Workshop One
Beer Brewing & Bread Making

The first Ecowars workshop went off without a hitch last night. With all teams turning up in their green Ecowars t-shirts ready and rearing to go. After all teams successfully solving the tricky riddle to reveal the location, time and theme of the workshop. Beer Brewing and Bread Making at QEC Kitchens from 6pm. A very promising sign we must say!

Twenty Domino's Pizzas arrived and within the first half hour all were consumed... which is no surprise really. Janice Feyen from The Green Hub started the workshop by teaching the teams how to make their own bread. No easy feat if you haven't done it before. A slightly lengthy process which was broken up with learning how to start the beer brewing process. Rueben Lockwood from Simply Brewing went through the intricate process of mixing up a standard brew, which only takes about 20 minutes. At this stage the beer needs to be kept in constant temperature for about 10 days before its ready to bottle. Rueben had a lovely assistant Mark who bought in three yummy craft beers for us to taste. Mark started brewing his own beer 5 years ago using the same beer brewing kits as the students got to take home. So it just goes to show the level you can take your brewing skills. You never know we may have some future proprietor amongst this latest group of eager beavers.

When Rueben was finished the teams went back to their bread which was ready to be kneaded and shaped and put in the oven. Like last year some of the shapes needed an R18 rating. While the teams were waiting for their breads to bake they had to work through a 15 question quiz which tested the teams listening skills. Some of the answers were a little far fetched but never the lease an interesting read.

Each team walked away with their own beer brewing kit, bread recipes and a selection of warm buns or odd shaped breads for some teams.

Workshop One Riddle - 21st March

Double, double toil and trouble
This brew will make Saccharomyces cerevisiae bubble
In the cauldron boil and bake
Just think of all the dough you'll make
Listen to what Alice Cooper sings
To hear how long before witching hour begins
Halve that to see how long you'll stay
In a hall where young queens learn and play

Ecowars 2012 Riddle #1 (0.13MB)

Workshop TWO
GARDENS & COMPOSTING

Workshop 2 started with all the warriors stuffing themselves with Pizza thanks to one of our fab sponsors Domino's. Sian Cass from Super Grans www.supergran.org.nz was back again to demonstrated how to build yourself the ultimate compost heap. Like last year she brought in sacks of different waste and emptied it out on the floor of the Awapuni Recycling Centre. Learning how to make a worm farm was next on the agenda...and again Sian brought in her very own friendly worms. Turns out if you have a healthy worm farm you shouldn't be able to smell it... lets hope our flats look after these otherwise the post flat audit could be interesting. Sian then went on the explain the fundamentals to planting and growing seeds and seedlings. Tips and tricks were shared as the teams picked Sian brain for the competitive advantage... so we will wait and see which flats have the greenest fingers!

It was Pip's (PNCC Environmental Educator) turn to give a brief run down on the Bokashi kits. Google it......a seriously great product.

This year Mitre 10 mega came to the party with even more fantastic useful bits and bobs for growing the ultimate veggy garden. Soil, veggie mix, bins, gloves, gardening tools, wind tunnels, even a mushroom growing kit. Once again Awapuni Nurseries provided all the seedlings, lets hope the flats keep them all alive.

  Ecowars 2012 Riddle #2 (0.15MB)

Workshop THREE
HOMEMADE CLEANING PRODUCTS

Janice Fayen from Green Hub who is a judge was back again to teach the teams how to make their own cleaning products as well as giving them some tips and tricks to shopping wisely.

Bottom Line: All you need is white vinegar and baking soda. Janice who also was the Mother on Pianeer House (NZ TV Show from a few years ago) can turn a pantry item into makeup and or cleaning products. Super cheap and no chemicals, AMAZING!!

Janice's interesting stories on how to save money were so intriguing the students stayed on to ask more questions and even sign up to volunteer at The Green Hub. Extra brownie points are definitely on the card.

Pip hit the floor and spoke about her Nature Farm products which in short are living bacteria in a spray bottle that eat the bad bacteria which produces odor. So come post audit time all flats should be smell of roses. Well fingers crossed!!

Workshop Three Riddle - 4th April

To save your cash, since we all love a sale
Go where everyone gets a bargain, without fail
On that same street, a house of the opposite shade
Is where surfactants will be made
You’ll have to scrub up, but when to come in?
When one hour has passed for every sin

Ecowars 2012 Riddle #3 (0.13MB)

Workshop FOUR
Water at Massey University with Dr Mike Joy

Workshop 4 started with hot pizza thanks to Domino's on a cold May Manawatu night. Once the students were feed and watered ecologist Dr Mike Joy opened the workshop with a thought provoking statement. Is NZ Clean Green Image ....really what it seems.

Dr Joy talked through a number of facts and figures that supported not only his but scientist claims that in fact NZ is not as clean and green as we have all been lead to believe. He went on the say that the NZ Pure message is nothing but a publicity stunt. On the other hand 'is perception the only reality' a tricky one which Ill leave you to decide. Research like the following is however hard to ignore. 'In the latest international comparisons of environmental performance of countries New Zealand ranked 18th worst country in the world one after China.

The teams silently took everything that Dr Joy said on board. Some teams even writing detailed notes. Dr Joys presentation although overwhelming, provoked the teams into asking some good questions, 'what could they do to help'. For which Dr Joy replied 'awareness is the key' we need to ensure these issues don't get pushed out of mainstream media, together we need to stand up and make plans to stop the destruction and pollution of our stream, lakes and land.

Although the presentation was data / figure heavy all the teams aced the quiz with one team even getting 100%. We now wait with baited breath and see the clever ways they portray the water workshop in their next vlog.

To read more about Ecologist Dr Mike Joy check out the below links below:

One, Two and Three.

Workshop Five Riddle - 9th May

Ecowars 2012 Riddle #5 (0.18MB)

Workshop FIVE
Recycling

The last Ecowars workshop for 2012 went extremely well - once the teams worked out where they were meant to be.

Pip Chrystall  Environmental Educator for the Palmerston North City Council invited us into her teaching space and gave us the scary truth about waste. 

First Pip quizzed the teams on their recycling knowledge. What can and can not be recycled, what is tin cans made out off etc. The students and one brave landlord tackled the questions head on, managing to get a few correct answers. Some rather sobering facts and figures that definitely made the teams STOP and think. 

Pip then took the teams through the Recycling Centre, which proved to be a real eye-opener. The centre manages the city’s recyclable waste and processes it to make salable bales of material, used to manufacture new products.

Once back in the safety of Pips education space 3 overwhelming videos were shown. The story about Stuff (google it) and a very sad video about the Pacific Rim and how Hawaiian beaches now have hundreds and thousands of pieces of plastic rubbish washing up on their shores. A rather lengthy discussion was generated from watching these videos, in which the teams agreed that the problem was huge, but that the solution easy - STOP purchasing plastic which will STOP the demand and therefore STOP the manufacturing companies making the products.

Check out this trailer of a BBC documentary called Message in the waves: http://www.messageinthewaves.com/

And this:

http://www.storyofstuff.com/ about electronics, cosmetics and bottled water.

 Get voting for your favourite platoon…

Ecowars Awards Night - 24 May 2012