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Living the Change: Inspiring Stories for a Sustainable Future (Free Full Documentary) — Transcript

by Happen Films · 10,887 words · 1,484 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00Hey everyone, Jordan and Antoinette here.
0:02It's Happen Films' 7th birthday so to celebrate we're releasing our pay-to-view feature film "Living the Change" for free.
0:08We hope you're inspired by the stories featured in the film. If you'd like to support us in making more films
0:13you can purchase a copy of "Living the Change", without this intro message or any ads, from our website happenfilms.com
0:19If you'd like to share the film with your community you can also purchase a screening licence.
0:24We also have a heap of other films available on our website all about permaculture, sustainability and living more simply, so be sure to check those out as well.
0:32Hope you enjoy the film!
0:35(somber music)
0:51(cars honking)
1:00- The current system has to go through a collapse
1:02unless you believe that infinite growth is possible
1:04on a finite planet.
1:06The system is growth dependent.
1:08So, there's gonna be a collapse in one form or another.
1:14- If you just look at what's happening
1:15in terms of deforestation, resource over-consumption,
1:21waste streams, and climate change,
1:23I mean, these are all phenomena
1:25that are brought about by our over-consumption,
1:28over-exploitation of resources.
1:38- We have to leave 80% at least of the fossil fuel
1:43that we know about and that we know we could make money
1:46digging up, we have to leave it in the ground
1:48for the entire century at least.
1:52- [Charles] The ecological crisis comes
1:54from treating the Earth as an other,
1:58as just a bunch of stuff.
2:01- We've been so powerful and we've impacted on so much
2:04of the wild world around us that if we don't do something
2:08fairly soon, the wild world is going to consume us.
2:16- These are the massive issues, climate change,
2:19energy, and food, all of these things
2:21that are converging on us and yet you pick up the paper
2:25every day and there'll be nothing about this stuff.
2:29- If you look at our global economic system,
2:31I guess you'd have to first think of it
2:33as a system by accident.
2:35Nobody sat down and designed this thing.
2:38And, in a lot of ways, it's sort of the worst
2:40of all possible combinations.
2:42Because what you have is something
2:45that is supposed to be based in the real world
2:48but behaves as if it were in a fantasy world.
2:52- That's really exploitive, extractive, damaging,
2:57not only to people, but to the environment
3:01and to the economy too.
3:03(crickets chirping)
3:09I think we're heading for some very deep water
3:13if we don't make these changes.
3:17- Being sustainable is not just a nice thing to do.
3:21Being unsustainable isn't just a bit unfortunate.
3:24It is a existential threat to our species.
3:28People don't seem to get that.
3:30We actually need to do something about it or we're gone.
3:35- You've probably had those moments of despair
3:37where you think it's just hopeless and the world
3:39is always gonna be this way and anything we do
3:41is not enough, but there's also and I would say
3:45that this is maybe more of a heart knowing
3:48that understands that a more beautiful world is possible.
3:51(moving to gentle music)
4:10(water gurgling)
4:20(birds chirping)
4:21(gentle music)
4:41(moving to lively music)
5:11(fast-paced somber music)
5:20The world is built on stories
5:23or even a story, a mythology.
5:26Every culture has a mythology
5:28that answers the deep questions like who am I,
5:32what is a self, what's real, how does change happen,
5:37what's the nature of reality?
5:42Every culture answers that in a different way
5:45and the answers that our culture has,
5:49and when I say our culture, I mean the dominant culture
5:51of this planet, the answers that have worked
5:54and guided our culture for several hundred years now,
5:57and to some extent thousands of years,
5:59aren't working anymore.
6:01We're facing a crisis in our basic way of making meaning
6:05about the world and our understanding
6:08of the recipe for living life, like all of these things
6:11are in a state of crisis.
6:22- The problems that we face
6:24in terms of environmental condition, degradation,
6:27over-consumption of resources,
6:30a lot of social justice problems really pretty much
6:33all stem from a common cause and that's economics.
6:39The biggest problem it has right now for us,
6:41the biggest implication it has for humans
6:43and pretty much everything else on the planet
6:46is that it's causing a lot of unsustainable growth.
6:49It's causing growth to accelerate in a way
6:52that cannot be met by the natural resources or sinks
6:57on the planet we inhabit.
7:02- The money system demands endless growth.
7:05It compels endless growth, it encourages endless growth.
7:08So, in other words, it encourages the conversion
7:11of nature into property, into products.
7:18- Now, the problem with this growth, of course,
7:20is that if the economy keeps growing, sooner or later
7:24it needs natural resources to support that growth.
7:28(explosives booming)
7:36(clanking music)
7:39- One of the big flaws
7:40in the current money system is interest.
7:43We would probably only need to work half of the hours
7:46that we do and still be able to maintain
7:51the same standard of living if it wasn't for interest.
7:56Interest is hidden in so many ways.
8:01The price of any goods and services,
8:04most businesses have loans
8:09on which they're paying interest.
8:11And, they don't pay the interest, you do, I do.
8:17And, so that means that we have to work and work and work
8:21and exploit Mother Nature as well in the process
8:27way more than would be necessary if it wasn't for interest.
8:31(fast-paced somber music)
8:39- For a lot of the things to keep running,
8:41to keep the finance engine ticking along
8:44and keep economies moving, we have to have
8:46lots and lots of energy.
8:59Energy for extracting natural resources,
9:02energy for shipping things around the world,
9:04energy for manufacturing, energy to promote them,
9:08energy to keep them going, energy to maintain things,
9:10so it's a lot of energy used in the system.
9:19- Fossil fuel energy is energy from the sun
9:22that's being stored in plants or other living things
9:25and has been stored under the ground usually
9:28for millions and millions of years.
9:30When you dig it up you get a free bonus basically.
9:33You get this amazing wealth of energy
9:36which you can do all kinds of creative
9:38and amazing things with.
9:39But, the problem is that when it runs out,
9:42that's it, it's gone.
9:46The other aspect of that, of course, is the process
9:48of getting it and digging it up is both destructive
9:51and also expensive and requires energy to do.
10:13- Peak oil is a concept that is quite simple.
10:18What it means is that you have a finite amount of something
10:22and if you consume it at a steady rate,
10:26then there kind of isn't a peak, you just consume it.
10:30But, if you consume it with a increasing rate,
10:33then you'll hit a point where you can't increase anymore
10:36and that would be a peak.
10:37And, then the consumption would necessarily drop off
10:39in some way.
10:40(somber rhythmic music)
10:44- The energy return on investment from fossil fuels
10:47when we first discovered it was so big
10:49and that's why we have the abundance that we have now.
10:53It's just that free energy.
10:54And, we've been having this crazy party, you know,
10:57for a hundred years now on fossil fuels.
10:59It's just a crazy binge that we've been on
11:01and we're at the end of the binge now
11:03because the energy return on investment
11:06is dwindling all the time.
11:11It's how our food system works.
11:13We talk about this green revolution
11:15that fed all these people
11:16but it's not a green revolution,
11:18it's an oil revolution.
11:22- The entire system is hugely dependent
11:26on fossil fuel inputs.
11:28You pull those out and I guarantee you
11:30within days the whole thing is gonna fall down.
11:38- If you take into account fossil fuels and the transport,
11:41the tilling, everything, the packaging, the movement,
11:44the whole food system that we have in the developed world,
11:49so-called developed world, then there's at least
11:5310 units of energy for every one we get out of it.
11:57- Basing a food production system
11:59that's meant to feed the world on something
12:02which is temporary brings obvious problems.
12:08As a result of that, is the huge loss of biodiversity
12:12and while not a lot of people care about bugs
12:16and all this other stuff, biodiversity is critical.
12:22So, when you strip that away by having what we call
12:25monocultures, then you get massive problems.
