Judges for the 2017 NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards have announced the line-up of finalists after a record year of entries.
CEO of the Sustainable Business Network (SBN) Rachel Brown says these organisations and individuals are leading the transformation to a more sustainable New Zealand.
“This year we have had the highest number of entries in the 15 years of the Awards, reflecting the growth in sustainability initiatives across New Zealand businesses.
“These Awards recognise outstanding achievement in making New Zealand a more sustainable nation. Over the years we have seen a movement from efficient resource management into real system shifts, responding to critical themes like restoring nature, renewable transport and good food.
“The quality of entries has been extremely high, so making the final round of judging is a considerable achievement.
“The finalists include small businesses, corporates and not for profits, showing that all types of organisations can make a success out of sustainability. Recognising progress is vital, and the Awards are our way of celebrating together.”
Travis Atkinson, Executive General Manager of NZI, the Principal Sponsor of the Awards, says, “We’ve been proud supporters of the Sustainable Business Network and national Awards for the last 10 years.
“As an organisation that provides business insurance for a growing New Zealand, being sustainable is really important to us - it’s fundamental to the way we do business. We’re strong believers in the SBN’s mission to inspire change and we look forward to meeting the new sustainability leaders of 2017.”
The Award winners will be announced at a black tie ceremony on 30 November at Shed 10 on Auckland’s waterfront. Tickets are now on sale.
The finalists for the 2017 NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards are: Sustainability Superstar AwardSponsored by Westpac Geoff Bold, Fisher & Paykel HealthcareBob Burnett, Bob Burnett ArchitectureGary Dalton, Te Whangai TrustJosie Evans, Excelso CoffeeAndrew Fisher, EcoStock Supplies LtdToni Hogg, Green CabsAnton Hutton, Z EnergyIan G. McLean, Toi Ohomai Institute of TechnologyJulia Milne, Common Unity Project AotearoaDee and Steve West, ChargeNet New Zealand Communicating for Change AwardSponsored by Cadence Communications Conscious ConsumersEcotricityGreen CabsMeridian EnergySustainable Winegrowing NZ / NZ Sustainability DashboardSuperhome MovementThe Better NZ TrustTrade MeWasteMINZBayfair Shopping CentreClean EventKiwi Community Assistance Charitable TrustLittle Yellow BirdMy Car Your RentalThankyou PayrollTROW GroupVerisafeWestpac Partnering for Good Award Akina FoundationAuckland Whale & Dolphin SafariBNZ and Good Shepherd NZChargeNet New ZealandDementia Auckland / WestpacFonterra / KickStart Breakfast ProgrammeKiwibank and BanqerMevo LimitedNew Zealand PostSeagull Centre TrustTake My Hands Charitable TrustThree Kings Salvage and Recovery Project Going Circular AwardSponsored by Auckland Council Auckland District Health BoardClearsite Demolition LtdEcoStock Supplies LtdEthiqueGlobal Action Plan OceaniaInnocent PackagingMashbone Dog TreatsReclaimReseneThe FormaryTrademeTROW GroupWishbone Design StudioWoolchemy NZ Ltd Efficiency Champion AwardSponsored by RicohAuckland District Health BoardChristchurch Airport Clearsite Demolition LtdFisher & Paykel HealthcareFoodstuffsKiwi Property GroupT&G Global Smarter Transport AwardSponsored by Opus International Consultants Auckland TransportBoltra LtdChargeNet New ZealandEcotricityFlip the FleetMercuryMevo LimitedNew Zealand PostWaste Management NZ LimitedYourDrive Revolutionising Energy AwardSponsored by EECA BusinessBayfair Shopping CentreChargeNet New ZealandECOLight / Kiwi Property GroupEcoStock Supplies LtdHR Cement LimitedPakaraka PermacultureReid Technology Ltd & TEAM Power LtdVector Transforming Food AwardSponsored by Yealands Family WinesCommon Unity Project AotearoaDung Beetle InnovationsEcoStock Supplies LtdGreen Spot Technologies LtdOtago LocustsPakaraka PermaculturePurebread Restoring Nature AwardSponsored by Department of Conservation Agrissentials NZ LtdAuckland Whale & Dolphin SafariGreen CabsLittle Brown Kiwi New ZealandMaungatautari Ecological Island Trust (MEIT) Real JourneysTe Whangai TrustZealandia
| A Sustainable Busness Network release || August 31, 2017 |||
Growing evidence shows that the downside of super-fast connectivity and ultra-fast broadband is producing an equivalent lift in cyber-attacks, NZTech chief executive Graeme Muller says.
