The land is incredibly beautiful and to have such a variety of landscape really reveals the glory of God as well as giving a lot of opportunity for travel and adventure. The land is not only something to be marvelled at, the whenua is a moving life force that protects and nurtures us. It grows as we grow and this isn't something that we should ever take for granted. As someone who is conscious of this, I am a firm believer in kaitiakitanga - guardianship and stewardship - of the land.
Furthermore, God has provided us with air and rain free of charge; without this generous gift we wouldn't be able to live. With this mindset, it encourages me to look after what has been given as an inheritance that it would glorify God, respect the land, and represent humanity well.
So what is Earth Day?
Earth Day was first initiated in 1970 in America, a movement that has since grown global and raising peoples awareness for the land and making sure we look after it correctly. More information about Earth Day can be found here.
It's not a mystery as to why we need it, but I wanted to highlight some of the issues that we are facing in 2018 in Aotearoa and some steps of action for decreasing your carbon footprint on the land.
- River pollution:
There is an increasing rise in water pollution due to fertiliser and pesticide runoff from farms into local water systems. This directly disturbs wildlife and ecosystems which can kill animals and plants which play a massive role in keeping an environmental balance. - High methane gas levels due to cows:
The digestive system of a cow is nothing short an incredibly interconnected system. With four stomachs cows have leveled up their game on what it means to digest their food. However, due to their digestive abilities, they produce a lot of gas - methane gas, that is. It is commonly known that methane gas is a large contributing factor to the break down of the Earths ozone layer and our countries agriculture is definitely playing a large part in this. Agriculture is also a contributing factor to river pollution as there aren't systems to prevent cow feces from entering nearby water systems. - Ocean plastics
Reducing plastics was the main driver of Earth Day 2018. Recently I stumbled on an article that shows penguins using plastics to make their nests in Wellington. This is a complicated interweb of issues as sealife mistakes plastics for foods and ultimately this follows up the foodchain to where we ourselves are beginning to see the introduction to plastics in our food via their bloodstreams. Have a watch of a Plastic Ocean for more information on this topic.
For more information, have a look at the OECD Environmental Performance Reviews New Zealand for a more detailed account on how Aotearoa is doing.
The earth never asks us for anything, yet it gives us everything. Out of respect for the earth, all wildlife, and humanity, there are things that we can implement into our every day to ensure we practice kaitiakitanga. Here are a few simple examples:
- Introduce a meatless Monday to cut down on your meat intake.
- Make reuseable bags out of old tee shirts.
- Take a reusable coffee mug and opt for a walk on the beach collecting rubbish instead of just sitting at a cafe.
Though this is great on an individual level, check out what Mexico is up to - something I'd really like to encourage in New Zealand considering we have the perfect conditions for this sort of project.
As a country, we know we aren't as green as we claim to be, and recently we have really been called up for this. However, there are a lot of great people that are doing their part on behalf of New Zealanders. One of these people is Helen Clark who played an integral role in NZ's first ever Sustainable Development Goals Summit 2030 which is exploring the alternatives we can make as a country for positive and productive steps to a healthy and flourishing future. It has a large focus on the 17 SDGs approved by the UN and how to then implement them and align the purposes of businesses, educators, governmental, and civil society to embrace this kaupapa.
The #SDGSummit2030 has a lot of emphasis on leadership. Whether or not you are there, making these SDGs part of your everyday life plays a massive part in our future as a global village. If our mindset can change collectively, the world will altogether be a place for growth and advancement.
So what's the point of all this? Every day is Earth Day and every small thing you do has a big ripple effect. I want to really encourage you to educate yourself more about what's going on around our planet and what you can do to make a change and practice kiatiakitanga for yourself and your whanau.
Don't stop here! I write a lot about topical issues in New Zealand around education, mental health and leadership. Please check out some of the following and let me know your thoughts on Twitter:
How should we educate nga tamariki?
The girl stronger than fear
Achieving success over suicide
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