12:29With monocultures we are talking about growing one crop
12:32or farming one animal or,
12:35and you don't see that in nature.
12:37Nature doesn't work that way.
12:38It's evolved diversity for resilience.
12:44When you take that away, these systems become really brittle
12:48and they're very prone to breaking.
12:51Now, we kind of stave off the worst of those effects,
12:55well, we try to, with fossil fuel inputs.
12:58We put in fertilizers, we put in herbicides,
13:01fungicides, pesticides, we go to great lengths
13:04to try and protect these very fragile
13:06food production systems.
13:09(somber music)
13:16I think what a lot of people don't realize
13:17is that our food system is incredibly vulnerable.
13:23We do a pretty good job most of the time
13:25of getting food where it needs to go,
13:29managing supplies, managing surplus, transportation,
13:33all that sort of stuff.
13:34But, it is quite vulnerable to major upsets,
13:39all kinds of crises particularly economic crises.
13:45If the shops, the supermarkets stop selling food
13:48for three days for some reason,
13:51how would you survive?
13:55What would that be like?
13:56How would that feel and what would you do?
14:00You know, it's happened to me in a major city
14:04just one day and it really made me think.
14:07You begin to realize that there's a series of things
14:10that all need to be in place and all need to be functioning
14:12properly all the time for things to run smoothly.
14:18In a world of increasing climate volatility
14:23and the economic pressures that that can bring,
14:27it's really easy to see how a bad situation could develop.
14:32- So, this is the kind of scary reality
14:35and it's coming fast.
14:37So, unless we really, really quickly change our food system
14:41and how we do it, then there's gonna be huge impacts
14:45on humans let alone the other animals on the planet.
14:53- To a certain extent people who really do understand
14:57the problem of climate change and resources and equity,
15:02it's really easy to get focused
15:04on the miracle technology solution to that
15:06'cause that's what we do.
15:08That's what society's asking us to do.
15:13- I think if technology could have solved
15:15all of our problems, then it would've already
15:17solved all of our problems.
15:19Theoretically we have all the technology we need
15:22to live beautifully on Earth
15:24and beautifully with each other but we have not
15:28lived beautifully on Earth and beautifully with each other.
15:31So, something else has to happen.
15:33(somber rhythmic music)
15:56- 100 years from now, every solar panel we build
15:59will be rubbish.
16:00It'll be toxic waste, in fact (chuckles) somewhere.
16:03I hope somebody figures out what to do with it.
16:06Every windmill we build now won't be running anymore.
16:10It'll be, hopefully a lot of it will be recycled.
16:12I don't know.
16:14But, the carbon we put in the air will still be there.
16:19You're never gonna have air travel with renewables,
16:22you're never gonna have steel with renewables.
16:25You're never gonna have electronics with renewables
16:28'cause you need diesel.
16:30So, making sure that you leave some diesel for later
16:35is kind of important.
16:39I'm not disillusioned
16:42with solar or wind or anything.
16:46I know that the substitution of those things
16:49for fossil fuels isn't possible.
16:52So, as long as we keep telling ourselves the story
16:54that it is, we aren't actually doing the thing we have to do
16:57which is to just leave the stuff in the ground.
16:59Which means what?
17:00There's only one thing you can do then
17:01which is to use less of it.
17:07If there's an industrial civilization out there
17:10couple centuries from now, then they're using fossil fuel.
17:16Tiny amounts of it.
17:18And, they're using renewable energy.
17:20And, that renewable energy they are using
17:22is hydro and geothermal.
17:27And, wood that they are harvesting and husbanding
17:31very, very carefully, all right?
17:33And, what we notice most about them
17:35is how little they're using of most everything.
17:42That's what has to happen.
17:44It doesn't matter how many solar panels
17:45you ever put on anything.
17:47The only thing that matters
17:48is leaving the coal in the ground,
17:50leaving the oil in the ground,
17:51leaving the gas in the ground, all of it
17:54and planting back every bit of forest
17:56that you possibly can.
17:57That's the only thing that matters.
18:13- The history of civilization has been kind of
18:17like a history of increasing power
18:21to dominate and control the other, the cultural other
18:25and also the natural other.
18:27(dynamic music)
19:06And, this was supposed to bring us into utopia.
19:09We were supposed to live in paradise by now.
19:12Paradise of electrified comfort, robot servants,
19:15space colonies, artificial food, infinite lifespans,
19:18et cetera, et cetera.
19:20The breakdown that's happening today
19:22in part is happening because this glorious promise
19:26of technology and also social engineering
19:29was never fulfilled.
19:32And, in fact, things are getting worse and worse.
19:33And, in fact, our technologies of control
19:37now look to be seeding our destruction,
19:42the breakdown of the ecological basis of civilization.
19:47(somber music)
19:58We don't know anymore what the answer is.
20:01We don't know who we are.
20:03We don't even know what's real because on every level
20:06the story that answered those questions is breaking down,
20:11politically, economically, and especially, technologically,
20:15and in our relationship to nature.
20:17So, that leaves us not knowing and it leaves us open
20:22to another story.
20:32(somber music)
20:48(moving to upbeat music)
21:05- If we wanna solve health crisis,
21:09food quality issues, economic issues,
21:14we really have to change the system
21:18and the infrastructure of the system and we have to create
21:20our own infrastructure.
21:32I've been studying sustainable farming systems
21:35for over 25 years.
21:37There are no real issues.
21:39We can solve all of them.
21:41There are really easy answers to grow food quality
21:46and do that with good environmental care.
21:49That's the easy bit.
21:53We are in the position to do it properly
21:57because of the CSA.
21:59Our members allow us to create that diversity.
22:03That other old system doesn't allow you
22:06to create that diversity.
22:10- CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.
22:16It means that a farmer that's growing food
22:21and growing food there's a lot of unknowns in there
22:25and you have to start at the beginning of the season
22:27and you don't know for whatever reason
22:30if you're gonna harvest all the things
22:32that you've planned to harvest
22:34that you've started sowing months back.
22:41So, the idea's that a group of people support the farmer
22:44so the farmer knows he's got an outlet.
22:48And, the members that we have, they know that every week
22:52they're gonna get a box of healthy fresh foods
22:55that have been harvested just before they got them.
23:02For us it means we have stability in the fact
23:04that the plants we sow they are sold.
23:08We don't have the issue of food waste
23:12because if a broccoli is small
23:14and it normally wouldn't be able to go to a supermarket,
23:17we can give people two.
23:26- As a farmer, you wanna create healthy soils
23:29and healthy plants and healthy animals
23:31and further up the food chain,
23:33you make sure that you create a soil that invites
23:38the right sets of microbes.
23:45That for us means we have soil,
23:49which is the mineral component.
23:51In the soil we've got the microorganisms
23:53which are governing the system.
23:55We just create a habitat for them.
23:58Then you got the plants growing out of there
24:00be it annuals, perennials, and trees.
24:09Then amongst that you've got the insects living in there
24:11and then we've incorporated pigs, sheep, cows,
24:17ducks, geese, and I'm sure we're forgetting
24:21a few bits and bobs.
24:23And, every single item adds value.
24:33- So, on the closed-loop systems, they would have tree crops
24:37and all that, nuts, fruit, all that kind of thing happening
24:40on the fringes or in shelter belts,
24:46a whole really diverse approach to farming
24:49that is way more sustainable but also it closes
24:53that nitrogen or that fertilizer loop
24:56so you don't have to bring it in from the outside.
24:58You just don't waste it.
25:11- While eating less meat is a really important thing to do,
25:15it's important to recognize that you can't have
25:18a healthy ecosystem without animals.
25:20A truly environmentally friendly and ecologically healthy
25:25food production system must have animals.
25:28'Cause as soon as you take animals out of that system,
25:31all the jobs that those animals did
25:33in that functioning ecosystem, now needs to be done
25:35some other way whether that's by people or chemicals.
