Helen Tulett has taken the role as carbon coach, a first of its kind in New Zealand, and met with local businesses last week to help them on their journey.
The role is an initiative of Project Lyttelton as part of the sustainability fund set up by Christchurch City Council last year to assist community action on climate change. It will be a one-year pilot programme.
Tulett plans to work with 150 households and hold workshops and events in conjunction with other organisations.
"Our goal is to connect to people and places in Lyttelton and see where we can make a difference, to lighten the load on this planet which supports our every move,” Tulett said.
She started her work last week with Lyttelton SuperValue owner Rob de Thier.
Lyttelton SuperValue has already made efforts had to reduce its carbon footprint and was the first supermarkets in New Zealand to remove plastic bags from their checkouts.
De Thier said he found the meeting with Tulett informative and looks forward to working with her more in the future.
"They’ll certainly enlighten us, the meetings, especially with educating the public, that will help," he said.
Tulett will also meet with households in person, over the phone, via zoom, or even just in their driveway to teach and work with them on a plan.
"It could just be as simple for a home owner as putting in insulation.
"Making homes healthier is not just about the environmental impact but just making homes more comfortable for people," Tulett said.
She specifically looks at energy, food, transport, water and waste to help people understand how to measure and reduce usage across these areas.
Tulett said everybody is at a different place and she wants to meet them where they are at.
"This is to really support people to look at what we do in our every day lives because it really is an every day decision that makes the difference," Tulett said.
There will also be specific workshops focused around those topics.
"Really it’s just about bringing the community together to look at where are we and what can we do as individuals and organisations to reduce our carbon footprint," Tulett said.
- Any households or businesses interested in meeting with Tulett can email her at communitycarboncoach@lyttelton.net.nz or check out the Lyttelton Community Carbon Coach Facebook page.
Passion for food security
Helen Tulett’s passion is food and food security.
It was after the 2011 earthquake she really started to look into food security and what that might look like for a community.
"I could see that after a natural disaster local food networks are really important," said Tulett.
The 37-year-old grew up on a dairy farm in Lincoln and has a background in sustainability and organic farming.
She studied sustainability at Canterbury University and then worked there in the sustainability office helping to teach staff and students about energy, transport, water and waste.
"After the earthquake happened, I wanted to get back to the land and get my hands in the soil and reconnect to my roots," she said.
Tulett returned to New Zealand with her partner and daughter last August after what was supposed to be a six-month trip to Quebec turned into a six-year stay.
While in Quebec she and her partner worked on organic farms.
"The local food movement in Quebec is huge, every village has a local family farmer that’s doing small scale organic farming. I really see it as a model for New Zealand," Tulett said.
When they returned they made the move to Lyttelton.
"I spent my summers on Banks Peninsula. I love the geographical feeling, you really feel like you’re held in Lyttelton with the hills," she said.
Tulett hopes to see more carbon coach roles like her own around New Zealand.
"I find it really exciting because I can see how much people have changed and I think its really important," Tulett said.
