2008 Competition Results
Major Prizes
Best Eco Flat: The Castle
Prize:
Weekend in the Catlins
Forest and Bird membership
$500 installed insulation
1 x $100 bike voucher
$25 scorpio voucher
Bottle of wine
Comments: Where some flats focused on one particular area, The Castle went hard with everything! Their commitment to eco-flatting included: baking their own bread, growing fresh garden produce (until they ran out of space to plant any more!), preserving fruit, heaps of work on insulating (including cleverly using bubble-wrap as a form of double-glazing), installing better curtains, and talking to their landlords who arranged insulation for their hot water cylinder. They also bought a power meter from Dick Smith and did a major investigation of their electricity usage complete with graphs and illustrations. Brilliant effort on all fronts.
Most Improved Flat – The Bunker
Prize:
Weekend in the Catlins
Forest and Bird membership
One dozen bottles of Phoenix
$100 bike voucher
2 double cinema passes
Comments: A group of "hard-core engineers," The Bunker made a lot of innovative improvements to their flat. They replaced their light bulbs with eco-bulbs, built a vegetable garden and started preserving fruit. They also made a wind generator out of recycled materials, and brewed their own biofuel from rotting apples in their back yard and used it to power their lawnmower. Put an emphasis on proactive solutions to improving the environment rather.
Other Categories
Best starting efforts – The Greasy Wok
Prize:
$100 trade aid goodies basket
One
dozen bottles of Phoenix
Comments: On their first visit to The Greasy Wok, our auditors described it as "very, very grotty with trash everywhere." The second audit found them in the middle of Earth Hour, with the power turned off and a musician friend playing the guitar. Their eco-improvements included expanding their vegetable garden and growing their own produce and herbs, visiting farmers' markets, composting everything they could, and getting extra recycling bins. Very enthusiastic and trying hard in all areas!
Best energy innovators – The Bunker
Prize:
$100 bike voucher
$25 Scorpio voucher
Comments: The Bunker's engineering expertise in creating energy-saving contraptions meant they were a shoe-in for this category. Their wind turbine, home-made biofuel and pedal generator showed what is possible with a bit of know-how and a trip to the supershed.
Least wasters – The Aluminium Smelter
Prize:
Greenman Beer
$100 bike voucher
Comments: The Aluminium Smelter took waste seriously. All flatmates stopped using cars completely, and all went vegan during the competition! After realising how much packaging they usually got when shopping, they figured out alternatives – buying more in bulk and buying from the local growers' market, and trying to buy New Zealand made when they do buy packaged goods. Only used one council rubbish bag during the whole competition!
Best hunter-gatherers – Clare and Co
Prize:
$50 Piko voucher
$100 Supershed voucher
Ya-ya teahouse t-shirt voucher
Comments: Clare and Co are experts at turning trash into treasure, re-using and sourcing all sorts of items from garage sales and op-shops. They "borrow" fruit from trees in the neighbourhood, making jam and stewing and freezing fruit, and are keen home bakers. They also made their own vege garden and also a shed out of recycled materials for chilling out in the garden.
Best Teamwork – Paeroa Pirates
Prize:
2 cinema passes
Pair of socks
Comments: The Paeroa Pirates were the most enthusiastic flat, coming to all the workshops together and working well as a team. They reduced the number of cars they have to one (between five people) and have an admirably low power bill. They reuse plastic bags, bought eco cleaning products and increased their vegetarian meals.
Great effort – Hornby Habitat
Prize:
2 cinema passes
Comments: Hornby Habitat are well set up in a flat which has good insulation, double-glazing and a heat pump. They are also all keen cyclists. They built a raised vegetable garden and compost heap from wood they scavenged, and started buying in bulk in an effort to reduce packaging.
Great effort – Lily's
Prize:
2 cinema passes
Comments: Lily's have a great garden, growing lots of veges. They also grow their own mushrooms, and make their own bread and yogurt. They have a worm farm for composting food scraps. Wrote creative blog entries from the perspective of their adopted neighbourly cat.