25:41The health of these food production systems
25:44is supported by the natural and healthy interaction
25:48between plants and animals.
25:51And, that can take the form of pest control,
25:54fertility cycles, there's lots of interactions
25:59between animals and plants which we can and should use
26:03to support a healthy and resilient food production system.
26:10So, really what that boils down to is
26:12we need to eat less meat.
26:14We don't cut it out.
26:16But, the best thing that anyone can do
26:18is try and find producers that are operating systems
26:23which are looking after the health of their environment
26:25including the animals and supporting them.
26:28(eerie music)
26:42(upbeat music)
26:52- What comes out the back end of a worm
26:54is really good stuff.
26:56And, then that's just really cool just seeing
26:58that this hivey of fungus
27:02and it's just growing on the surface of the soil.
27:13So, holistic grazing is a management technique
27:16that being devised by a Zimbabwean man, Allan Savory.
27:19And, he was observing the large herds of buffalo
27:23in Africa, and it can be bison in America
27:25and just massive herds of ruminant animals.
27:29And, these animals were constantly on the move
27:32'cause there's generally some lions or something
27:34just on their back and wanting to pick off
27:37any of the weak ones.
27:41We have large mobs of cattle that are shifted every day
27:44but instead of lions keeping them bunched together,
27:47we have electric fences.
27:50And, each day they're going onto fresh grass.
27:53And, it's long grass and so they're not eating it all.
27:55Some of it's getting trampled and with the dung
27:57and urine and that, it's just all forming
28:00that kind of compost heap on the ground.
28:06Other farmers might be looking at us and saying,
28:07we'll you're just wasting all that grass
28:10'cause it gets dry and stalky and what have you.
28:12But, you know, my reply is that waste is a human concept.
28:16Nature doesn't do waste.
28:18And, so we are using that thatched pasture
28:21as part of our first fertilizer program
28:23because that's what's getting put down on the soil
28:25and broken down and going back into building soil.
28:36When the grass is grazed and to the holistic
28:39long grass grazing system, it gets cut off short
28:41by the animal and it also sheds its roots at that time.
28:46And, that's what is releasing carbon into the soil.
28:51And, I guess one of the most exciting things
28:52and drivers of what we're doing is the potential
28:55that that has for helping with climate change issues.
29:00(cows mooing)
29:04Some of those CAFOs that they call 'em in America,
29:07or the feedlot, cattle fattening operations,
29:10are a climate disaster.
29:12But, again under this system, they are sequestering
29:16more carbon and are part of a natural cycle
29:18that is actually beneficial.
29:25Conventionally farmers it's all
29:27about keeping the grass short and in a vegetative state
29:30so it's growing vigorously and that system works
29:33while you're putting on lots of imported fertilizers
29:36particularly phosphate fertilizers largely
29:38from North Africa and a whole system that requires
29:41digging up that fertilizer and trucking it,
29:43and then shipping it, and then trucking it,
29:45and then processing it, and then flying it onto hills.
29:47It's a system that's not gonna work in a future
29:51with less fossil fuels.
30:00What we're doing on the farm here is trying to reduce
30:02the amount of fossil fuels that it takes to produce food.
30:07We've got the cattle going around.
30:09We have, you know, hens following along behind the cattle.
30:12There's pigs on this farm too.
30:14And, we're milking a few dairy cows.
30:16And, all that is really
30:18about using a perennial crop
30:22like grass pasture with forage from trees
30:25and that around as well.
30:26So, we can produce eggs from the chocks, hens, pork,
30:30you know, without relying on so much of the annual grains
30:35and all the energy that's involved in producing them.
30:37So, just trying to get the fossil fuels
30:40out of our food system as much as we can
30:43and producing healthy natural food.
30:52- The powerful thing is that with regenerative agriculture,
30:55we can not only produce food and we can not only
30:57produce an abundance of food, but we can do it
31:00in a way that regenerates the land,
31:03that replenishes the aquifers, that sequesters carbon,
31:06that nurtures and supports biodiversity.
31:11Regenerative agriculture, permaculture, holistic management,
31:15there's nothing magical about the way
31:17that these things work.
31:18It's all based upon sound science and about having
31:22a point of view that is looking at your ecosystem
31:26in its entirety, not just individual aspects of it.
31:30So, really what this breaks down to is that anyone
31:34who's looking after land, whether you're a farmer
31:36or a gardener, whatever, you're an ecosystem manager.
31:40(gentle music) (water gurgling)
32:02- My philosophy about what to do in the world
32:05isn't go to a pristine area
32:08and live there and enjoy your life.
32:10It's to find a place that's degraded and fix it up.
32:20- 23 years ago we started developing the food
32:22for our system here.
32:25We've got 480 different species of plants at last count.
32:29That doesn't include the 80 different types of apples
32:31and the 60 different types of gooseberries.
32:34And, so it's lovely to have that diversity
32:36and it means that every time of the year
32:38there's things flowering, things giving fruit, you know,
32:41great crops you can eat.
32:43And, so having diversity is special and it's what makes
32:45the forest garden resilient.
32:52This property had been abandoned for probably 40 years.
32:56No one lived here.
32:57An old house had burnt down on the spot.
33:02- In the top area, this area where the house is now
33:05was completely covered in junk
33:08and the remains of the old house.
33:11Most people would've not even crossed the threshold
33:14of the property to have a look at it I don't think
33:16because it didn't look very appealing.
33:18But, to us it did.
33:20Because I thought, well, for one thing nobody wants it
33:23so it's probably going to be cheap and it was,
33:26cheap to buy, and secondly, I thought, I can fix this.
33:29(gentle upbeat music)
33:33- The food forest is a permanent planting.
33:36So, you want to set up just like a forest system.
33:39So, a forest system can be the, always the big trees,
33:42the middle size trees, and the bottom layer,
33:44the ground layer, they work together.
33:47Some plants take up some minerals and give others back
33:49and other one does something else.
33:54- Growing out in the forest garden there,
33:56aside from the native trees, which I've used as a framework
34:00or a platform for building everything else,
34:02and those provide me with shelter from the wind,
34:05and also nest sites for the birds.
34:07And, the birds are a really important player
34:10in the management of the garden
34:11in the ti kouka, cabbage trees,
34:14that I've got growing there.
34:16Starlings nest in almost all of them and those starlings
34:19as they're feeding their yunkers, their babies,
34:22are flying out and finding any soft-bodied caterpillar
34:25or grub they can so there's our pest management
34:28for that kind of thing.
34:31And, then as an understory or the second layer down
34:34to that we have our fruit tree layer
34:36which is our heritage apples and pears and plums
34:38and nectarines and peaches, apricots.
34:43And, then below that a layer of berry fruits
34:47and currants, red currants, black currants,
34:50white currants, and gooseberries, worcesterberries,
34:53all of those sorts of shrubby plants
34:57that like to grow in the semi-shade.
35:01And, then wrapping around all of that are the biennial
35:05and perennial herbs, some of which are edible,
35:07some of which are medicinal.
35:09And, then below that there are bulbs and root crops
35:13that grow, such as parsnips and wild carrots,
35:18those kinds of things.
35:20And, then winding their way up through these things
35:22are our vines like grape vines and kiwi fruit
35:25and Manchurian gooseberries and hops
35:28and all sorts of things which kind of bind everything
35:31together and tie the forest together.
35:35(upbeat music)
35:40- It's so peaceful when you walk about
35:42and it's just all different flowers
35:44and the energy and action and all the insects
35:46and the birds have their own life.
35:48And, so the birds are doing all their thing
35:49up in the trees and coming down to feeding
35:51and insects are flying around and having babies
35:54and flying off on missions.
35:55It's like being in another universe really.
