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The Green Desk

95bFM's long-running green issues feature, The Green Desk, thanks to EcoFest 2025!

The Green Desk: Bird Heros w/ BirdCare Aotearoa’s Pooja Dorle: 2 April, 2025

The Green Desk: Bird Heros w/ BirdCare Aotearoa’s Pooja Dorle: 2 April, 2025 The Green Desk: Bird Heros w/ BirdCare Aotearoa’s Pooja Dorle: 2 April, 2025, 11.36 MB
Wed 2 Apr 2025

BirdCare Aotearoa is a wild, native bird hospital that works to rehabilitate sick and injured birds back into the wild.

For their upcoming event: ‘Bird Heros,’ a part of EcoFest 2025 on the 6th of April, the workshop will look at the best practices on rescuing wild native birds, and will include a tour of their bird hospital, which is not usually open to the public.

For this week's Green Desk, Producer Leilani spoke to the Hospital Manager at BirdCare Aotearoa, Pooja Dorle, about the rehabilitation processes of birds within their hospital ahead of their next workshop.

Fellow Green Desk Producer Liam, and News and Editorial Director Joel, went to the previous workshop over the weekend, and spoke to the Chair of the organisation, Kevin Furgeson, and volunteer Marina, and had a tour of their facilities. Thanks EcoFest!

BirdCare Aotearoa also has a fundraiser running to shed light on seabirds affected by street lights and brightly lit buildings across the city, affecting their migration patterns and causing birds, such as the protected Petrels, Shearwaters, and Prions, to fall and injure themselves. To support their clinical rehabilitation practices, you can support their campaign on givealittle.

The Green Desk: The Street Art Bike Challenge w/ Brent Bielby: 26 March, 2025

The Green Desk: The Street Art Bike Challenge w/ Brent Bielby: 26 March, 2025 The Green Desk: The Street Art Bike Challenge w/ Brent Bielby: 26 March, 2025, 8.03 MB
Wed 26 Mar 2025

Ever wondered what it would be like to bike in an Art Gallery? Well now you can, for the city is your gallery. In collaboration with EcoFest 2025 and various New Zealand artists, Bike Hubs have set up a Street Art Bike Challenge. Now, anyone can ride around the city, discover amazing works of art and win great prizes. 

This week, Green Desk Producer Liam speaks to Brent Bielby, manager of EcoMatters’ Bike Hubs, a community project aimed at encouraging more people to take up cycling. He explains the goal behind the challenge, as well as how cycling can contribute to a healthy lifestyle and provide a source of freedom and fun.  

You can take part in this challenge yourself. All you need to do is take out your bike, pedal over to the artworks, and upload a photo of you and your bike. The challenge will run until the 22nd of April, and you can find a map of all the locations and trails on the EcoMatters website.

The Green Desk: Developing skills around sustainable practices and building connections with others w/ 'Chronically Ellen': 19 March, 2025

The Green Desk: Developing skills around sustainable practices and building connections with others w/ 'Chronically Ellen': 19 March, 2025 The Green Desk: Developing skills around sustainable practices and building connections with others w/ 'Chronically Ellen': 19 March, 2025, 11.07 MB
Wed 19 Mar 2025

Ellen, who operates under the pseudonym ‘Chronically Ellen’, is a digital creator, photographer and visual storyteller who utilises her skills to uplift sustainable brands through her own online business.

As part of EcoFest 2025, she is facilitating two workshops centred around developing skills around sustainable practices and building connections with others. The first involves upcycling old magazines, ‘waste’ and second hand materials to create artworks, and the second is a beginner-friendly gardening workshop which teaches participants how to grow food in containers.

Drawing on her experiences as a disabled wāhine and eco-friendly creative, Ellen speaks with Producer Sara about the importance of environmentalism and community, her workshops at EcoFest and how listeners can take small steps to make a big difference in the face of the climate crisis. Thanks EcoFest!

The Green Desk: Rammed Earth Houses w/ Paul Geraets: 12 March, 2025

The Green Desk: Rammed Earth Houses w/ Paul Geraets: 12 March, 2025 The Green Desk: Rammed Earth Houses w/ Paul Geraets: 12 March, 2025, 17.55 MB
Wed 12 Mar 2025

You’ve heard of houses made of straw, sticks, and bricks, but what about earth, chalk, and lime? The piggies have announced – rammed-earth houses are in!

