Information on Sustainable Living

NZ's Sustainable Living Education Trust operates independently to gather and publish handy information - it's the practical stuff you need to know, to make a difference, by taking action locally and at home.

We know that you are responding to change happening globally such as pandemics and climate change, whilst your realistic action has to start locally, at home, in your community and workplace. Start learning future living skills for this on our Actions page.

The downloads area holds our detailed Learning Guides on each of eight topics. Registered site users have access free within NZ (thanks to support from member City & District Councils - see our district page - plus Ministry for the Environment, which recognises our contribution to waste minimisation with support from the Waste Minimisation Fund). 

We start with easy, no-cost actions, then propose small investments that can pay for themselves, such as alternative behaviours and energy efficiency to cut power bills. Then we move on to the bigger challenges. The bigger challenges apply when moving home, changing a vehicle, renewing domestic appliances, raising babies, renovating a house and deciding if and where to fly abroad. We aim to help you move towards lower-carbon living and reduce your waste of scarce resources, whilst enjoying a good quality of life, with less clutter of 'stuff'.

You will feel good when these choices also save you money and support better health. Our community education is focussed on building your 'future living skills' in the community. Explore this theme more and stay in touch by Liking our Facebook page.  (There is a 'FutureLivingSkills' Facebook link embedded on this page).

PS. Might this be your new career?  Sharon, pictured here, joined one of our classes when a University of Canterbury student and went on to work at the University promoting sustainability on campus & on student projects such as 'Eco My Flat'.  Still in Christchurch, Sharon works professionally in waste minimisation.  Perhaps you will make sustainability 'what you do for a living'!

What's your footprint?

We can help you to understand and record your carbon footprint, in partnership with Enviromark-CarboNZero, and to understand other aspects of your environmental footprint, whilst keeping your well-being and quality of life in mind. 

There are other footprint calculators available that express your environmental impact in terms of global Hectares of land required to suppport you, with comparisons to 'average kiwi' impacts.  Member Council Kapiti Coast District has a good one - http://www.ecofootprint.nz/users/sign_in   (you need to sign up on first visit at ecofootprint, to use it)

Just browsing? Try the quiz!

If you'd enjoy exploring a range of home sustainability questions on-screen, perhaps to see how much you know about the basics already, try our quick household Quiz  then maybe go on to this site's Issues page.

How to share this learning with friends

Now that subsidised high school-based evening classes are less common, local learning groups or privately-hosted classes are the easiest way to take part: described here.  You could host or lead one! Our learning guides are interesting for a solo reader, but also designed for use by groups and we know learning for adults is more fun done that way. let us know if you are planning to start a local study group or an evening class - if its to be held in a member councila area we could help publicise it and advise you on techniques: contact  rhys (at) sustainableliving.org.nz or text your question to him on 021462260