35:59It's just amazing and it's, to me, it's how life should be,
36:01with that livingness and the interconnectedness
36:04of all the plants and bees and the herbs.
36:09- In a forest garden like ours,
36:11the major player is wildness, is, you know,
36:15the natural world and all of those things
36:17that happen in there.
36:18And, my job is just to kind of mold that
36:21to suit our purposes to a certain extent.
36:27We are not separate from the wild world.
36:30We are as wild as it is.
36:34But, we've worked towards a form
36:36that is not fitting in with the wild world at all well.
36:40And, it's going to realign us fairly soon, in my view,
36:45unless we can recognize that we need to be fully integrated
36:50into that world.
37:03- People in indigenous societies, in tribal societies
37:06or in agrarian villages, they were enmeshed
37:11in a matrix of relationship
37:14that gave them a strong identity.
37:16Everybody who they saw on a daily basis
37:18knew them really well.
37:20(gentle music)
37:23And, we also were in intimate connection with the land.
37:27We knew every plant, we knew every animal, every bird,
37:30we knew its song and when it sang and what bugs it ate
37:33and where those bugs lived and what the soil smells like
37:36where the bugs live and what plants grow there
37:38and what medicine the plants are used for.
37:40We were in this web of interbeing.
37:45We felt as if we were at home in the universe.
37:49That is missing in our current society.
37:52We're surrounded by a sea of strangers,
37:55people that we know only very superficially, if at all.
38:06(lively spiritual music)
38:11- For Maori people, the ancestors and the land
38:14are all part of one, we come from the land.
38:17And most people, humans on the planet relate to land
38:22one way or another because they belong to it.
38:24And, they've forged their own identity out of it as well.
38:27And, that'll always continue to happen.
38:32It's like a biological bond between a mother and her child.
38:35You can't break it.
38:37That bond is in force when the genealogy of the ancestors,
38:41of the families, grandparents, is emotionally installed
38:46in that person that they feel that they belong here.
38:48(gentle music)
38:58- Interbeing is a very natural term.
39:00It means more than interconnection or interdependency,
39:03which kind of suggests separate selves having relationships.
39:08Interbeing is more of an understanding
39:10that we are relationship, that my very existence
39:14depends or draws from or includes your existence.
39:17(people laughing)
39:19(lighthearted music)
39:20My wellbeing is intimately connected to your wellbeing
39:24or to the wellbeing of the river, the ocean,
39:28the forest, people across the world, and so forth.
39:32Because I'm not really separate from you.
39:37And, that means that in the story of interbeing,
39:40I know that whatever I do to the world
39:42will come back to me somehow.
39:46So, if our true being is the totality of our relationships
39:50and includes everything in the cosmos,
39:53if we are truly maybe a holographic mirror
39:57of all that is, then when we cut ourselves off
40:01from any aspect of nature, other people,
40:06we create a wound, we create a cutoff.
40:08And, this is painful.
40:11And, we yearn to recover our wholeness.
40:16However, due to ideology,
40:20due to the economic system that we're immersed in,
40:23due to cultural factors,
40:25due to many, many, many reasons,
40:28the reunion that we long for is unavailable to us.
40:33That is good for business because it drives
40:37consumerism, it drives acquisitiveness,
40:39it drives greed, it drives all kinds of neurotic behaviors
40:43that seek to compensate for the missing relationships.
40:56(gentle music)
41:00- I felt myself being drawn into this materialistic world
41:05because all the people that were around me
41:07had material possessions and it was all,
41:09there was this wanting and creating of attachment
41:12and wanting and wanting more stuff.
41:14So, I sorta got swept into that in a way.
41:16(lively music)
41:23So yeah, I studied business and I was involved
41:26in finance and more specifically stock market.
41:28So, we used to help people manage their money.
41:32And, in one of the organizations I worked with,
41:35we used to manage hundreds of millions
41:37of dollars for people.
41:39I wasn't from that background.
41:41I'm from a sort of a conservative sort of upbringing.
41:44Then all of a sudden I'm involved with, you know,
41:47guys that are driving luxury cars,
41:49and they're living in an expensive house
41:50in the Sydney suburbs.
41:52It's sort of a bit overwhelming.
41:56A lot of the guys that I'd worked with, you know,
41:58they were multi-millionaires.
42:01But, you know 20 million wasn't enough.
42:04So, they have to have the three cars.
42:07They have to have a holiday home.
42:08They have to have a boat.
42:11And, what happens is you can get trapped
42:13in that lifestyle, hey.
42:21So, the idea is to, you know,
42:24have native plants
42:27mixed among fruit trees.
42:28So, we've got natives here, we've got a tamarillo here.
42:32I've got manuka and kanuka in, and pittosporums, natives.
42:36And, we've got a cabbage tree here.
42:38This is a pine nut, so those really expensive
42:42nuts you get in the supermarket.
42:44This is one of those that takes about 10 years
42:46to get any fruit on it or any nuts.
42:49So, that's a long-term project.
42:51And, then we've got over here, we've got a fig tree
42:54which is fruiting quite nicely.
42:57And, then for the Monarch butterflies,
43:00we've got a couple of swan plants which they really enjoy
43:04and we might be lucky to see one.
43:07Here he comes now.
43:09It was only after Beth, my wife, and I made the move
43:13to New Zealand.
43:14We'd just had enough of the whole corporate life
43:18and we wanted a slower, simpler lifestyle.
43:21It was then the realization sort of hit home.
43:24I started to research more, read, you know,
43:27hundreds of articles and watched hundreds
43:30of documentaries and all sorts of stuff.
43:32Then I started to really understand, wow,
43:35we got some serious issues here
43:37and no one's really talking about this stuff
43:40and it's quite scary.
43:45I guess with realization of some of the broader issues
43:50such as, you know, climate change, peak oil,
43:53or resource depletion, and the extinction crisis
43:57we're currently going through.
43:58And, it's sort of like these massive issues
44:02are being given lip service by governments
44:05and organizations and it's like ah, it'll just,
44:09won't happen, or the system will solve this problem.
44:12And, that's what it sorta feels like.
44:16So, I guess that brings up a lot of emotions
44:18like frustration and anger and guilt
44:22and it's like, why isn't someone doing something about this?
44:25Oh, here we go, here we go, here's a strawberry,
44:26here's a strawberry.
44:27So, here's a nice one, I can,
44:29look at the color of that thing.
44:31Then I started to research permaculture
44:33and realized that it was an integrated approach
44:37to how we're living.
44:39So, at the moment, our current society,
44:42it's a fragmented approach to living.
44:44So, everything's compartmentalized or separated.
44:47Whereas, permaculture is a holistic approach
44:49to how we're living.
44:53It integrates food, environment, with your lifestyle
44:57and taking care of people, the planet,
45:00and the natural resources.
45:05So, a lot of people come over to our property
45:08and have a look around.
45:10And they go, "What about all your fruit trees?
45:12"Do you get pests and stuff like birds that eat them?"
45:13And, I say, yeah sure.
45:15But, we don't mind that, you know, they were here first,
45:17and we're a part of nature.
45:19And, you know, we've had comments from other
45:22people that live around near us on the farms.
45:25And, they say they can't believe how much wildlife
45:27and birdlife is here.
45:29And, their property is just a few hundred meters away
45:34have almost no wildlife or birdlife.
45:39(upbeat whistling music)
45:52So, you know, we're attracting birdlife and wildlife
45:56through just letting nature be as opposed
45:58to wanting to control it.
46:03Permaculture links into other aspects like collaboration,
46:07localization, food resiliency, and networking.
46:12So, it's not just about growing food.
46:14It's about connecting a whole system
46:17and integrating a whole system into one's life.
46:21This lifestyle working on the land
46:23and doing permaculture, it feels more rewarding
46:27and like I'm putting something back.
46:29We also live a less consumerist lifestyle so we don't need
46:34as much stuff.