To kick off Green Desk for 2025, Producer Leilani speaks to Paul Geraets, New Zealand’s most prolific rammed earth designer and builder, about the benefits and history of these sustainable houses.

You can catch Geraets' upcoming event, 'Hands on With Rammed Earth Building' as a part of EcoFest 2025; a month-long celebration of our unique environment and sustainable living across Tāmaki Makaurau from the 22nd of March to the 22nd of April. Thanks EcoFest!

The Green Desk: Woodwork and Repairs: 22nd October, 2024

The Green Desk: Woodwork and Repairs: 22nd October, 2024 The Green Desk: Woodwork and Repairs: 22nd October, 2024, 12.46 MB
Tue 22 Oct 2024

Repairing is something of a lost art form. Appliances are built to be replaced rather than repaired. In the age of outlets like Temu and fash fashion houses - Who repairs things anymore?

On today’s Green Desk, we’re heading to The Shed — a workshop hiding in Sandringham’s GribbleHurst Park where woodworkers and tinkers spend hours fixing broken things and building new ones from scratch.

The Green Desk: Infrastructure and Energy in Wellington, Part 2: 15th October, 2024

The Green Desk: Infrastructure and Energy in Wellington, Part 2: 15th October, 2024 The Green Desk: Infrastructure and Energy in Wellington, Part 2: 15th October, 2024, 15.86 MB
Tue 15 Oct 2024

On this week's Green Desk we have part two of a special on The State of Wellington, recorded down in the capital inside Parliament’s cafe.

If you’ve read the news in the past month, the capital is being buffeted by gnarly headwinds. Not off the Cook Straight but rather from pesky employees working from home. But are sunny days ahead for Wellington?

The Green Desk: Trouble in Aotearoa's Big Apple: 8th October, 2024

The Green Desk: Trouble in Aotearoa's Big Apple: 8th October, 2024 The Green Desk: Trouble in Aotearoa's Big Apple: 8th October, 2024, 20.41 MB
Tue 8 Oct 2024

This week on The Green Desk we have a special episode on the state of Wellington, recorded inside Parliament’s cafe with the Spinoff Wellington Editor Joel MacManus. He talks about infrastructure, cycleways and tunnels.

If you’ve read the news in the past month, the capital is being buffeted by gnarly headwinds. Not off the Cook Straight but rather from pesky employees working from home. Journalists talking to retail operators and cafe owners have painted a bleak picture of the city. But are sunny days ahead for Wellington?

The Green Desk: Agriculture and Eating: 1st October, 2024

The Green Desk: Agriculture and Eating: 1st October, 2024 The Green Desk: Agriculture and Eating: 1st October, 2024, 7.29 MB
Tue 1 Oct 2024

We all need to eat, but climate change is changing the world in which food grows. So what will a warmer climate mean for agriculture? This week on the Green Desk reporter Jack Marshall speaks with Principal Scientist Linda Lilburne, from Manaaki Whenua - Land Care Research.

Lilburne's been involved in research exploring what a changing climate will mean for New Zealand food producers. It seems our farmers will have to rethink what they choose to grow.

The Green Desk: Energy and Architecture: 24th September, 2024

The Green Desk: Energy and Architecture: 24th September, 2024 The Green Desk: Energy and Architecture: 24th September, 2024, 11.51 MB
Tue 24 Sep 2024

This week on the Green Desk we spoke with lecturer of sustainable architecture, Priscila Besen from Auckland University of Technology.

New Zealand is facing an energy crisis, and quick solutions are needed. Large manufacturing businesses are shutting doors around the country, with an Auckland Mill in Penrose announcing its permanent closure last week, which adds up to hundreds of job losses because of the price of power. Here’s reporter Jack Marshall:

The Green Desk: Kōura and Whakawheku: 17th September, 2024

The Green Desk: Kōura and Whakawheku: 17th September, 2024 The Green Desk: Kōura and Whakawheku: 17th September, 2024, 12.1 MB
Tue 17 Sep 2024

This week on the Green Desk, Jack Marshall spoke with freshwater scientist Ian Kusabs about a breakthrough in monitoring kōura, New Zealand’s freshwater crayfish.  

Kusabs, of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, is a busy man, working with The University of Waikato, iwi groups, and NIWA as a freshwater scientist. 

This week Kusabs told the Green Desk about whakaweku, which are bundles of bracken fern, that have proved exceptional at monitoring kōura compared with other methods.