Alana, Me and growing up on Waiheke……
Raising a baby and how I teach them to interact with the environment around them has come to the forefront of my attention for now I have a baby to consider. Lately I have been looking forward to the approaching summer and thinking about how my wee one will start to interact with the environment around her and of course the one I am most fond of our Moana and all she holds.
Having grown up here on Waiheke from the age of two in 1985 (one of the lucky ones most will say) it has been commonplace that the paths in our gardens are littered with shells from the beach. Ash trays in the days were Paua shells on nearly all resting tables in our houses. Dream catchers were shells and bits of driftwood foraged on adventures. Gardens were composted with seaweed washed up in the last storm or collected when it lands in the bays and builds up over time. Driftwood and shell murals hang from decks a plenty tinkling away in the breeze. Window sills are littered with the findings of the beach walk that morning. Pot plants are littered with the collection of shells…. the list goes on and more and more we see the gifts of Tangaroa up on the land. All these taonga being placed around my environment for so long I never thought to question this. I never questioned myself or others as to the blind taking and impact to the environment that we are creating from such a young age.
The age-old walk and collection along the beach a lovely time spent with grandparents or parents on the weekend – how odd to now see that this simplest of bonding moments needs to be reviewed and restructured as to the impact it has one person collecting five shells per walk. They walk on average three times a week. Fifteen shells per week. Now I see myself let’s say nearing 40 (shhhhhuuusshhh) and the rough calculation is astonishing - that’s 31200 shells for just me In my life time just doing a simple act taught to me from childhood. And where are all these shells now. In the garden, hanging in windows, stuck to artwork, along garden paths. Should they be there I wonder. Land is not their environment. I am sure they contribute in some one but is it the way they should be contributing, or should they be left in their environment where over a gazillion of years the sea has learnt to break down into sand and deposit on our beaches to keep the land being land and the sea being sea. To support our butts when we sit at the beach. To make beach sports that little softer, to hide the small creatures that need the sand cover to live and thrive.
Awareness – awareness of the fact a simple act has on the over all environment and its continuation. Maybe taking a look at these small actions and using them to change. To teach our kids to show appreciation for things in their environments and then let them be. To be awed by their beauty and wonder and then let them be. Maybe it is as simple as collecting shells on the way along the beach to then make a sand castle adorned with treasures and let them return in the next time to the sea. A subtle change with huge impact. Awareness – what a thing to hit you as you walk your shell path to the chicken coup, bringing to the surface a question that needs to be pondered on and a realisation of one’s impact on the moana.
Alana and I look forward to building our next sandcastle and letting it return to the sea where it belongs.
By Tessa O'Shea
Steering Group member
Project Participant