Muller, just back from the multinational Global Tech Leaders Dialogue in Melbourne yesterday, says many nations involved in the forum confirmed increasing cyber-attacks along with faster connections.
“This week alone we have seen sophisticated scams using fake government websites and email addresses,” Muller says.
“The national cyber emergency response team CERT NZ have identified and exposed scams such as the fake IRD tax rebate email scam and the fake Ministry of Primary Industries exporters advisory email scam.
“Both elaborate cases of phishing attacks designed to get people to click on a link that inserts malware onto their computer. This malware allows criminals to capture your key strokes or take over your machine.
“As systems across our economy are becoming more digital the greater the number and variety of attacks, says Muller, and at the extreme end of the range of concerns is what could happen when complex systems like autonomous vehicles or drones come online.
“Our discussions in Melbourne focused on the increasing need for all countries to share information better around cyber issues as global supply chains connecting large corporates and small to medium enterprises across borders provide many potential vulnerabilities that expose us all.”
Recent research from the Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (ASOCIO), highlights that cyber security remains a significant risk as nations in the region become more digital.
The report, due for release on September 11, recommends the establishment of a regional CERT to connect national cyber security response teams for faster information sharing.
Muller says the cyber security of New Zealand and its trading partners is particularly important as digital trade grows and ultimately sees something similar to a security version of the World Health Organisation develop as the sense of shared responsibility grows and nations work to decrease cyber-crime.
“The New Zealand government’s cyber security strategy is considered world leading and as a nation we continue to work on improving our security together.
“The third annual NZTech Advance Cyber Security Summit in Wellington on October 25 will see tech leaders, security experts and policy makers finding innovative solutions for improving our cyber security.
“The summit has become an environment for shared learnings and experiences, and the opportunity to check in on the work being done as part of the national security strategy.
“We will hear from firms like TradeMe and Xero, completely digital businesses and how they are managing their security, and there will be updates from the minister, the CERT and the National Cyber Policy Office.”
“This is a nationally critical issue that is not about to go away and our ability to get together like this and collaborate, across industry and government, means that as a nation we are well placed to be one of the most secure nations, and this will help drive economic growth in the future,” Muller says.
For further information contact NZTech chief executive Graeme Muller or 21 02520767 or Make Lemonade editor-in-chief Kip Brook on 0275 030188.
| A MakeLemonade release || August 31, 2017 |||
"Double the amount of pallets fit onto a container ship" writes Nele Moorthamers Marketing Manager Europe ZESPRI International ( Europe) NV for FreshPlaza. A few months ago Seatrade introduced a new line from New Zealand. "Our kiwis now go to Belgium with the Seatrade Blue," says Nele Moorthamers of Zespri Europe. "This container ship goes to Zeebrugge via Peru and the US, arriving at the BNFW terminal, where the kiwis are unloaded. It will be a set line that will arrive at Zeebrugge every 10 days. The first ship from the new line arrived on August 28. Around 40% of the shipment is SunGold and the rest is Green and Organic kiwi fruit."
ContainersIt's the first time that Zespri has transported its kiwis in 40 foot containers. "
In the past the kiwis arrived in Zeebrugge in reefer ships, where the entire deck was filled with pallets of kiwi fruit. The line Color Carrier, uses cooled container ships. Every container has around 20 pallets of kiwis and are individually cooled. It mainly has an impact on loading and unloading the ships," she explains.
Double the volume"The container ship has a much larger capacity. In the past we received around 5,000 pallets through a reefer ship and there are 10,060 pallets on the ship that arrived on Monday. That's more than double. The transit time is now a few days longer than with the reefer ships, as this line has extra stops."
Nele says that the season has been satisfactory so far. "We still have around six weeks of sales for New Zealand SunGold, before we seamlessly move to European SunGold. The season for Green is more difficult, as the demand is large and the supply on the market is quite limited."
| A FreshPlaza release || August 30, 2017 |||
Queensland trade policy 'really bad' for NZ firms
Record numbers as finalists announced for 2017 NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards
Auckland waterfront plans unveiled
Ports of Auckland trims annual dividend as profit slips 28%
All NZ kiwifruit contractors to be audited after worker exploitation
Do you know your window film can help block you getting Skin Cancer? SolarGard WindowFilm blocks up to 99% of the harmful UVA & UVB rays from the sun that can cause SkinCancer. Research shows that sun exposure in the car is particularly harmful because most of us don't apply sunscreen.
It wouldn't go amiss if you checked out just how effective the film is with Ross Eathorne the Solar Gard distributor here in New Zealand.
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Not only are these more lightweight, cheaper, and customizable, the drones are also applicable to the military, agriculture, service industries, and disaster relief.
