Woman’s Weekly goes green
Yay for the NZ Woman’s Weekly and its first ever green issue. This week, has it got ‘57 pages of stories aimed to both inform you and inspire you to think green’.
‘Outrageous Fortune star Robyn Malcolm tells eco-warrior Francesca Price about why she’s getting back to basics and learning that less is really more.’
And the cover story, 20/20 host Miriama Kamo talks about her slice of heaven on Waiheke Island and ‘reveals her eco-friendly goals and the small steps that changed her life.’
And, of course, what green gossip mag would be complete without a photo shoot of Jeanette’s eco haven? (She’s even bumped the story about Prince William and Kate Middleton of the cover):
Seeing Jeanette Fitzsimons in her organic garden nestled in the Kauaeranga Valley in the Coromandel it’s difficult to imagine this woman striding the corridors of the Beehive, fighting the save the planet.
Indeed.
But once she’s got that superhero cape on these no stopping her striding up and down those corridors. Stride, stride, stride.
When we built the house it was going to cost us $20,000 to be connected to the national grid, so instead we used that money to invest in solar and wind power… We have a micro-hydro unit which uses water from the stream. It isn’t enough in the summer, but in the winter, when there is less sun, and we need to supplement our solar power, there is plenty of energy.
It’s funny how green solutions are far more pleasant than people sometimes first imagine they are.
June 24th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
No wonder their circulation is so low.
June 24th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Apparently not that low. The editorial on its website says:
June 24th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
big bro … why do you spend so much time on this site when the views expressed by ‘frog’ are obviously so opposed to your own. Do you enjoy exercising your sarcasm muscle? Would you not rather be part of a web community that shares your views? Do you honestly think you are doing this commuity a favour with your devil’s advocate stance? Informed debate is enriching - but you just seem to have a bow and a quiver full of grumpy-tipped arrows. Am genuinely interested in hearing what you get out of these activities ….
June 24th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I do like the idea of energy self-sufficiency, especially when my Contact bill arrives. Ouch.
The problem is the tech isn’t quite there yet (too expensive, too little output), but as soon as it is, I’ll in.
June 24th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Good stuff and an excellent target market!
Don’t underestimate the “women who have time to read the Woman’s Weekly” on a regular basis, and don’t underestimate the “reach” of any good information contained within. The article will be discussed in the children’s playground, at the school gates, etc etc
Front page coverage is a real bonus. That is on display at the corner dairy, the local bookshop, etc which extends well beyond the WW’s regular readership.
June 24th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
How big is your Contact Energy bill Blue Peter?
Our Meridian monthly bill averages out in the low $50’s (the highest on record is $62, and we have yet to install solar water heating).
Maybe there are some things that you could learn from the Greens …
June 24th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
>>How big is your Contact Energy bill Blue Peter
The one that arrived today was $600. But then I have a big, 1930’s house, spa pool, central heating, and an aversion to cold.
The next house we have, we intend to build, and we’ll be including every applicable insulation and “green” technology going. Hopefully, power alternative power generation is up to speed by then.
>>Maybe there are some things that you could learn from the Greens
Yep. That’s part of the reason I’m here
June 24th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
I guess we can add Miriama to the long list of biased left wing media types.
Just why does the government own a radio network and TV organisation anyway?
June 24th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
I think they should bring out a monthly magazine. Woops, bad joke.
June 24th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
>>Woops, bad joke.
Just got that. LOL.
June 24th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
The WW ‘Green Edition’ is an awesome format for green issues and the effects will ripple in increasingly large waves up to and beyond the election. I couldn’t be happier with this priceless showcasing - real people, doing great green things. Sido Kitchin - thank you!
June 25th, 2008 at 8:46 am
WW reporting on something…constructive? Well blow me down. Rather unfortunate that 900,000 a week read it in the first place, but in this case - ‘hurrah’!
June 25th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
yes ladies, consume your way to a green revolution!
I do get very sick of a constant message that we can save the planet by buying more green stuff. Part of the reason we are in this conundrum in the first place is because we consume way too much stuff.
I’d love to see one of these lifestyle magazines moot the idea of buying less, heaven forbid, buy nothing!
Buy it yourself, make it yourself. Much more interesting.
June 25th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
itstheeconomystupid,
So how precisely are people going to pay for the costs of living if they lose their jobs, because everyone decides to make things themselves?
June 25th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
I meant …everything themselves?
June 25th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
# SleepyTreehugger Says:
June 25th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
> So how precisely are people going to pay for the costs of living if they lose their jobs, because everyone decides to make things themselves?
People won’t make everything themselves. If we could do that, the economy would never have been invented. But the more things people make for themselves, the less money they need to buy stuff, so the less paid work they need to pay for it. It is a weird thing about GDP that if you grow your own apples they’re not considered to be worth anything, but if you work at KFC and spend money from that job on buying apples, you’re considered to be better off, even if they’re inferior apples (not that anyone spends their entire income on apples - it’s a simplification).
June 26th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
StephenR- I had a similar reaction. While I trust women themselves to do something constructive, (it happens a lot) the actual media aimed at them is a lot less reliable. Yay for W’sW taking on more serious issues than some rich celebrity’s new girl/boyfriend!