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| September 2002 |
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Sustainability: Just good housekeeping
Christchurch’s Sister City of Seattle is named
after an Indian Chief. In the 1880s Chief
Seattle made a profound speech in response
to the government’s wish to buy his land.
He said, “What befalls the earth befalls all
the sons of the earth. Man did not weave
the web of life; he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does to
himself.” Those insightful words remind us that
saving the environment starts at home, in our
own backyards — we should not be content
to leave the experts to find solutions to our
environmental problems. The biggest barrier we face in taking on a
huge issue like planetary survival is — where
to start? Many of us feel daunted about
what to do to help sustain and restore our
world. In Christchurch the public have already
shown by their own actions that most are
only too willing to do what they can. Every
week when the recycling bins go out around
70 per cent of households show they are
already converted and committed to making
our way of life more sustainable. It is regular evidence of a powerful will
amongst the public to take action. Almost
without realising it we have already made a
start on that journey towards sustainability. Within the Christchurch City Council we
too have been making some quiet but
decisive steps toward finding more
sustainable ways of working. Like you, we
have realised that while sustainability is a big
word it really just means good housekeeping. You will find out about some of these steps
in this edition of City Scene. Our next step forward as a city will be to
find a way that can build on this commitment
amongst the public, local government and the
business community. It is not a journey we
are making on our own, but it is an issue
where Christchurch is starting to take a lead
role. We need to take small steps and be willing
to act on the reality that we all have a stake
in making sustainability succeed. Householders can play a big part in setting
a good example. Over the next two years
we are going to have a major debate over
new way of charging for rubbish bags. As
city we will have to decide whether the idea
is good, or not. It is an area where the public
can take direct control of how they treat
resources. But we also need to remember that it
only one part of a way of life that holds us
back from becoming more sustainable. The
reality is that household rubbish only
accounts for 18 per cent of the total waste
stream. For us in local government, we will only be
able to move far on sustainability with your
support. We have started to clean up our
backyard. It is a journey I hope you will feel
is worth supporting. |