The article at this link written by Charles Goulding is an indepth look at the development behind 3D printed drones. Well worth a read.
| A CADPRO Systems release || Wednesday 30 August 2017 |||
It's the Asia Cup and Pakistan are playing their arch-rivals India. They need nine to win from 4 balls with one wicket in hand and 'Boom Boom’ Shahid Afridi is facing Ravichandran Ashwin. A short ball on off-stump is thumped with mighty force by Afridi. The ball catches the outside edge and sails over the cover boundary. 73m six.
3 off 3 now.
Another short ball, this time on the stumps. Afridi once again edges the pull but the ball travels over long-on and Pakistan win. The Pakistani fans erupt into celebrations as Lala has done it yet again for them.
If this match were played some decades ago, India would have been the ones celebrating. Top edges don't go for sixes in the Bradman-era. 73m would be way inside the boundary line. But this is another era, the era of sixes, the era of short boundaries, the era of gigantic bats.
Those pieces of wood which the likes of Ranjitsinhji, Wilfred Rhodes and WG Grace used have quadrupled in size. Not surprising though. The only things that have grown shorter in cricket are Dhoni’s hair, Sir Richard Hadlee's run-up and boundary ropes. Bats have just grown bigger, bigger and bigger since.
David Warner's Kaboom bat (Gray Nicholls Kaboom) has a depth of 85mm. Considering the number of bats modern cricketers use, if David Warner hadn’t played cricket, there would have been a willow forest in New South Wales.
Warner isn't the only modern cricketer to carry such bats. The likes of Chris Gayle, Kevin Pietersen and MS Dhoni carry pretty deep wood bats and it has been a subject of a lot of discussions in recent times.
The MCC eventually brought in some changes and outlined a set of permissible dimensions for the cricket bat. "We have talked for the last couple of years about concerns that the committee has had about the size of bats and where the size of bat is going to go in the next five-ten years," Ricky Ponting, a member of the committee, had a as revealed by ESPNCricinfo. "So we have actually come up with some dimensions that we are comfortable with as a committee."
The new permitted dimensions will be 108mm in width, 67mm in depth and 40mm edges. That would mean Warner's 85mm bat is 18mm above the permissible limit, which is quite outrageous considering that the balance between bat and ball is heavily compromised.
The history of the cricket bat
The earliest cricket bat used was believed to be in 1620 when a batsman hit the fielder with a bat to prevent him from catching the ball. The shape of the bat was thought to be similar to modern hockey sticks since rolling the arm over wasn't yet practised at the time.
It started taking a rectangular form in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The laws had by then changed and bowlers were allowed to roll their arms over like they do in modern cricket. There were no restrictions on the size or the shape of the bat at that point of time.
The width of the bat was set at four and a quarter inch by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the copyright holder of the Laws of Cricket in early 18th century. This came on the back of an Englishman, representing Ryegate, walking in to bat against Hambledon in 1771 with a bat as wide as the stumps.
The bats were believed to be around £5 then, and were made from English Willow trees, specifically the heartwood portion which was dense and hence appeared darker.
Bat manufacturing in the late 1900s became an art. Credits: Play Better Cricket
The process changed by the late 1800s when bat manufacturer CC Bussey, from England used the sapwood trees. This made bats lighter and hence easier to wield. The manufacturing process changed from then on as more and more manufacturers preferred the sapwood, called the 'white willow' at the time.
The advent of the 20th century saw players like Don Bradman, Vijay Merchant and Wally Hammond emerge. They used bats similar in size and shape but the weight varied. The average bat was two pounds two ounces. Billy Ponsford, though, was famous for using a 2.9lbs bat, called the “Big Bertha” bat. But by the 1960s, players like Clive Lloyd and Graeme Pollock started using bats heavier than 3 pounds.
This made playing certain shots particularly difficult, a reason why several players still preferred lighter bats. The Great Ranjitsinhji discovered the leg glance courtesy a light bat which could be steerer quite easily as against a heavier willow.
Cricket spreading to other countries was also instrumental in the development of bats. Manufacturers started experimenting with local timber and the English Willow was tried to be grown in Australia and New Zealand with little success.
The distribution of weight and the sweet spot
From the mid 1900s, the big bat revolution began. The Kashmiri willow became famous in India and Pakistan as it was approximately the same in terms of weight as the English kind, although it was believed to be less durable.
The real change came when the distribution of weight turned into something bat manufacturers experimented with. Gary Nicholls and John Newberry were the pioneers of this movement and it resulted in “Super Scoop” bats.