46:35So, I haven't got this constant craving
46:37for more and more to make me feel satisfied or happy.
46:42So, there you have it.
46:44We have homegrown salad, a fruit salad,
46:48a green salad, and some eggs.
46:51And, I can't believe still that I don't have to go
46:55to a supermarket.
46:56We've grown all this ourselves in just three years.
47:00I'm still amazed.
47:01So, anyone can do it.
47:11When I was living in big cities, it was like
47:14I had to get away to connect with nature,
47:17but when I wake up every morning,
47:19I come outside and I'm immediately in nature here.
47:22I don't have that void anymore.
47:24I've just got this instant connection and satisfaction.
47:28It's hard to explain.
47:35- I mean, maybe you've had this experience,
47:37feeling like I'm not living my life.
47:41I'm living the life I'm paid to live.
47:42But, what about my life?
47:45So, this is a different dimension of human nature
47:49that we need to invoke.
47:53We need to implement, we need to create conditions
47:57for that part of human nature to blossom.
48:07(gentle music)
48:13- We had been living in Cuti Cuti
48:17and I was working a regular job
48:22as a GP in the practice there.
48:24And, then I just found these kinda warning signs
48:27that I was starting to get out of balance.
48:29You know, I'd be lovely with my patients,
48:30but I'd come home and be kinda shitty.
48:32I was feeling quite depressed.
48:36Just kind of the internal cogs
48:40weren't running together very well.
48:42And, we started talking about it
48:45and thought well, maybe we really need to kinda
48:47radically rethink how we wanna live.
48:50(upbeat music)
48:54So, the house is 20 square meters.
48:57It started with a sheep shearer's quarters
49:00just to the side of us here.
49:02And, that was maybe 20 yeas ago that that was built.
49:06So, our bedroom is the original cabin
49:09and then this L-shaped space is our kitchen,
49:13lounge, library, office, (baby crying)
49:18daybed...
49:19- Everything.
49:20- Everything, yeah.
49:2220 square meters.
49:25We've got a shower just adjoining and a bit of a deck
49:28out the back.
49:29A few months ago a friend of mine helped me
49:31put a 300-watt panel up on the roof and so that powers
49:35the broadband and telephone and a bit more light.
49:40What else?
49:41Now, we can...
49:43- Use a sewing machine.
49:44Which is very exciting. - Yeah, we could
49:44yeah, we can, the sewing machine is good.
49:46- Yeah, yeah.
49:50- A lot of people when they hear about it,
49:51they think, oh my gosh, how is that with a baby
49:54and even before that, how is that just the two of you?
49:56- I think, actually it's great with the baby
49:59living in a small space in that wherever she is
50:03she's never that far away.
50:07So, it's quite easy to be doing whatever I need
50:09to be doing and keeping an eye on her.
50:12And, when she's sleeping, she'll be close by.
50:20- We have a, I don't know the term for it,
50:22like a work, trade arrangement with the owners.
50:27And, we've been living here just over a year,
50:28so about three or four days a week, I'm on the farm.
50:32And then part-time, I work as a GP.
50:35So, our costs are fractional to what they were
50:40living in town.
50:44I don't have any stress about money
50:45which is a huge benefit.
50:48Emotionally, I'm healthier.
50:52(both laugh)
51:01- It was a choice wanting to be more immersed
51:05in my environment and more directly connected
51:09with my needs, where my food was coming from.
51:12And, I love going out and seeing the garden
51:13each day and seeing how things have changed.
51:15And, yeah, it's like having a relationship
51:17with a living thing, well, lots of living things.
51:24- Regularly attending in the garden,
51:27I had this feeling of almost being in love with the garden.
51:31Which blew me away.
51:34- The future of humanity is to return to that relationship
51:39to nature and to all beings and to all human beings, too.
51:43To fall in love with the world.
51:46Its wellbeing is my wellbeing.
51:49(spiritual music)
51:51If we really were in love with the planet
51:54and incorporated that love into all of our systems,
51:57into our money system, we would not have
52:01an ecological crisis.
52:04(moving to upbeat music)
52:06- If an economy is operating outside of ecological limits,
52:10then the inevitable conclusion is that it's going to
52:14completely erode the resource base
52:17until it implodes or collapses.
52:22So, really, the choice that we have
52:24is to design and develop an economy
52:28that operates within ecological limits.
52:30That's our only safe bet.
52:32It's our only bet at all.
52:36- So, if we think about the whole problem of deflation
52:40and what could happen post-collapse
52:42in a country that experiences a sudden reversal
52:46and this loss of liquidity where the money supply
52:49really, really gets chopped down,
52:50people still have needs.
52:53People still have goods and services.
52:55They're gonna find a way to exchange those.
52:58What you want is the easiest possible way
53:00to make this happen.
53:02And, this is where alternative currencies
53:04would plug the gap.
53:05If a central government were quick thinking,
53:09quick off the mark and actually had a plan
53:12for dealing with this stuff, they could introduce
53:15a new currency, maybe a parallel currency,
53:17maybe a replacement currency to counteract
53:20the disappearance of all the bank money.
53:23That probably won't happen though,
53:24so it's going to be up to local and regional currencies
53:28to fill that void.
53:30(gentle music)
53:38- I woke up one morning and jumped out of bed
53:41without even being caught just yet saying,
53:43I'm gonna start a local currency.
53:47And I just felt so much joy.
53:49There was just like this energy moving through me.
53:52LOAVES stands for Local Origin Ashhurst
53:55Voluntary Exchange System.
53:57It's one of those acronyms that you fit the words
53:59to the acronym instead of the other way around.
54:03It is meant to be a voucher system that circulates
54:06in Ashhurst and the Pohangina Valley as a voluntary
54:11alternative to using money for exchange.
54:13(upbeat music)
54:15So, LOAVES is primarily trading
54:16at the Ashhurst Community Market.
54:18And, we have about a dozen or so businesses
54:21that are accepting it there.
54:22We've got the cheesery, we've got the fudgery.
54:25We have several plant businesses.
54:27We have a business consultant who accepts it
54:30outside of the market and there's half a dozen others
54:34that are accepting it as well.
54:36One of the primary benefits of the currency in my mind
54:40is the awareness-raising that goes along with it.
54:43We're after not the currency itself, but the relationships
54:47that come out of the currency.
54:49So, one of the major things is this awareness campaign
54:51around the benefits of buying local,
54:54the benefits of having a commitment between customers
54:57and businesses of knowing what's available
55:00in your own community, of going to town instead of the city
55:03when you need something, of supporting your neighbors
55:06and looking to your neighbors and their businesses
55:09as a primary way of meeting your needs.
55:14- The wealth generated by using our local currency,
55:18100% of it stays here.
55:20There's no interest and it just keeps circulating
55:23and recirculating in the local community.
55:27And, rather than being considered in competition
55:31with the national money, it's actually complementary to it.
55:40- So, you strengthen these local connections.
55:43Of course, that's a very resilient thing to do
55:45because it just means that if things are rough,
55:48you've got friends, neighbors, and people in your region
55:52that are able to help one another out.
55:57TimeBanking is a very interesting development
56:00in that it uses a very egalitarian basis.
56:04It says everybody's time is equal.
56:08That it doesn't matter how skilled you are
56:10or what your qualifications are,
56:12or what you do for your day job,
56:14that your hour is worth the same as my hour.
56:17(gentle music)
56:22- [Child] How much kale do we need?
56:25- [Maria] We're gonna have another one (mumbles).
56:30- [Child] Let's go.
56:31- [Maria] All right.
56:37- I'm Maria Lee from Te Mahi Kai at Diamond Harbour School
56:41which is a gardening to cooking program.
56:44(lighthearted music)
56:45So, we teach the children how to grow everything themselves
56:49and they put the seeds in, then look after the garden.
