Kiwi Environmentalism

         Half flush toilets. Composting.  Outlets with switches. Reusable grocery bags.  Besides the gorgeous scenery, environmentalism was the first thing I noticed when I arrived in New Zealand.

         Before coming here, the University of Maryland was the greenest place I had visited (it pales in comparison to New Zealand).  All of the diners have compost and recycling, and some of the toilets have a half-flush.  Furthermore, there are many signs encouraging students to be green. However, the efforts in America are less widespread than those of New Zealand.  There are not nearly as many examples of green living immediately outside of the campus.

         It appears that the whole of New Zealand is striving to conserve resources and live environmentally conscious lives.  When we visited Parliament, they spoke to us about their efforts.  After zip-lining through the forest, our guide explained how they spent $100,000 toward restoring the rainforest to its natural state in their first three years, far surpassing their government-given goal of $5000 per year. 

         I approached one of the receptionists at our hostel in Rotorua and asked if he could tell me more about environmentalism, prefacing it by declaring myself a student from America, which is less environmental than New Zealand.  He quickly agreed that New Zealand’s environmentalism surpasses that of America, and then began to apologize, although none was necessary- he had only agreed to a fact.  I wanted to know if there was something that I had not noticed as part of the Kiwi environmental efforts.  He eagerly got up and walked me through the hostel, pointing out the low energy lights, the compost, and the bulletin board of environmental efforts the hostel supports.  He pointed to a poster above a list of several adopted kiwi.  It was a poster for Rotorua Canopy Tours, where I had been ziplining that morning, and he explained that the hostel supports them, saying, “we try to send as many people as we can.”  It was great to hear that since the government is unable to provide enough funding, not only are private companies and individuals stepping up, but they are also collaborating.  Environmentalism is now part of the education system, and now “everyone knows why we do it…to conserve resources.”  As an island with limited land and resources, it is crucial that the kiwis are conscious of how they are treating the environment.

         After dinner at the Te Puia Maori show, I asked our evening host, Guy, about how the Maori environmentalism differs from that of Pakeha.  He explained the paradigm of how the government does provide limited support for environmental efforts, but at the same time it is pushing for technological and corporate concerns.  He told me how at one point the government wanted to “take the steam [from our geyser] here and use it for power…they eventually got their way and the geyser died” and killed the Maori’s tourism with it.  This was interesting to me because at first, the concept of using a geyser sounds like a way to have clean energy, but Guy made me realize that it also sacrifices the beauty and wonder of the geyser.  Finally, after 18 months in court, the Maori were able to get the geyser back, and then the geyser came back to life. reviving tourism, the industry that allows the Maori to preserve their culture.  Guy went on to explain how the government is selling to oil companies that kill sea life and pollute waters.  He summarized his viewpoint by saying, “we try to keep the government accountable.”

         I have come to the conclusion that while the government does not do enough for the environment, it does what it feasibly can.  However, it is the environmental lifestyles of individuals that will keep the country green.  It appears to me that most people take environmentalism to heart, perhaps because this country is so beautiful.  America is beautiful also, and I plan to take aspects of kiwi environmentalism home with me, such as only using canvas shopping bags.  Small changes like this can make a big difference.

         The environment is something that everyone depends on and benefits from, so seeing this many people stepping up is awesome- or as they say here, “sweet as”.