A growing awareness of our environment, climate change, and options for a more sustainable existence is permeating all aspects of modern living.

Young and old alike are becoming more concerned with environmental issues, and keeping in step with environment news has become an increasingly important part of feeling informed for many New Zealanders.

From large scale awareness events like World Environment Day to smaller, more frequent community initiatives and a focus on ‘going green’ each and every day, enviro-conscious Kiwis are making the move toward a more sustainable future.

For more information about environmental issues and initiatives visit the environment category in the NZS.com directory.

Enviro-friendly Kiwis can safely dispose of their old PCs, computer bits and bobs, mobile phones and digital cameras at eDay this weekend.

eDay is a free computer recycling event being held in over 40 centres throughout New Zealand on Saturday, September 12. The event is expected to divert more than 1,000 tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste) from New Zealand landfills.

The event was launched in Wellington in 2006, when 54 tonnes of unused computer hardware was collected. The event has grown exponentially over the past three years, with communities jumping on board to dispose of their e-waste sustainably.

Recycling e-waste enables the recovery and reuse of valuable materials and ensures toxic materials are not buried in landfills.

E-waste items that can be disposed of include computer hardware, monitors, networking equipment such as modems and routers, scanners, keyboards, mice, speakers, laptops, printers, game consoles, toner and ink jet cartridges, mobile phones, fax machines, and digital cameras.

For more information on eDay and to find your nearest eDay drop off point visit the eDay website.

An earthquake in Fiordland measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale rattled the South Island and sparked a 90-minute tsunami alert last night.

Though the quake appears to have caused little damage, an alert from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii was issued for southern New Zealand soon after it struck at 9.22pm, 100 kilometres north-west of Tuatapere in Southland.

The earthquake was estimated to be approximately 12 kilometres deep, and was followed by two sizeable aftershocks, the first of a 6.1 magnitude 20 minutes later, and the second measuring 5.9 just before 2am.

Though both quakes were far from any towns, phones went down in east Invercargill power was out in Otatara, and a water main was broken in Winton, north of Invercargill.

The quake was felt strongly in Dunedin, Invercargill and Timaru, and Christchurch residents have reported feeling it as a long, rolling motion. People as far north as Wellington are said to have felt the earthquake to a lesser extent.

At 7.8 on the Richter scale, last night’s quake in Fiordland was among the second largest earthquakes records in New Zealand since European colonisation. The only one to top it was the 8.2 magnitude quake in Wairarapa on January 23, 1855.

One of New Zealand’s most famous earthquakes, also measuring 7.8, was in Napier in 1931, and caused the largest loss of life and most extensive damage of any recorded New Zealand quake.

News of last night’s earthquake was quickly picked up by world media, with reports appearing within the hour on BBC, CNN and Sky News websites.

For more information on New Zealand earthquakes check out the seismology category on NZS.com.

You’ve still got a few days until Easter Sunday or organise your Easter treats. What do you have planned? Make sure before you and your family dig into the indulgent side of Easter you understand the meaning of Easter and why it is celebrated.

While Easter is a fun time for kids, adults can indulge in a little chocolate too. Check out the chocolate shops on NZS.com for some inspiration!

If are keen on making your own Easter eggs (it’s easier than it sounds) check out our Easter egg recipes. For those who want to enjoy Easter without the super-sweet tooth, how about some homemade hot cross buns? Easter baking isn’t restricted to chocolate, so get the oven firing this weekend.

Image from Flickr.

Earth Hour 09 kicks off in New Zealand tomorrow night, with 1760 cities worldwide over 80 countries participating. The event, now in its 8th year, asks every house in the world to turn off the lights for one hour on one night of the year.

The first Earth Hour saw 2.2 million homes and businesses switch off their lights in Sydney, and this year’s event hopes to reach 1 billion people over the globe. Last year, landmarks such as the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca-Cola billboard in Time Square all stood in darkness for the hour in mention.

By switching off your lights on Saturday night, your household can help take control of the future of our planet by combating climate change. Make sure you join Earth Hour between 8.30 – 9.30pm tomorrow night!

Summertime is blissful isn’t it? Many Kiwis are still lapping up sun rays on their summer beach holidays this week – but for everyone back at work it’s great to know that the New Zealand summer has only really just begun. It’s still light until after 9pm at the moment, meaning every night after work can be filled with BBQ dinners, late night walks and meet-ups at local bars and pubs.