56:53And, then when it's my turn, we harvest what they've grown
56:57and turn it into lunch.
56:58(children chattering)
57:05So, today we're making kale chips and broad bean dip
57:09and each week it's different.
57:11(gentle music)
57:12The idea is just to teach them some basics of cooking.
57:15And, in order for that to work, we use TimeBank volunteers.
57:19And, we couldn't do it without them.
57:20(children chattering)
57:22Our volunteers are paid one credit per hour
57:25that they come and volunteer for us.
57:27So, we take those from the school TimeBank credit system
57:32and give it to them.
57:33And, then they use it to trade for whatever they need.
57:40- It's always easier to build your barn
57:44when the sun is shining than try to put it up
57:46in a howling gale.
57:48So, if you put these things together now,
57:51if you get a system up and running
57:52and especially with something like a local currency
57:55where there may be some marketing involved,
57:57you know, trying to get buy-in from people and all that.
57:59You don't create one of these things out of whole cloth
58:02and get it widely accepted overnight.
58:09- Look, there's no getting away from it.
58:11A huge part of this is that we just consume too much stuff.
58:14(somber music)
58:17Our entire economy is built on getting us to buy
58:20and consume, dispose, and re-consume things.
58:26I don't think it's realistic that we can expect
58:28to live in a world where we don't make things
58:30or use things or use resources.
58:32Of course we do.
58:33But, we need to use them in way that is smart.
58:35You know, it's about intelligent use.
58:36It's about being efficient and not wasteful.
58:41- The notion of waste is something that wasn't around
58:45two or 300 years ago, you know.
58:47We just didn't have waste. (gentle music)
58:48Things had utility, things had value all the way through.
58:52And, if they reached the end of productivity,
58:57they were reformed into something else.
59:05(upbeat music)
59:06Welcome to Bayswater Repair Cafe.
59:10A repair cafe is a free pop-up event
59:13where local community experts
59:16in a variety of different areas
59:19offer their skills and services to other people
59:22in their local community for free.
59:25You know, every year we send a crazy amount of stuff
59:29to holes in the ground.
59:30And, this is about maybe doing something to address
59:34some of that flow.
59:35But, also in the process of doing that,
59:37bringing people together in a beautiful way
59:39that connects people, creates some networks
59:43and maybe even some friendships.
59:47So, we've got five different repair areas
59:51at the cafe today.
59:53We've got an electrical appliances repair space
59:57and that is overwhelmingly the most popular area.
59:59So, people bring in toasters and lamps and all kinds
1:00:03of random bits and pieces.
1:00:06We've got a clothing repair space.
1:00:09And, we've got a team of seamstresses
1:00:13and a seamster, if that's the right word,
1:00:15who are mending clothes.
1:00:20We've got a guy who is repairing wood
1:00:25and pieces of furniture.
1:00:27And, we've got general repairs and we've also got
1:00:29two bike mechanics.
1:00:33I was speaking to the daughter of one of the volunteers
1:00:36who helped out with repairs.
1:00:39And, he was an older guy.
1:00:42And, he said to her that he felt a real sense
1:00:47of belonging and a real sense of feeling useful
1:00:52and having purpose.
1:00:54And I thought that was an amazing outcome from the day
1:00:58to make someone feel good about having shared their skills
1:01:05with local people.
1:01:07This is a beautiful example of a community initiative
1:01:10that brings people together
1:01:12and enhances connection, enhances a sense
1:01:16of community and neighborhood.
1:01:20We fix a lot of stuff, but more important
1:01:23than that, I think, is the building
1:01:26of connection and community.
1:01:30(eerie music)
1:01:32- It's really important to remember that when you dispose
1:01:35of something, you can't throw it away.
1:01:38When you throw something it goes somewhere.
1:01:41You might not know where that is.
1:01:43It may be out of your sight, may be out of your mind,
1:01:45but there is no such place as away.
1:01:51- In 2007, we were really starting
1:01:54to think about our impacts (gentle music)
1:01:55that we were having, just our regular
1:01:57day-to-day actions.
1:01:58And, one of the things we focused on was how much rubbish
1:02:00we were producing.
1:02:02I mean, we could've focused on anything,
1:02:03but rubbish was so visual.
1:02:05And, just every week rubbish bags filling up
1:02:09and so we somehow decided to challenge ourselves.
1:02:13We can't remember whose idea it was now,
1:02:15but we did this crazy thing where we thought,
1:02:17right, we're gonna try and make no rubbish
1:02:19for the entire year.
1:02:20(upbeat music)
1:02:22We were genuinely not green people.
1:02:25We were putting out a bag of rubbish
1:02:27every week without fail.
1:02:29And, we had literally never thought about it before.
1:02:32We sort of, it came to us one day,
1:02:35and went, oh my gosh this is terrible.
1:02:37- In terms of the challenge was to try and live
1:02:40for one year with less than a City Council rubbish bag.
1:02:43And, most of it was made up of the items
1:02:45that were out of our control.
1:02:46So, the radiator hose on the car burst
1:02:49and so we had a radiator hose.
1:02:51And, we tried to carry on doing things
1:02:52that you'd normally do so we were renovating our home
1:02:55back then and we had all the lead paint
1:02:58from scraping the weather boards.
1:03:01Some in practical terms that's all we had left over.
1:03:03Yeah.
1:03:09I think when we look at the average rubbish bin,
1:03:11you know, or what people are putting out,
1:03:13at least 50% of it's generally organics.
1:03:17So, you take the biggest things out first, right?
1:03:20So, deal with organics is the no-brainer.
1:03:23If you do that, you're 50% ahead of the average citizen.
1:03:28And, then there's another sort of 30%
1:03:30of recyclable material generally these days
1:03:34in the rubbish bin.
1:03:35So, there's the next thing.
1:03:36So, you deal with the organics,
1:03:38then you recycle everything you can and you're getting up
1:03:41then by that stage.
1:03:42You've made massive gains.
1:03:45People can feel overwhelmed and feel that what they're doing
1:03:48doesn't make a difference.
1:03:50But, most of the waste we create or we're kind of
1:03:54complicit in is waste we've never seen.
1:03:58So, we'll buy something and there'll be a bit of packaging
1:04:00around it that we see.
1:04:02But, in making that item, that's when the bulk
1:04:04of the waste is created.
1:04:06So, if you're putting out a rubbish bag
1:04:09that actually represents 70 rubbish bags of waste
1:04:12that you've never seen that has gone into making
1:04:15that bag of waste.
1:04:18Consumers have it tough, right?
1:04:20There's a lot of money goes into marketing
1:04:23and seeing the messages that you can buy
1:04:26a compostable packaging and, you know,
1:04:28you're saving the environment.
1:04:30And, of course, compostable packaging in any landfill
1:04:33is just as bad.
1:04:33Is the sort of thing that actually needs to be composted
1:04:37at very hot temperatures so it really needs
1:04:39commercial composting to be done properly.
1:04:44And, one of the biggest problems in my business
1:04:46that I have to go to vendors and say, I'm sorry,
1:04:48I know you've paid more and you've been promised
1:04:51that this is eco and compostable by the person
1:04:54that sold it to you, but they didn't actually go
1:04:59and do their product stewardship and find out
1:05:01whether the composting industry can take it any replace.
1:05:06- I think we've actually got consumers
1:05:07that wanna do the right thing.
1:05:08We've got businesses that are doing amazing stuff.
1:05:12And we've got a government completely missing in action
1:05:14in terms of providing a framework for,
1:05:17to encourage those behaviors more and more.
1:05:20- So, when you do buy a container in the supermarket,
1:05:22you make sure it's a reusable container.
1:05:24And, then you wash it out and you take it
1:05:26into one of these stores and you get them to weigh it
1:05:28and then you fill it up with whatever you want
1:05:29and they take the weight off it and you've just stopped
1:05:32that plastic packaging.