There was a large hollow at the back of the bat and more timber at the edges. This distribution brought the “sweet spot” into focus.Immense precision goes into the preparation of a bat. [Credits: Izismile]
In those times, the middle of the lower half of the bat was the sweet spot, where the timber would be dense. This allowed the bat to induce maximum power on the ball. These days, bats have so many sweet spots that they could very well be mistaken for a bakery.
Once the sweet spot was settled, the focus turned into reducing the weight of bats. The likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Lance Klusener used monstrous bats that played a part in back injuries. The emphasis as such turned into making lighter bats which generated as much power.
The dryness of the willow was considered a crucial factor here. Reducing moisture content of the willow allowed bats to become lighter while maintaining the same effectiveness in terms of power. Modern day bats are actually lighter than those used in the 1960s but have bigger edges and greater depth.
The material at all times remained wood after Mike Brearley complained of Dennis Lillee’s aluminium bat in 1979. A graphite reinforced bat was used by Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey as part of an experiement by Kookaburra but it did not last.
Durability vs Strength
The durability of the bat was a huge concern in the early 1900s but that is no longer pondered about. Cricketers carry around a lot of bats and are believed to use more than 10 bats a season. Herschelle Gibbs once revealed that he went through 47 bats in one season (Source: The Guardian), although that is quite rare.
The amount of time the wood is pressed contributes to the efficiency of bats. The more it is pressed, the less efficient the bat is although it becomes more durable. Modern bats aren't pressed much at the demands of cricketers and as such it is less durable but superlatively effective.
A willow store room. Credits: Telegraph
All in all, this has contributed to enormous bats in the 21st century largely tilting the balance in favour of batsmen.
he MCC has rightfully intervened to restrict bat sizes which will be effective from October 1 this year.
“The time has come to restrict the size of bat edges and the overall width [depth] of bats," Mike Brearley, chairman of the MCC, had said as revealed by ESPNCricinfo. "It was pointed out to us that, in 1905, the width of bats was 16mm and that, by 1980, it had increased to 18mm. It is now an average, in professional cricket, of 35-40mm and sometimes up to 60mm. That shows how fast the change has been."
As the limitations take effect, we would probably get to know the kind of impact these humongous bats have made in the past decade or so.
| A SportSkeeda release || August 30, 2017 |||
New Zealand’s major national rural health group says they are happy the government has committed to ensuring 74,000 more rural further homes to be connected for mobile phone reception.
The Rural Health Alliance of Aotearoa New Zealand (RHAANZ) says all the homes to get fibre wi-fi are in small and tiny rural towns as well as extending urban edges. The alliance has concerns and wants assurances that there will not be any extra costs to small town New Zealand to subsidise high costs for rural connections.
The Government announced today it is investing $270 million to roll out Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) to 190 more small towns and extend rural broadband to another 74,000 households and businesses.
More than 300,000 rural homes and businesses already have access to improved broadband – about half the population of rural New Zealand.
The announcement will provide important coverage to remote parts including State Highway 1 in Northland and SH6 on the West Coast.
“This is a positive move to see rural connectivity investment for Rural New Zealand. It’s great to see a consortium of three mobile companies pooling resources to ensure the roll out is extended beyond anything any one mobile provider could do. We are also happy that wireless providers are receiving funding to help rural areas where geography obstructs the roll out of fibre,” RHAANZ chair Martin London says.
“Having 87 percent of the New Zealand population to have access to fibre continues to move us higher on the OECD table for connectivity. But we feel for the many thousands of rural Kiwi households still without broadband.
“We are keen to see government to keep focusing on providing broadband in rural areas where Kiwis help contribute so much to the nation’s economy.
“When you consider the government is providing extra funding to ultrafast broadband to reach 87 percent of New Zealanders in 190 cities and towns by 2022 that’s really heartening.
“But why should New Zealanders who don’t live in cities be the last to be supported? The lives of rural New Zealanders are at risk every day because of poor connectivity and inequitable health services.
“And just because we have good fast internet we need to make sure all rural Kiwis know how to make good economical use of it.”
Dr London says government needs to help remove barriers so rural people’s health be considered just as important as those who live in cities.
RHAANZ has 47 national member organisations encompassing rural health providers, agribusiness groups, universities, rural community groups and local government.
Rural New Zealand makes up at least 600,000 people, effectively New Zealand’s second largest city, and is an important constituency from an economic and political perspective.
Agriculture and tourism are the powerhouses of the economy, London says. Each year, more than two and a half million tourists visit rural New Zealand. In 2011-2012, $40 billion, or 19 percent of GDP, was generated directly or indirectly by the agri-food sector.
For more information contact RHAANZ chair Martin London on 027 4641191 or Make Lemonade editor-in-chief Kip Brook on 0275 030188.
| A REal Lemonade release || August 30, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242