#133: A bike train a day keeps the doctor away
On joyful meetings, re-engaging our friends and ditching plastic
Mōrena, and happy Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori!
Welcome to the readers who are joining us from the Climate Change & Business Conference last week. For me, one of the most delightful moments was the Bike Valet service, which turned out to be more than just a parking solution—it was a catalyst for a joyful post-conference debrief. After the conference, a group of us hopped on our bikes and formed an impromptu bike train, riding through the streets together, chatting as we headed to our respective homes. It was a simple but powerful reminder that climate action doesn't have to be all heavy conversations and daunting statistics—it can be fun, active, and full of lively discussions along the way.
Another moment of optimism came during Dr. Claudia Schneider's talk. She revealed that an overwhelming majority of New Zealanders are no longer doubtful or dismissive of climate change. Instead, we are concerned, we are alarmed, but perhaps most interestingly — we are disengaged…
That might sound discouraging at first, but to me, it highlights that:
We've made incredible progress on educating people on the science, away from being dismissive or doubtful about climate change
There are far more concerned people than those who are cautious or disengaged. If each cautious person talked to one person who’s earlier on the journey, we’ll double the movement.
People need meaningful, positive opportunities to engage in action.
It’s no surprise that people feel disengaged when it comes to something as big as climate change, especially with countless things competing for our attention. But what if engaging in climate action didn’t feel like a chore? What if people could experience it as joyful, fun, and full of connection? By creating opportunities that spark curiosity & learning, we can make climate action something that people genuinely want to be part of, not because they have to, but because it brings positivity and meaning to their lives. We can live our values while enjoying the journey, just like the spontaneous mini-bike train at the climate conference.
What can we do today?
The most-clicked link from last week’s issue was the petition to keep Kiwibank public.
🐝 5 minutes: Choo choo choo-se your own rail adventure
Wouldn’t it be amazing to take a high-speed train from Wellington to Auckland or Christchurch to Dunedin for work? One reason we have the highest car ownership in the world is that travelling between cities and to rural regions is so time-consuming without a car. With more funding for inter-regional rail, we could save kiwis time, money and emissions.
Action: Sign the petition to save passenger rail
🐇 15 minutes: Do judge a product by its cover
The Six New Zealands survey is a key piece of research undertaken by The 1Point5 Project with the aim of understanding public sentiment on climate change.
Action: Take the Six New Zealands Survey and share it with your teamFrustrated that one tiny product takes a whole heap of packaging?! Write to a company and let them know (stellar suggestion from a recent workshop)
Action: Write to a company about their packaging using this template
💃🏽 30+ minutes: Support trains and other local-motives
The Right to Repair Bill is near its first reading in Parliament, and the campaign needs your support! The Bill requires companies to make and provide spare parts, instead of selling products that break and go straight to landfill.
Action: Attend the panel to get your company to support the right to repairBay of Plenty, 14th - 20th Sep: Your region has just kicked off a Climate Action Week! They have lots of different events, including clothes swaps, food challenges, a film festival, and climate action games.
Action: Join the fun or share with friends in the areaThe government will soon decide what kind of vessels will replace our aging Interislander ferry fleet. Save Passenger Rail are campaigning for a practical solution to maintain rail-enabled ferry infrastructure.
Action: Join a Rail & Ferries meeting, in Blenheim, Picton, Wellington, or OnlineOnline, Wed 18th, 7pm: Our Climate Declaration is running a deep dive into where we can have the most impact: voting, talking and transport.
Action: Attend the webinarWanaka, Tue 17th, 6:30pm: Rewiring Aotearoa & Protect Our Winters NZ are holding an in-person kōrero on how electrification can reduce emissions & save money.
Action: Register here ($5/$10)
Save the Date
Across the motu, September 27th: School Strike for Climate has announced their next Climate Strike. Bring your colleagues and strike with the students for our futures, to show politicians that public opinion wants stronger climate action!
That’s all for today, folks 👋🏽 Thanks for taking action. Enjoy this video of Dutch people moving house on a bike 🚴🏻♀️ 🚴🏻♀️
See you next week,
Emily & the Climate Club team
Thanks team! I love the template for writing to companies! I’ve recently done this a few times myself so once again it’s so nice to know I’m not alone. I’ve also been collecting all of the recycling that our bins at work won’t take, and taking it to one of the few central repositories around the city (Wellington), like for tetra packs and lids. So I have effectively become my work places ‘eco warrior’ haha. Best of all is using the little plastic butter containers people pick up for scones, for making jello shots. Pretty much everyone out of a small unit of 24 staff are on board with my collecting, and I’ve noticed some are even being more thoughtful about not using so much packaging in the first place. Still feels like baby steps though. And, has anyone else noticed that since the commercially compostable coffee cups and lids have started moving into the market, that less people are using keep cups? This is a bit of a step back imho, so I’m trying to think of creative ways to get people re-engaged in using keep cups. Potentially emailing/chatting with local cafe owners to start giving discounts again could be a good move.