Kiwis: Living and Dying Green

What do this oil painting and the lack of suds in my cereal bowl when I washed it this morning have in common? I’ll spare you the guessing game--both reflect the prevailing culture in New Zealand of wanting to keep the environment healthy and sustainable.

This oil painting entitled “Mt Sefton, from the Hermitage” by New Zealander Charles N. Worsley is displayed in Te Papa Tongarewa, the national museum of New Zealand. The painting represents the beauty of New Zealand untouched by humans. This desire to keep the environment as untouched as possible by humans is an important part of the New Zealand culture. I suspect that this aspect of the culture originated from the Maori people who, as I learned at the museum, feel that retaining land in its original state is at the core of their identity and survival.

When our group arrived at the YHA in Wellington,  I decided to put my cooking talents to good use and prepare myself a bowl of cereal. After I finished my cereal and was washing my bowl, I was confused that no matter how much liquid detergent I was putting in my bowl, I was barely seeing any suds. Only upon reading the label on the bottle did I realize that the detergent at the hostel is a natural cleaner made from fruit extracts rather than harsh chemicals. Although this cleaner did not make the water sudsy, it does not mean that it is any less effective than the detergent I use at home. The hostel is also full of recycling bins and composting bins. Although I have never composted before, I was pleasantly surprised by how simple it was to make a habit out of putting fruit and vegetable scraps into a composting bin. When I think about it, composting makes so much sense--shouldn’t fruits and vegetables that come from the earth be returned back to the earth, rather than disposing them in the same way that we dispose of bags of chips and styrofoam cups? Conservation is also valued at this hostel, where I saw on and off switches for each electrical outlet. Though more than once I have woken  up to a dead phone because I had forgotten to turn the “on” switch to charge it overnight, these switches are a logical and easy way to conserve energy. Upon realizing how green this hostel is, I decided that either New Zealanders (aka Kiwis) must really care about the environment, or perhaps this was some sort of hippie hostel. Fortunately, my time in Wellington has made me realize that the former is true.

Wellington’s commitment to sustainability is evident not only in our hostel, but around the city as well. The city is impeccably clean, with no litter or cigarette butts in sight. There are few SUVs, and even fewer minivans. Wellington also has an extensive public transportation system that include busses and a metrorail, providing more environmentally-friendly means of transportation. Even the air feels clean and easy to breathe. When my peers and I hiked to the summit of Mt. Victoria, the air was so clear that that is was easy to see miles of the city below us. The Wellington City Council’s website states that “the Council is committed to developing Wellington as a sustainable eco-city” (http://wellington.govt.nz/services/environment-and-waste/sustainability). It seems that other city councils around the world would focus on making a city livable, reducing crime, or encouraging a more cultural city, so Wellington City Council’s goals of making the city sustainable and eco-friendly strike me as unique. According the to website, the city of Wellington even offers grants to businesses to help them become more sustainable and energy-efficient.

Finally, in researching the topic of environmental friendliness in Wellington for this blog post, I Googled the phrase “environmental friendliness in Wellington.” I was surprised to find that the fifth match was a website for Kiwis to go on if they want to find resources on having an eco-friendly funeral. According to the website (http://www.ecofunerals.co.nz/ecofunerals.html), embalming and using a casket that has been treated with chemicals to preserve the wood are not acceptable. It is amazing that Kiwis are so devoted to staying green that not only are they committed to living green, but they even want to die in an eco-friendly manner to ensure that they leave the earth is as untouched as possible.