Small, simple actions

‘If 100 people can do it, then 1,000 can. And then it just becomes mainstream.’

Kia ora! Welcome to Future Proof. Thanks for joining me. This week: snow feeds us all, and the world’s rarest whale makes a media splash. But first: meet Dr Janani Mohanakrishnan, a sustainable living coach helping people reduce their carbon footprint.

Dr Janani Mohanakrishnan (in green) with some participants from an EcoPlay Challenge workshop at Mt Roskill library. Image credit: Janani Mohanakrishnan.

Sustainable living coach Dr Janani Mohanakrishnan started her sustainability journey with small, simple actions: consolidating her laundry and dishwasher, composting. As a mum of two young kids, she “wasn’t going to go completely off grid”. 

Then she started talking to family and friends, and they started taking small actions too. It was a ripple effect – and Mohanakrishnan realised she could help spark sustainability journeys through the simple act of sharing stories. “There's great power in storytelling and great power in knowing that if 100 people can do it, then 1,000 can. And then it just becomes mainstream,” she says.

Stories and playing games are the cornerstones of Mohanakrishnan’s EcoPlay Challenge workshops and programmes, which have coached more than 100 participants in Auckland and internationally. In a one-hour food waste workshop, you might be devising new recipes. In another workshop, charades and bingo are on the agenda. “Playing games and hearing stories from others just makes it much more comfortable for people,” says Mohanakrishnan. It turns the workshop into a bonding experience. 

Mohanakrishnan has hosted people of all ages – from schoolkids to retirees. Participants leave with one concrete climate action they’re going to have a stab at. It could be pickling veggies before they go off, or collecting up soft plastics for recycling, or cutting back on cheese – whatever will fit their lifestyle and goals.

A 10-week programme enables greater experimentation. Each week, participants test out what climate actions work for them. And each week, Mohanakrishnan calculates how much they’ve reduced their carbon emissions. It can be eye-opening. “I had a bunch of ladies who were very enthusiastically interested in cutting their coffee consumption,” she says. But when one participant chose to cut down on a couple of car trips, and saved substantially more carbon emissions than the caffeine-deprived folks, reducing car trips became much more popular – and coffee was back on the menu for most.

It’s this type of balancing lesson that often emerges, according to Mohanakrishnan. “A smaller action done persistently can be meaningful, but it can also be offset by one big airplane trip,” she says. Her latest cohort of four achieved a collective reduction of 769 kg of carbon over 10 weeks – equivalent to five return flights between Auckland and Wellington.

Soon, Mohanakrishnan is expanding to help small businesses in the Mt Albert-Mt Eden area to find sustainability solutions that are right for their workplace – and that might help them manage the rising cost of living. With the programme delivered through the Albert-Eden Local Board, participating businesses will get recognition for their efforts in the form of a custom sticker.

Individual climate action might feel small-fry in the face of mega-polluting corporations, private-jet-setting billionaires, and governments. But it’s still an absolutely critical part of the climate puzzle, alongside collective action. It’s about everyone chipping in with climate action from all angles. “You can’t expect governments and businesses to do their part if individuals don’t also do their part,” says Mohanakrishnan. 

Upcoming EcoPlay Challenge events include free food waste workshops at Blockhouse Bay Library and Waiorea Community Recycling Centre, and a free 10-week EcoConscious Accelerator programme at Mt Albert Library. Businesses in Mt Albert/Mt Eden (or elsewhere) interested in free coaching to reduce their carbon emissions can email Mohanakrishnan.

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Government climate choices cop criticism

Last week, climate change minister Simon Watts unveiled the coalition government’s five-point climate strategy, which was promptly criticised. The three-pages of bullet points were labelled a “pamphlet” by Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick, and ridiculed by Greenpeace as being “as useful as teats on a bull”. 

Experts also found the lack of detail problematic. Sara Walton, co-director of the climate change research network at the University of Otago, said that the approach “fails to address the decarbonisation needed” to meet New Zealand’s emissions reduction targets. Luke Harrington from the University of Waikato pointed out “several contradictions” in the strategy. “For example, the installation of more fast chargers is largely pointless if you simultaneously collapse the market by removing all incentives to purchase an EV and introduce new disincentives. EV sales have plummeted in recent months as a direct result of recent policy decisions,” he said. Stewart Sowman-Lund covered the EV situation in The Bulletin last Friday, which is worth a read.

Also last week, a new analysis revealed that reversing the oil and gas exploration ban will result in an extra 51 million tonnes of planet-heating pollution by 2050 – almost equivalent to a year’s worth of New Zealand’s current emissions. An Act MP introduced a member’s bill to stop councils from considering climate change in consenting decisions. And researchers from the Public Health Communication Centre said the government’s “incoherent” climate policies are “deeply troubling”.

Snow feeds us all

The South Island’s frozen water – its icy glaciers and seasonal snow – are like a battery that fuels food production, from salmon to irrigated veggie and grain crops. But that battery is leaking, Shanti Mathias writes on The Spinoff, with most of the country’s glaciers set to disappear by the end of this century. What does this mean for our future food production? And what can be done to protect our freshwater?

More stories

• Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari – the country’s largest fenced sanctuary home to a thriving kiwi population and the mainland kākāpō trial – is struggling financially and could close in September.

• Last week we covered the power of a solar array + sheep combo, now Lincoln University is building a solar farm with panels shading berry and veggie crops.

• Ditching green policies was a “catastrophic misjudgement” that played a key role in the UK Tories’ election defeat, according to a new poll.

• Plant-based athletes are defying “soy boy” stereotypes and showing that forgoing meat doesn’t mean sacrificing gains, Grist reports.

• Across the ditch, an Aussie trial shows that EV batteries can provide backup power during blackouts and emergencies.

• New Zealand sea temperatures hit record highs, prompting concern for ocean wildlife and ecosystems.

• Copenhagen is encouraging tourists to try sustainable activities and transport with the lure of free coffees, kayak rentals and extra ski time in a new rewards programme.

Image credit: Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0).

To finish this edition, the world’s rarest whale is making a media splash. A male beaked whale, provisionally identified as a spade-toothed whale by marine mammal experts, washed up on a beach in Otago earlier this week. The spade-toothed whale is so rare it has never been seen alive, and is known from only six samples. The whale is currently in cold storage in Dunedin, wrapped in plastic. “Just imagine a five metre long white sausage,” Department of Conservation ranger Jim Fyfe told The Guardian.

Wishing you whale for the week ahead,

Ellen

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