This week's Artist in Residence at Incubator in Artworks is Brett Oakes, the sculptor behind the very over-sized disposable coffee cup seen at last years Headland Sculpture on the Gulf. 

Brett's coffee cup is called Throw Away Fix in reference to the huge number of disposable cups heading to landfill after just a few minutes use and the coffee cup lid can be viewed until Sunday at his temporary Artworks studio.

Disposable cups aren't recyclable because they are generally made of mixed materials. This means they hit landfill after just one use and take many years to break down; a moment on the lips and a life time in the tips. Something to think about next time you grab a takeaway coffee. 

If you're looking for an alternative, grab a reuse-able Keep Cup from Waiheke Fruit & Vege, Lazy Lounge or Island Thyme or take a couple of minutes and sit down for your cuppa at the cafe.

As for Bio Cups & 'compostable' coffee cups, these are only compostable if they make to the compost. So make sure you throw these in your compost pile rather than the bin (just make sure you take the lid off first!). 

Anna, Mike and I headed over to the city this morning to check out the sustainable business showcase happening on Auckland's Waterfront. Fresh vege's from the Whangerei Farmer's Market and our friends from Ooooby greeted us, and inside there was a world of inspiration. We voted on the best and worst packaging at the Unpackit stall, counted pieces of rubbish with the Sustainable Coastlines crew and checked out the snazzy award the 350.org crew picked up at the Sustainable Business Awards last night in the Social Innovation category.

Awesome to see so many  people doing great things, we've come back with heaps of ideas for the Sustainability Festival in January.

Check out the Sustainable Business Network website here

Over the last year we've been working with some pretty spectacular people to update our branding so it's more in line with our new mandate of helping to create of a sustainable Waiheke.

Raul from fresh fish studio  has patiently led the process, asking us some deep questions about who we are and how we want to present ourselves to the rest of the world, and then coming up with some key pieces of design that will help us to represent our approach. 

Our most excellent friend Andrew took on the job of creating a website for us and so for the last few months we've been writing content, designing stamps and stencilling signs. Last night we got to show off what we've done with a Launch event at the office, with our green Lillypad drinks and lots of celery and broad bean dip. 

Thank you everyone who came and celebrated with us, and to Raul, Andrew and all of our amazing volunteers who worked so hard.

We're very excited for the future! 

Check out the inspiring town of Todmorden in the UK. The residents in the little town in West Yorkshire are aiming for complete self sufficiency for food by 2018 and judging by what they have achieved so far, I reckon they will achieve it. 

Vege gardens and fruit trees have popped up all over the town in the last few years - including crops outside the police station and berry bushes on the river banks. 

Residents are encouraged to pick the fresh fruit & veges freely when they are in season and the whole town is in on the food growing act. 

Wouldn't it be awesome to see this replicated on Waiheke?!