1:05:35- If people combining composting and only had to recycle
1:05:38and they're just putting a bit of extra thought
1:05:39into how they're shopping,
1:05:41particularly considering that packaging.
1:05:43(upbeat music)
1:05:46It's that choice when you're at the supermarket
1:05:49or at Bunnings or whatever, thinking about the item,
1:05:54essentially if it's plastic or got other
1:05:56composite materials in it, what can you do with it
1:06:00at the end of life?
1:06:01Not much.
1:06:02It's gonna be rubbish, it's gonna be around
1:06:03for thousands of years.
1:06:06Every time we spend a dollar, it's a vote.
1:06:09We have so much power, so much more power
1:06:12than what we realize.
1:06:13So, it's like keep on that knife edge like yes,
1:06:15see that it's a big, that yes, these big issues,
1:06:18but also yes we can make a difference.
1:06:20(upbeat lively music)
1:06:23- Like, there's part of me, you know,
1:06:24when I go to recycle my bottles or compost my waste,
1:06:31it's like well, what good does it do?
1:06:34You know, I'm just subtracting one plastic bottle
1:06:37from the enormous trash heap that gets shipped
1:06:41to India and is making new mountains in India
1:06:43and China, you know, of waste.
1:06:45Like what does it matter, one bottle different?
1:06:50You can say, well if everybody did it,
1:06:53then it would make a difference.
1:06:55So, you have to do your part.
1:06:56But, part of you will say, well, I'm not everybody.
1:07:00And, if everybody does it then it doesn't matter
1:07:02if I do it.
1:07:04So, we have to have another reason.
1:07:06For me, it comes down to relationship and ritual.
1:07:10I like to save my compost and use composting toilets
1:07:15for example, not because I've done some calculation
1:07:19that this is gonna save the world,
1:07:23but because it's a different kind of relationship
1:07:25with the beings around me.
1:07:28(lighthearted music)
1:07:36- Composting toilets, like composting your own shit,
1:07:39processing your own toilet waste is a real basic
1:07:42fundamental thing that we should all practice.
1:07:47It's a simple way of being,
1:07:49of demonstrating self-responsibility.
1:07:52- So with a flush toilet, basically you take
1:07:55really nice, clean drinking water
1:07:57and our shit and mix the two together,
1:08:00both wonderful resources, when you mix them together
1:08:04you create toxic problem.
1:08:07So, with a compost toilet system, you're able to capture
1:08:12that amazing resource and take care of it
1:08:15and treat it in a way that removes any pathogens
1:08:19or problems and create a wonderful resource.
1:08:26- Okay, so welcome to our toilet.
1:08:29For a start, it's a composting bucket bench system.
1:08:31We've got cover material which we use old sawdust
1:08:36from the mill.
1:08:37It's already got bacteria and a bit of fungus in it.
1:08:39So, you go make your deposit ch, ch, ch.
1:08:41Put a bit of cover material on, leave it.
1:08:44And, then when we've got a certain amount of buckets,
1:08:46we go to the compost and add straw and garden waste
1:08:50and kitchen waste.
1:08:55And, this is one I did maybe a week ago.
1:08:57And, we'll put the compost thermometer in here
1:09:00and see what we're looking at.
1:09:02We're still looking at 50 degrees.
1:09:04It's going up.
1:09:05We've got up to 65 degrees the other day.
1:09:07I recorded it the other day.
1:09:09- You know, there are pathogens you have to consider.
1:09:10There's round worm eggs and all these different kinds
1:09:13of worm eggs that can exist in human urine.
1:09:18If you do a hot compost, that's the safest way
1:09:21because you can nuke all those things within hours.
1:09:28And, over here
1:09:31is what you get.
1:09:36I put it in a bag, but you don't need to (grunts).
1:09:41That there is about a year old.
1:09:44It's got lots of worms in it.
1:09:46We put all our garden waste
1:09:48and all our kitchen waste in here,
1:09:51but the worms are a good sign.
1:09:52If you've got worms it means it's not too acidic
1:09:54and (sniffs) mmm, yum, good stuff.
1:09:57And, that goes straight on the garden
1:09:59and the plants love it.
1:10:01And, we love the plants (chuckles).
1:10:05- When it's finished composting, it doesn't look like
1:10:07or smell like anything like poo.
1:10:10It's just beautiful black compost.
1:10:14So, we've monitored it closely.
1:10:15We've watched the temperature.
1:10:16We know all the pathogens have been nuked.
1:10:19We feel confident in our process.
1:10:22So, we feel safe to use it in our garden.
1:10:26Anyone can do this.
1:10:27It's just really a matter of being engaged
1:10:30and wanting to do it and getting the knowledge.
1:10:32It's a knowledge-based system.
1:10:34It's not technological or anything really advanced.
1:10:37I've seen people do it in cities,
1:10:39you know with a wee backyard, small backyard.
1:10:43Yeah, I know some people do it in really rural settings.
1:10:46It's just a matter of being engaged.
1:10:48- Yeah, it's for everyone, everyone, everyone
1:10:51who wants to take more responsibility for themselves
1:10:55and not pass it off.
1:10:58Everyone who values their poo (chuckles).
1:11:02I value my poo (chuckles).
1:11:06I value your poo, too, so you're welcome
1:11:09to leave a deposit before you go.
1:11:11It's sort of expected actually.
1:11:13No pressure (chuckles).
1:11:19(gentle music)
1:11:27- I've come to see that in order to be part of the solution
1:11:29we really need to use our everyday choices
1:11:32to change our behavior and it's a cultural shift
1:11:36that needs to happen in order for us
1:11:37to at least sustain ourself, which isn't even enough,
1:11:40of course, because what are we sustaining (chuckles).
1:11:45And, so that's something I've really been putting
1:11:47a lot of time into recently is designing my work
1:11:49so that it's actually regenerative.
1:11:53(upbeat music)
1:11:59Sort of out of necessity, I started
1:12:00this organic waste collection.
1:12:02Check this out.
1:12:04Whoa.
1:12:07Yeah, we're currently picking about 2 1/2 tons up
1:12:10each week from local businesses.
1:12:13Instead of that all going into a hole in the ground,
1:12:15it gets returned back to the soil
1:12:18by way of Windrow aerobic composting.
1:12:23So, we currently have around 45 businesses
1:12:27on the Why Waste collection.
1:12:28And they have a number of bins or buckets,
1:12:31mostly wheelie bins and some have up to five wheelie bins
1:12:34at their business.
1:12:37And, every week Why Waste comes and picks
1:12:40that up and we take it to, we weigh it,
1:12:43we record all the data, things like that.
1:12:45We take it to a composting facility.
1:12:47And, so yeah, we're in partnership with them
1:12:50so that we can return that waste back to the soil.
1:12:55Recently one of my clients rang me up
1:12:57and they were super stoked because they were able
1:12:59to cancel this big skip bin for their rubbish, you know.
1:13:05And, now they just use a 240 liter wheelie bin.
1:13:08Which is much, much smaller.
1:13:10And, that's as a result of all of their,
1:13:14their compostable waste going to,
1:13:17back to the soil.
1:13:18Oh, what's that?
1:13:19Oh, tasty muffin (laughs).
1:13:26I'm really passionate about composting
1:13:28as a solution of minimizing our waste
1:13:31and our impact here on,
1:13:34on this one planet that we have (laughs).
1:13:37Food scraps and biodegradable waste takes up
1:13:41over a third of what we send to landfill.
1:13:44When biodegradable matter biodegrades anaerobically,
1:13:50it produces a lot of methane, which is 23 times worse
1:13:54than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.
1:13:57And, not only do you get that gas
1:14:00going into the atmosphere, but you also get a liquid
1:14:04version of it leaching into our soils,
1:14:07into our water table.
