Vibrant Planet

Visionary Living Show 2005

2005-10-19T06:25:00Z

Last weekend saw a lot of Wholistic Business Network (WBN) members at the Visionary Living Show in Auckland, wither working on their own stands, helping out on the WBN stand, or both.

Here is a quick glance at some of their stands:

Martin from Lifeforce

Hannah from Soul Alive

Rachael from Heaven On Earth organic gardening service.

Sustainable Business Expo Day 2

2005-10-13T13:42:00Z

Well, a good day had by all I'd say, the show was quite a bit busier than yesterday... some more pictures of the day follow.... then tommorrow it's on to the Visionary Living Show...

What caught my eye today? To begin with, some toilet humour !

Dux Industries (stop, stop) had on display these: waterless urinals.... it made their stand look a little like the inside of a gents toilet.... probably unavoidable really... but, all joking aside for a second or two, they seem like a really neat idea, eliminating (sorry) the use of water altogether. The guys on the stand were able to give as good as they got in the jokes stakes...ok, ok, no more taking the piss, for the real story on how these save water and reduce environmental impact, rather than my skewed take on them, visit http://www.dux.co.nz

Oxfam

I had a nice chat with these people on the Oxfam stand towards the end of the day. They were promoting various brands of FairTrade coffe on their stand. A little know fact about Oxfam, and not at all relevant to this posting, is that they raise funds by selling gifts of, amongst other things, chickens, goats and cows. No, really. They don't actually deliver the goat to you, but you can read how it works here.

BoxFresh

I chatted with Dan on the BoxFresh stand tis afternoon too, they are an organic delivery service in Auckland that I hadn't come across before. Nice looking site.

Smart Car

I really like the look of these Smart cars... and I was amazed how big they are inside when I sat in this one. The guy Ryan on the stand drove from Auckland to Wellington in one on one $60 tank of petrol! Not bad. http://www.smartnewzealand.co.nz

Over and out for now, more from the Visionary Living Show over the next few days.

Sustainable Business Expo

2005-10-12T13:16:00Z

The Sustainable Business Conference and the Greenstreet Expo started today, at 7.30am.... it's been a long day! The expo was pretty quiet today, and could do with a lot more visitors on Thursday. If you have been thinking about it, do make the effort to come along and see the best of the best in terms of sustainable businesses, products and services in NZ.

It's been fun day too, and I thought I'd post a few photo highlights before turning in....

eScooters

The product of the show, for my money, these electric scooters run on a battery, charge from an ordinary house plug for about $0.20, and will run for about 40-50km before needing a recharge. Yes, really. And not only that, but they look really cool! Check the, out here: http://www.escooter.co.nz

Best (dressed) in show: Venerdi

In their own words, Venerdi is a wholesale manufacturer of Organic Spelt (wheat alternative) and Gluten free breads and café products. Definitely the best dressed people at the show... http://www.venerdi.co.nz/

Organic NZ Magazine

Hamish from the soil and Soil & Health Association looking delighted with himself... just after I told him his new website would be up and live next month... or maybe he's just happy. http://www.organicnz.org/

And finally....

The prize for the most startling display definitely goes to the Natural Funeral Company... I haven;t planned this far ahead yet, but these people seem to have a lovely approach to death and dying. No website, but they opperate in Auckland, here is what they do:

A Natural Process

We see death as an organic and transitional process that can be responded to in a natural way. We ensure that through continuing care and a combination of many skills, those involved have the possibility of having a meaningful experience through the dying and funeral process.

We offer

Individually tailored care
A spiritually integrated approach
No embalming
Biodegradable caskets
Biography interview and eulogies
Individually designed ceremonies
Midwifing the death process, education and training for anyone interested in the process of dying

More images tommorrow after the show, and then on to the Visionary Living Show at the Auckland Showgrounds on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. See you there...

In the beginning

2005-10-06T10:45:00Z

... there was a Blog.

But what IS a blog? At its heart it is an online diary or journal (the name Blog is an abbreviation of Web Log). Whats neat about them is that links to supporting or related info can be put straight into the page, for example: a few weeks ago, I read an article in the new Taste Magazine about Organic Delights, a maker of organic chocolate somewhere north of Auckland. Sounded good enough to eat, so I had a look on their website, and found the nearest shop to me stocking it was the SAFE shop in St. Kevins Arcade on K Road.

A short trip later, I was back home on my couch, with some dark chocolate coated in chilli powder (wierd sounding, I know) in one hand, and a cold Long Black (an organic black beer brewed in Nelson and bought in New World, Victoria Park) in the other… ahhh… what a truely delicious combination. The simple pleaseures in life!

And there is the beauty of a Blog, a simple story, easily told, and containing links to more detail for anyone interested.

A Blog is also a conversation, so please feel free to comment on any posting you see here, add to the knowledge here by posting links to things that seem relevant and interesting.

I’ll be using this VibrantPlanet.com Blog to comment on our customers and what they are doing, as well as products, services, ideas and events from the wider world. For example, the Wholistic Business Network is a customer of ours for our self-managed webisite and email newsletter tools, and their monthly meeting in Auckland is on tommorrow, details here, maybe see you there?

I look forward to your feedback and input.

Cheers,

Mark Russell