The weather is looking better than ever this week, with temperatures predicted to go over 30 degrees in several parts of the country. Keep tabs on the main centres’ weather and temperatures by regularly visiting our Auckland weather, Wellington weather and Christchurch weather pages, or if you’re in a smaller city or town find your location on the New Zealand weather map.

Begin??? The spring time change is near, and it has probably popped into your mind over the last few weeks.. when does daylight savings start?

The answer to your question is next Sunday, September 28, when 2am becomes 3am.

We first experienced the much appreciated extended daylight savings (an extra three weeks!) last September, amidst a little confusion from many of our computers. While we’re all hoping these issues have been fixed this time around, make sure you read up on the background of how your computer and daylight savings interact, and what you may still need to do manually.

Bring on the 27 coming weeks of extended daylight! For more info on stat holidays in New Zealand and when they begin (daylight savings signifies the beginning of the public holiday season!), check out the article on NZS.com.

Being in Christchurch, I was lucky enough to attend some of the Writers Festival events that we held here over the last three days. The festival was a truly massive gathering of literary folk young and old, all keen to listen to some of their favourite authors speak. I witnessed international-scale book signings, and even a few celebrity sightings.

The most interesting for me and relevant to NZS.com was, of course, the panel discussion about blogging.The session featured legendary Los Angelino lit-blogger Mark Sarvas, whose blog The Elegant Variation has been named one of the best on the Web by publications Forbes and Entertainment Weekly.

Sarvas had a very interesting take on the importance of blogging for self-promotion, as he blogged of the process of his last novel whist writing it. Upon the book’s completion, he contacted several publishing agents (some of whom had been keeping up with his blog) and just minutes after first contact, he had sold his novel. The agent who acquired the novel’s rights had been regularly visiting Sarvas’ blog and knew he was about to contact potential publishers, so was eager to jump on the rights as soon as Sarvas let the world know he had finished it.

Blogging for business isn’t just restricted for self-promotion, so make sure your company regularly contributes to the blogosphere – you might find your next client is a regular visitor!

After several months of counting down, the Olympic Games 2008 are finally just a week away. Beijing has been highly criticised over the last few weeks because it has not yet managed to clean up the air pollution problem to a standard which the IOC (International Olympic Committee) has been counting on.

With just 8 days to go, can China pull one out of the bag? Media reports have claimed the city plans to cut 95% of all motor vehicle usage for the 48 hours preceding the opening ceremony – a move which will bode well with competitors, visitors and perhaps vital to the Games themselves. This restriction however, is one that will incapacitate Beijing residents, leaving them confined to public transport and non-motorised ways of travel such as walking and cycling.

China is well known for only providing limited and censored internet access within its perimetres, however the IOC announced yesterday that the 21,500-odd journalists and news media travelling to Beijing for the Games will be allowed near-unrestricted online access.

“Sensitive”, non-Games related websites such as those associated with the governmentally-prohibited spiritual group Falun Gong, and the Amnesty International website which condemns the Chinese nation for its inability to respect human rights quotas, will continue to remain inaccessible in China throughout the Games.

Earlier this year the Chinese government unblocked the English-language Wikipedia website, in what some say was owing to pressures from the IOC. However, the “sufficient, convenient internet access” which will be made available for journalists to be able to do their job for the Olympics will expire in October, when full Web restrictions will be reinstated in China.

NZS.com will be covering the Games daily with an Olympic Medals tally, don’t forget to check back each day from August 10 for updates on the New Zealand Olympic team’s winnings!

While Monday this week (Queen’s Birthday in Australia) officially marked the opening of Australian ski season, it looks again like tens of thousands of Aussies will be venturing over the ditch to New Zealand when our major ski fields open at the end of this month.

New Zealand’s ski resorts receive approximately a quarter of their annual tourism from Australian visitors, last year totaling 70,000 Aussie holidaymakers, reports the Dominion Post. This figure is increasing by 20 percent each year, due to better and more reliable skiing this side of the Tasman.

New Zealand is leading the world with advances in environmental sustainability, as demonstrated at last weeks World Environmental Day in Wellington. New Zealand increasingly attracts international tourists committed to sustainable eco-tourist travel options, as we are privy to several tour operators determined to leave a smaller footprint on the globe.

Luxury tour companies such as Green Realm Travel offer tours on the New Zealand roads which are the cutting edge in comfort and environmental standards. This company has built their coaches based on the eco-friendly MAN A67 Euro 4 coach chassis, which uses progressive technology that reduces fuel consumption, exhaust-gas emissions and noise. The particle filter system in the engine make these coaches arguably the cleanest diesels in the world.

Image from Flickr.