1:14:11So, what we're trying to achieve here
1:14:13is build a really hot compost around this drum
1:14:18and also all of this, build all this irrigation into it
1:14:22so that when that aerobic hot compost heats up,
1:14:26we should be able to pump water through the system
1:14:31out and over to these bathtubs over here
1:14:35and have free
1:14:38biologically heated hot water.
1:14:42The reason why I'm so enthusiastic about compost
1:14:44is that it's fertility in its purest form.
1:14:48This is how nature builds soil and that enables us
1:14:52to grow more food.
1:14:54And, if people are conscious of composting,
1:14:59they're probably gonna become more conscious
1:15:01about what they're eating.
1:15:03And, if they're opening less packets,
1:15:05that's good for everyone.
1:15:06That's good for the planet, that's good for our people.
1:15:10If we can get people to focus on eating better
1:15:13then we're actually able to produce a lot less
1:15:16landfill waste and a lot more biodegradable waste
1:15:20which then can be turned into more fertility
1:15:22to produce more food.
1:15:24So, the healthier we eat the better our waste is
1:15:28and much easier to manage and return to the land.
1:15:33People talk about thinking global, acting local.
1:15:39I suppose I'm really sitting in that truth presently.
1:15:42I'd rather think global and act global,
1:15:44but we've gotta start somewhere you know (chuckles).
1:15:47And, so yeah, that's the change I'm wanting to see
1:15:52in the world, so I'm being it the best I can.
1:16:01(waves rumbling)
1:16:15(somber music)
1:16:35(moving to upbeat music)
1:16:38- I see a lot of people who are very sensitive
1:16:40to the devastation, the damage, or just civilization
1:16:46and it paralyzes them.
1:16:47And, that's sad because we need those people,
1:16:51all of those people.
1:16:54Do you know there's lots of things that could depress you
1:16:57out in the world, but if you take each negative,
1:17:00there's almost like an opportunity or provocation
1:17:04to do your thing, which is the opposite of that,
1:17:06you know, give more life, then it's fun.
1:17:09Then it's a winnable game.
1:17:11That's how I see it.
1:17:18- Would be awesome to see
1:17:20our country before human cut it.
1:17:24You know, the thousands and the thousands,
1:17:26millions of birds.
1:17:27Huge, huge Kauri trees, it's just unimaginable.
1:17:32I think we all have done a misjustice to
1:17:35looking after papatuanuku.
1:17:39My ancestors weren't always exactly
1:17:41the best conservationists either,
1:17:43but we now have the chance to revive and recover
1:17:46those landscapes before it's too late.
1:17:52- Over a three year period we planted 85,000 trees
1:17:56and the majority of those are New Zealand native trees
1:17:59which are now flourishing
1:18:00and really transforming the landscape.
1:18:03I just sorta would love to see what this place looked like
1:18:05a thousand years ago, which is such a brief period
1:18:09in ecological time.
1:18:10And, in that time we've sort of stripped
1:18:12most of the native vegetation
1:18:14and done a whole lot of damage
1:18:17and we've gone about as far as we can down that road.
1:18:20And, so now it's time for us to try and find
1:18:23the balance and restore those ecosystems
1:18:28but find a place for humans living harmoniously within it.
1:18:32(birds chirping)
1:18:35- You don't realize this but this used to be
1:18:37a partial desert.
1:18:38- Mmm, was just grass.
1:18:40- Yeah, and this is what people can do.
1:18:44You can create heaven on Earth.
1:18:45(birds chirping)
1:18:50- Start growing food.
1:18:52Food is central to the way we live, our health
1:18:55and our whole ecosystem, environment.
1:18:59Even if you're in an apartment, you can,
1:19:01you know, windowsills, pots, whatever.
1:19:03You can start.
1:19:04And, that's the first step.
1:19:05Once you engage with growing and experiencing nature,
1:19:09then things start to happen.
1:19:13- I get asked this a lot.
1:19:13You know, what can somebody do
1:19:15if they're not a farmer or they're not on the land,
1:19:18what can they do to change it?
1:19:19Well, they can do a lot.
1:19:21The best thing that anybody can do
1:19:23is to vote with their wallets.
1:19:24While in some cases it may be more expensive,
1:19:26do what you can, you know.
1:19:28If you see people in your area that are producing food
1:19:33that is ecologically healthy,
1:19:36they're doing it in a way
1:19:37that is looking after the environment,
1:19:39then that adds up.
1:19:40You know the more people that do that,
1:19:42the less expensive it will become
1:19:45as that becomes normalized.
1:19:50- You know from an individual's point of view,
1:19:54the biggest change by far that we can achieve
1:19:58in our own, by changing our own lifestyle
1:20:00is to reduce the amount of meat we eat.
1:20:02That will have a much bigger effect
1:20:04than what we do transport-wise or almost anything else.
1:20:11- There's a lovely poem that talks about
1:20:12we don't have to be good, we don't have to walk 100 miles
1:20:14on our knees repenting in the desert.
1:20:16We just have to do what the soft animal of our body loves.
1:20:21And, I really like that.
1:20:23I really like that.
1:20:25For me, this turns out to be what I love.
1:20:27And, I have a suspicion that this is actually
1:20:30the blueprint and there's something
1:20:31when people get to it, everybody would want
1:20:34to live this way, I suspect.
1:20:37But, it might be a really long journey
1:20:40for some folks to get to that knowing.
1:20:43(lively music)
1:20:46- Last year, I made a submission
1:20:48to the Council long-term plan that I thought climate change
1:20:53was by far the most urgent and important issue
1:20:57that Councils should be concerned about.
1:21:01And, they said, "And, what would that look like?"
1:21:08I got a reaction.
1:21:11So, I ruminated on it for awhile
1:21:13and I took it back to a group that I was part of,
1:21:17called Project Wairarapa
1:21:19and they said yes,
1:21:23let's do this.
1:21:25You should have heard the buzz at that first meeting.
1:21:29It was fantastic.
1:21:32And, that feeds me, that encourages me
1:21:37that I'm doing something useful.
1:21:39It's my time to give back to the community
1:21:41that's been so good to me, where I've raised my kids,
1:21:46and had such a good life.
1:21:50- So, my vision for the future, I have to be really clear.
1:21:53It doesn't have anything to do with things
1:21:55working the way they do now, but with renewable energy.
1:21:59That's actually not a possibility.
1:22:02Working on renewable energy and being quite different
1:22:05from what we do now, evolving into something else,
1:22:08is the vision I see.
1:22:10Now, how well that's all working,
1:22:14how high a quality of life that is,
1:22:17how fair it is, how equitable it is,
1:22:19how stable the governments are,
1:22:21how much war has come between now and then,
1:22:23completely depends on what we do right now.
1:22:28- I think that the place that we're going
1:22:30is a place that we cannot see from where we are.
1:22:34It'll only emerge or become visible
1:22:37as we move toward it.
1:22:40But, so I'm not gonna say okay, you know,
1:22:42here's the blueprint for the future system.
1:22:44I've thought it all out, you know,
1:22:45and now I'm gonna tell you what it is.
1:22:47But, I do catch glimpses sometimes, you know.
1:22:50One thing that comes to me (birds chirping)
1:22:51is that in the future, we'll feel really at home
1:22:55in the world.
1:22:56We will be intimately familiar
1:22:58with the landscape around us.
1:23:02We will be in rich communities.
1:23:07Take the best experiences you've had in your life,
1:23:11the most authentic, the most vibrant,
1:23:14those don't have to be exceptions.
1:23:18Trust what feels loving, trust what feels good.
1:23:21Trust what feels aligned with who you really are.
1:23:26If you live by that and spread that vibe
1:23:29and other people start living by that,
1:23:31then the whole planet is gonna change.
1:23:50(upbeat music)

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