Stephen Blyth's Blog

In something of a departure from what you’ll usually find here, I’m republishing a piece that I wrote quite a while ago. The article below appeared in the now defunct Political Review in mid-1993. A photocopy of the article has been sitting near my computer ever since I became self-employed in 2007. I’ve been meaning [...]

I generally cross to the sunny side of the street when I can. It’s an attitude that I try to cultivate generally, not just during this bleak, long winter. Given the deluge of facts about human impacts on the natural world it’s not always easy. When someone argues convincingly we’ve got a 100 months before [...]

A few weeks ago, Josh Campbell posted a short video to You Tube showing some of the dangers of cycling to work, called Biking in Christchurch. (Warning: content may offend!!) It’s not churlish, buffoonery, like the horrible tv reality programmes. But deadly serious. The 2 minute 57 second video records many near misses. It’s enough [...]

Before Naomi Klein’s new book is available on the shelves here in Aotearoa I’ve managed to learn quite a bit about the central thesis. Klein, well remembered as author of No Logo – a searing analysis of corporate advertising – and her reporting from the frontline at numerous WTO protests, now turns her attention to [...]

A few years back I jokingly suggested drinking beers brewed by small companies was a way of supporting local community economic development. Sure, any excuse to drink beer everyone said. Just now I’ve learnt that brewers are also good for the environment. Not just another excuse I say…. Last week I strayed on a news [...]

After reading today’s announcements of the Webby Awards I’ve become the 45,297th subscriber to Greenpeace’s emails about their Green My Apple campaign. Not only that, but I’ve engaged in a cheeky bit of cyber activism by hugging my mac (which I could do from the comfort of our lounge). You can see a dodgy photo [...]

When I got a copy of Lisa Harrow’s book What can I do? Using the Internet to help New Zealand’s Environment (2005) I got more than I bargained for. Harrow is a New Zealand born actor best known for her Shakespearian acting. Sure, the book is useful list of websites on almost everything green. There’s [...]

I can’t imagine a more dificult situation for bloggers to be in than keeping a blog up-to-date from deep in the West Coast forest. But that’s exactly what the activists occupying the site of Solid Energy’s proposed open-cast coal mine in the Upper Waimangaroa Valley in the Ngakawau Ecological District, near Westport, are doing. The [...]

Now that I’ve heard about the Ministry of Re-shelving, I’m prepared for the unexpected when I enter a bookshop. That’s because the Ministry’s work could occur anywhere. Membership is open to anyone who is daring and able to shelve books alphabetically.The Ministry of Reshelving is dedicated to the proper classification of fiction and nonfiction books. [...]

The debate about trading off civil liberties for greater surveillance by the state in an effort to counter-act terrorist atrocities has surfaced again in the UK. The fall-out from the London bombings has rapidly infiltrated political discourse in New Zealand. Shrill cries for increased power for the state were a part of the debate about [...]