Stephen Blyth's Blog

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 [...]