Planet Earth is hurtling toward destruction. Sea levels are rising and destined to swamp any low-lying land in its path. In many parts of the world, the air is unbreathable, the water undrinkable, the food chain contaminated. Extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, storms and heat waves are wreaking havoc on mankind and every other species. This sounds like a job for Ariana Brunet.
There are those who deny climate change, or claim that it’s not man-made so there’s nothing we can do about it. What does Ariana say to that?
“I recommend that everyone goes online and does a bit of research,” says the 17-year-old Western Springs College student. “There have been seven major studies done, and in every one, at least 90% of scientists - 100% in some - agree that climate change is due to human acitivity.”
But even so, what can little old New Zealand, a speck at the bottom of the world, do about it?
“We can make a difference,” said Ariana. “According to WWF, we’re the fifth worst emitter, per capita, of greenhouse gases among industrialised nations. We have to lead by example, as we’ve done in world affairs before.
“There are lots of ways we can become conscious consumers. Buy locally produced things, or buy things produced under fair trade. Ask ourselves if we really need a new phone every year, or if we’re trying to fill a hole inside. Grow your own food, or buy from people who do.”
'Upcycling' plays a key role in conscious consuming. While recycling means reusing things, upcycling means adding value to unwanted things. Turning trash into treasures. For example, pallets are very useful for upcyling, providing good wood that you can turn into furniture.
Ariana’s passion is a generational thing, passed down from her grandparents and parents. The family have a worm farm, which, for those unfamiliar with the good deeds worms do, means the worms help decompose food waste, creating compost for your garden to help grow more food.
It’s been a busy year. Ariana helped create and run a Global Citizenship Course at her school, to arm people with skills and ideas to make a difference. MPs and other speakers hosted workshops on conscious consumerism.
She organised an Upcycled Pallet Chairs and Tables project at WSC, created a plastic-free blog (www.plasticcompassion.wordpress.com), is helping create a community garden at St Matthew's church in the city, and is assisting to create places - art and public spaces, workshops, online spaces - where people can imagine a better world.
In talking to Ariana, one can’t help but be impressed by her unending positivity. How does she do it, considering the size of the challenges the world faces?
“it’s no good thinking about the negatives in the world unless it motivates action,” she explains. “It’s in the face of the greatest challenges that people can think outside the box and find extraordinary solutions. For instance, in World War II, with the shortage of food in England, people grew food on any area they could, including cabbages on the grounds of Buckingham Palace.
“The problems in the world are caused by two things. Disconnection from each other and other beings. No human exists in a vacuum. And resignation, the feeling that problems are so big we can’t make a difference. Let’s not focus on the negatives but the opportunities, this gives us hope and inspiration to create a better world.”
But it’s not all about saving the world for Ariana. She also takes time to enjoy it. Among her many carbon footprint-free interests are poetry, drama, paddle boarding, hiking, rock climbing, scuba diving and bouldering, which she got into while on school exchange in Tennessee, where bouldering is popular.
But with millions of people in places like Bangladesh and the Pacific Islands losing their homes, and 100,000 animals choking to death on plastics every year, there’s always work to be done. Ariana attended the Youth EnviroLeaders Forum in Nelson (set up in Peter Blake’s honour) along with guests from the Pacific Islands and Australia, where young people reconnect with the environment.
While there, Ariana spoke to Nick Smith, Minister for the Environment, about her hopes for the environment. She also hopes to meet, some day, Kathy Jetnall, the poet from the Marshall Islands who spoke at the UN climate change talks. And Richart Sowa, who built an island out of plastic bottles in Mexico, is on her bucket list.
A bucket, presumably, made from pallets. (BILLY HARRIS)