Why not in Canada?

New Zealand is an interesting place in that is very similar to Canada (affluent, small population, English-speaking, commonwealth country with an economy highlighting commodity production and tourism), so you sort of expect things to always be the same but then you stumble into differences. It makes you ask, if it can happen here, why not in Canada? The cutest example this week was the gift pack we received for hooking up the electricity with a local power company (Meridian, check out the web site at Meridianenergy.co.nz if you are interested). We just signed up because someone said this is a good company to call (there are multiple power companies). So yesterday I came home to a box awaiting us on the step. It was from Meridian and it included a compost bucket made of recycled plastic with a mix of eco-green cleaning supplies and soap in it. With it was a welcome card. It was a recycled Meridian Christmas card. Above the printed holiday message was a hand written note, and I quote:

“Hi There!

Thanks for joining Meridian. As you can see we don’t believe in wasting anything— even these left over 2007 Christmas cards came in handy. It is all part of being a New Zealand owned, 100% renewable energy company. Anyway, it’s great to have you on board. Have a happy… Err… day.”

The last line is a reference to the printed holiday greeting below in which the “holiday” in the wish for a “sustainable holiday’ has been crossed out and replaced by “day.”

Other examples… 80% of the produce in the grocery store is grown in New Zealand. There are local bakeries in every neighbourhood (across the street from us—yum) and just up the way is a bulk food store specializing in organic stuff at prices that seem quite similar to the supermarket. We are in the midst of a huge dairy and meat producing agricultural region. All the animals are free-range, grass fed in fenced pastures with animals moving from one pasture to another regularly. Manure just falls on the pasture (ok so the river through the city is not clean). Given the climate, there are no barns or feedlots. All in all, it is a lot easier to eat more sustainably. Mind you, New Zealanders love their meat and dairy and those cows fart a lot, but not as much as Canadian feedlots. Oh yes, at the fancy Hamilton Botanical Gardens, one of the demo gardens is a sustainable organic one including a mini-chicken tractor with the chickens in it. How about that for the Irving Centre?

Of course they could learn a bit from us too. The older houses are not insulated with single pane glass, and winters are cool though not Canadian cold. Also, you take your life into your hands when you step off a curb, and I never step, I run across the street after calculating I can get to the other side before the oncoming car runs me over. Cars fatally ran over bicyclists 5 days in a row last summer in the country. So all is not better on this side of the world… but they have a lot to teach us.