life that allows us more time for rest and solitude creating inner harmony, balance and peace. And as we consider those around us more, we have more peace as a result of a clearer conscience that comes from living a life of purpose.

As they say, minimalism is for the elite; for people who live in countries that have their material needs and greeds met. However, it is our greed that is making us sick and unhappy. 

Last year, a guest speaker from India came to speak in Christchurch. She was very grateful for the work a group of Christchurch families are doing in Kolkata, one of the poorest spots in the world. Looking out to the audience, she said “We don’t have much as you, but do you know what we have that you don’t? We have COMMUNITY.” While here, she was witnessing our walled in housing subdivisions and our elderly residential homes and impersonal shopping malls and sensed with a compassionate burden what we are lacking.


Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Make the Community You Want to See!


Each of us really can make a difference, and we do it most effectively when we join others to make that change.
Sports clubs shape our kids and our Saturdays, helping us all to see the value of teamwork, respect and play.  A huge number of churches across the city provide support and activities for a wide range of different age and gender groups.   We see people getting out there to help with the mother of all clean ups, or to plant and maintain plantings in local parks and around local waterways.  Residents Associations keep an eye on Council activities and plans and provide comment on how those plans will affect their communities.
Working in groups makes it easier to stay in the game, to develop a sound argument for changes, attracts the attention of the news media, and helps Councils and other authorities to know where to get feedback and gives them help to consult with people in the group.  Without these groups it is actually harder for Council to see clear themes, needs and perspectives.  Likewise, councillors need support from their communities to debate issues in the Council Chamber.  It is very hard for them to defend nebulous causes that are hard for their colleagues to see. 
A recent example was the the Mother of All Clean-ups happened again this year and huge amounts of rubbish were removed from the Avon and Heathcote Rivers, making them a whole lot healthier and nicer places to be.  This was the result of many local groups working together to make a whole lot happen on one day.  Likewise, many of the things that are happening in our city are the result of a lot of work by communities for communities.  Safer streets, safer communities, better cycling facilities, the presence of green space,  community hubs, plunket, playcentre, youth groups, zero waste initiatives are all examples of what communities achieve and that benefit all of us.  All of this only happen thanks to the people that volunteer their energy and passion. 
Communities change things in all sorts of different ways around our city and our local areas.  We have a huge range of wonderful community groups in Christchurch and they need YOUR support.  Get out there, and get involved in a community that interests you and see how you can help to make the community you want to see.

Saturday, June 16, 2018

CELYN EDWARDS – INTERNATIONAL ATHLETE


CELYN EDWARDS – INTERNATIONAL ATHLETE
We’re chuffed to see hard working local lad Celyn Edwards (17) doing so well in the world of swimming.  Celyn lives locally in Halswell and attends Hillmorton High School.  He swims with the Selwyn Swim School out at Rolleston and is coached by Ben Close.  Over the last year or two, he has been smashing national swimming records and regularly recording personal best times.
Celyn is a para athlete as a result of losing an arm at the age of 5 in a car accident.  Inspired meeting Sophie Pascoe and Mary Fisher, he  has been steadily training and wants to get as far as he can as a para athlete.  Right now, that looks like it will be a significant set of achievements.    He began swimming out at Rolleston with the Selwyn Swim School in 2013.  By 2015, he began swimming at national level and now holds 23 national records (wow!). 
Celyn swam internationally for the first time in July 2017 in Berlin – at a world Para Swimming event where he set an Oceania record for 50m breaststroke.  He then competed earlier this year at the Commonwealth Games held on the Gold Coast in Australia.  He swam in the final of both of the Commonwealth Games events he entered, coming 6th in the final of the 100m breaststroke and 4th in the 400m individuals medley in times that most of the rest of us can’t imagine getting anywhere near.

Celyn Edwards (photo courtesy of Selwyn Swim Club)

It is clear that Celyn is still regularly achieving personal bests.  Recently, for example, he swam a massive  10 seconds  under the current 200m butterfly WORLD record in a swim meet in Ashburton.  While this time won’t count as the record, because it was not an internationally recognised event, it certainly bodes well for future international events. 
These achievements and the dedication of this young man will also be a big part of the reason why he holds the 2018 Graham Condon Scholarship.  This scholarship is awarded each year to an athlete who has not yet reached the highest level in their sport, but through outstanding commitment, attitude and ability, demonstrates the potential to achieve this in the future. 
If all this is not enough, Celyn is also a keen road cyclist, mountain biker, skier and rugby player.

10 Reasons Why You Should Consider Buying Second Hand Furniture.


Huge quantities of furniture are being imported into New Zealand and consumers are buying it up, but there are many things that the buyer should be aware of.

1. Imported furniture often breaks quickly.
It has been designed to be light so that shipping costs are low and therefore is usually not strong.

2.  It is often poorly constructed
Take a closer look before you buy furniture from overseas. Do the  cupboards and drawers shut smoothly?  Have they  been squarely cut?  Are the joints tight?

3.  Overseas timbers  live in a different climate.
The timbers are used to more humid environments than the New Zealand one and as such moisture seeks to make its way out. This may cause buckling and loosening of the joints and can be rather difficult and time consuming to rectify.

 4. Second hand furniture stores are not located in expensive areas.  High overheads in any business are passed onto the consumer. 

 5. Quality second hand furniture is strong and has been built with solid construction techniques making it built to last. There may be wear and tear, but with  some tender loving care by yourself or a furniture restorer,  a piece of furniture can be  brought back to its former glory, or creatively upcycled.

6.   Fashion is fickle.
  Today's latest trends   disappear very quickly and your home becomes dated by your purchases.  Some consumers are embarrassed when they don't have the latest styles and feel compelled to update. Updating your furniture several times is much more expensive than keeping  a more unique piece for longer. Furthermore, if you follow fashion,  in the back of your mind, you always know that you have been tricked and seduced by clever marketing.

 7. Second hand furniture was made when things were made slowly. 
The work and craftsmanship and attention to detail can be  remarkable.  It feels good to have something that has been made with pride, and if you restore it, it feels good to have treated it with the respect it deserves.

8. Your creativity can run wild.
Second hand furniture  has more character  and you do not have to be locked in to buying something from one time period.  You can mix it all up, and more importantly, find pieces that you genuinely  love  and will generate  interesting discussion when you have company over.

9.  Buying local furniture,  puts money into the pockets of everyday New Zealanders.
Local buying means investing in your local area.  Healthy local businesses spend locally, whether it is in the form of  sponsorship or personal spending. If local businesses do well, it has a spiralling upward effect, on the community around it.  Everybody wins.

10.  Environmental benefits.
Upcycling, recycling, restoration, zero waste,  whatever you call it, means a better planet and future for the generations to come.  You can sleep better at night, knowing that you are not contributing to the enormous piles of furniture being thrown into the landfills every day.

Deb Harding Browne
No Boundaries Furniture
Halswell