itty bitty bytes

A bonus for our Earth Hour team - EH Ambassador and Matavera MP Mrs Cassey Eggleton is not just rooting for EH, she's also being sworn-in this afternoon as the 6th Minister of the Crown in a thus-far woman-less Cabinet! Now, this is more like it boys....put our Earth Hour Ambassador in there and we should look forward to high level support for climate change adaptation measures in this country!

A date with the Stars - Matariki Night to light up EH

Support for Earth Hour's Matariki Night at the Takitumu School grounds continues to attract more wows! As we countdown to the weekend when cities around the world are switching off lights, another of our local churches have confirmed their participation - the mainstream CICC church of Matavera have pledged support and encourages its members to join us in the candle light vigil at the Takitumu school ground for the safety and health of our planet- mother Earth.

Truly this is an awesome event to be a part of, what a legacy to leave behind in the history of this little village! Did you know Matavera aka Rangiatea is the legendary head of Tangi'ia's fish in the Vaka Takitumu; Ngatangi'ia is the midsection and Tei- muri-motia aka Titikaveka is the tail of the fish. yep, in the words of one village elder, it is only fitting that Rangiatea takes the lead for Earth Hour in the Cook Islands because the head must always lead the rest of the tribes.....

Don't forget, Matariki Night - you and your candle have a date with the stars! 8pm Saturday 27th March.

Earth Hour Cook Islands has an Ambassador!

Yes people, we finally have someone with what it takes - the 'can do' attitude that's needed to champion Earth Hour in the Cooks! And, it's none other than local MP for Matavera, Mrs Cassey Eggleton. First on her to-do list is a meeting with the Principal and teachers of Takitumu Primary tomorrow to lobby for EH. She's confident, she's cool, she CAN DO!!

A night with the Stars - Matariki Night planned for EH Cook Islands

Well we are making progress and Earth Hour Cook Islands is growing by the minute!
From TRE HQ we're now looking at moving the venue to the school grounds in anticipation of interest so far to support the event - 27th March, 8pm - 9pm. A quick meeting with some key folks in the village came up with a name for the event - Matariki Night - Matariki in Polynesian culture is the star cluster commonly known as 'Pleiades' or 'The Seven Sisters'. Two of the major churches in the village so far have confirmed participation in the candlelight vigil. A big meitaki maata to the Catholic Parish and the Revival Fellowship Church for supporting Earth Hour! will post updates as I get feedback from the rest of the other church groups.

TRE members plan Earth Hour by candlelight at HQ

An idea that started from members of Te Rito Enua after last nights official handover of WWF to the local NGO looks to light up the former WWF office with candle lights for Earth Hour 2010. Apart from getting the entire village to switch off TRE is also planning to hold a candle light vigil with readings and prayers for the well being and protection of mother Earth. this event will be at the TRE office in the centre of the village. we will be sure to post some pics!

Status Report – Earth Hour Hits 107 Countries!

Morocco joins Earth Hour 2010, taking the number of countries and regions total up to 107. Earth Hour Morocco is being run by a group of PhD students and associates who came onboard after starting their own Facebook group.

Earth Hour time change for Cook Islands

Forgot to mention earlier that the EH CK team yesterday agreed to change EH from the international 8:30pm start to 8pm instead.

Te Rito Enua is being officially launched tomorrow night as WWF bows out of Cooks and we'll be distributing information on EH to our partners and supporters of TRE. See you then!

Taking Earth Hour to Cook Islanders

The biggest user of electricity on Rarotonga (almost 80%) is the private sector - downtown businesses and those in the hospitality industry - hotels, motels, guest houses...
This sector has been the focus of EH CK in the past 2 years since Cooks took to EH. Electricity company -TAU- managing director Apii Timoti has all his staff 'switch off' to show the company's support for EH each year, this looks to becoming a tradition. Congrats to TAU for taking the lead on corporate social responsibility and stepping up to the plate. We just need now to get businesses including the tourism industry onboard and that's reducing more than half the islands emissions in the one hour!

As for public awareness - EH-CK team member Ulamila Wragg is discussing the finer details with the 2 stations on the island and will post updates here on how that pans out...

Matavera village is leading EH on the community front - 239 homes in total that the newest conservation group Te Rito Enua Inc. is campaigning to join EH. A public presentation is planned for the village on Thursday evening 6pm at the CICC Sunday school hall. TRE members are spreading the word, canvassing neighbours and influential people in the village to encourage families to switch off. All churches and the village networks will be visited by members of TRE with help from WAVE's Ula to make EH more meaningful to the villagers. It's not just about switching off lights after all...

Meitaki ma'ata to NES for the media spots leading up to EH -- you can expect to read more on that from Ula...

well, its nearly 4am in Raro so... signing off for now...

Official Earth Hour 2010 Video