June 29, 2025 • 30 mins
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the last few episodes have been somewhat… bleak.
There’s been a lot to discuss around climate change, governments, and corruption, but I realised if we kept focusing only on that, it was going to get all-consuming.
So this week, I’m welcoming back Kate to help me share some good news stories instead!
In this episode, we cover:
- What are drop bears?
- Some fun community topics
- What happened at the UN Ocean Conference
- Reasons why Kate was put off getting solar and myths about solar
- How knowledge and access to information about the environment have changed
- Comparing emissions per person in China and India vs. Australia and Aotearoa
- Breaking down environmental stereotypes about other countries
When I talked about “marine saviour pirates,” I was thinking of Captain Paul Watson - he founded Sea Shepherd and now runs the Captain Paul Watson Foundation.
Giveaway! This week, I'm giving away copies of Rewilding the Sea by Charles Clover - a fascinating look at how rewilding our oceans can restore ecosystems, protect marine life, and even help tackle climate change. Join me over on Instagram to enter.
Find our full podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatswhaticall.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallgreen/
You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/
For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Kyoto Kaitaki and welcome to NowThat's what I Call Green.
I'm your host, Brianne W, an environmentalist and
entrepreneur trying to get you as excited about our planet as I
am. I'm all about creating a
scientific approach to making the world a better place without
the judgement and making it fun.And of course, we will be
chatting about some of the most amazing creatures we share our
planet with. So if you are looking to
(00:26):
navigate through everything green or not so green, you have
come to the right place. OK, marvelous.
Welcome to the studio, Kate. I'm scared I don't know what
we're doing. This should be favorite kind of
podcast. You should be scared.
The last few episodes have been a little bit heavy.
Firstly the climate change episode, which was grim.
(00:47):
Then we had the political roundup which made me so angry
it was not funny. I did not know how much our
government sucked. Absolute.
I'm trying not to be biased. I did not realize how much our
government had made decisions with which I do not agree the.
Nice light hearted episodes, they were great.
Yeah, yeah. So I thought we all needed a
break from the the world becausenow that's good news out there.
(01:09):
And we're going to talk about positive news.
So I have some fun news stories to talk through with you.
Oh. OK, love.
That's the plan. So welcome back to the Positive
Podcast where we're always talking about hopeful things.
I like to think that we always end in our hopeful note.
Anyway, first question for you out of the blue.
She's got no preparation for this, so give her some grace.
What do you think about climate or nature or sustainability, or
(01:30):
the environment in general? What's the one thing that makes
you feel a little bit hopeful, even if it feels really small or
stupid? I feel like working with interns
that are under the age of 20 that their knowledge or access
to knowledge is like far supersedes what I had.
So I'm 32. I feel like if I was interested
(01:51):
in that space, which to be fair I was at 18 or 19, it would have
been much harder unless I'd goneto university to be able to
access anything. So for example, people calling
brands out on TikTok or greenwashing and stuff.
I wouldn't have even known aboutthat then.
Yeah, I like that. You can't say it's a bad thing
that you have so much access, somuch information, because I do
think it's causing a lot of people anxiety and overwhelm.
(02:13):
But it is definitely a good thing in many respects.
I feel like you're allowed to know, right?
Like you're allowed to argue thegovernment.
You're allowed to push back on things at a much younger age,
and those conversations feed into your daily life.
For example, I'll see people buying clothing and they'll be
(02:33):
like, I say, under the age of 20and they'll come to work and
they'll be like, oh, I got this code.
And then talking about that, it like came from a place that is,
you know, ethical will actually be something that they even
bother to say. I just feel like I never said
that at that age. I didn't make any decision based
on that. But then at the same time, like
I didn't have Teamu and Shane doyou know what I mean?
(02:54):
I didn't have the villain in thestory either.
Well, you, you did. You had JJS, right?
I remember when JJS came to Queensland where I grew up, and
it was like somewhere we wouldn't hang out because it was
this new shiny. How exciting, Super cheat.
You could go and buy all sorts of things and not once did I
ever think about where it was made, where it came from.
Yeah, I was about to say I didn't know that was bad.
Same with like Kmart coming in. You don't know it's bad until
(03:17):
you know the good. Like you have to have access to
the good to realize that you have a villain.
Yep. No access to education and
information is massively different, so that's definitely
a good one. Also, the fact that we know so
many people are working to make a difference.
Yes, and they can see those rolemodels in action.
Like I also think it's more accessible to donate to overseas
causes back in the day from likean investment point of view, you
(03:39):
know, you had to be a middle-aged white man to invest
and you had to put down 10 grand.
Now you can be an 18 year old female putting $5 on Cheersies
in an investment fund that is good for the planet where you
could donate to a 'cause you sawon TikTok.
I just feel like for everything it's bad.
It's also, if you use it well, can be positive.
(04:00):
Yeah, yeah. For every tool humans create,
there's always a downside. That's that's what we do.
But I agreed, yes, there is a lot of good that has come from
things. And then the other thing I think
probably one of the biggest things for me is this place when
I bought it to my lifestyle was neglected and sad and filled
with weed, meth and misery, right.
And now it's just stunning awesome.
(04:21):
And that's in three years and there's been an awful lot of
work and if the amount of investment, but it didn't have
to be like it could have been done slower and and cheaper.
And but the fact that I now havea bell bird wake me up most
mornings. Absolutely.
Really. Annoying actually because I'm
not a morning person, but also you can't be mad at a bell bird
because she's beautiful. No.
And I look outside and then you're like property, you know,
(04:41):
we're here and there and it's stunning.
And you had potential to be like, I just want a huge lawn
and a soccer field. Like, do you know what I mean?
Like, obviously you don't have kids.
So we look at that with a very different lens.
True. But when you got here and you
saw what it currently had, you, again, had the accessibility to,
like, find out what to do to make it like the wildflower
(05:03):
zone. You know, you even said that you
got some of that inspiration from online.
And I feel like you've got room for a veggie garden.
And you're trying to constantly think of how to grow your own
ecosystem. Yeah.
That's really cool. I wouldn't have a clue where to
start with that. Like that's why your podcast has
been quite handy for the residential side or even people
(05:23):
in apartments. Just dig it up.
Just dig it up if you've got a piece of law and dig.
It up, yeah, do something with it it's.
Really helpful isn't it for everyone listening.
What? What do you mean?
Just dig it up bro. Dig up your concrete outside
your apartment, Yeah. But I have some actual, you
know, some outside these four walls, foolish walls, good
stories. Yeah.
Everybody is forever blaming thelikes of China and India is, you
(05:43):
know, the sole sources of climate change.
And what's the point in Al Tiro doing anything when India and
China aren't doing anything? Well, I talked about China and a
couple of podcasts ago and how much they are actually doing.
But India is doing just as much if not more, right?
So they are the third largest emitter globally.
So about 7% of global total, which is a lot.
But let's not forget there is a lot of people live there.
(06:05):
You know, there is more than a billion people who live there.
So per capita, their emissions per person, 1.9 tons versus New
Zealand is 6.7. So it's just yeah, per person,
yeah. Yeah.
Well, when you put it like that.It's 15 tons in Australia.
You think about where the majority of Australia's power
comes from and you know. The minerals and stuff they
export, yeah. But you know, India is closer to
(06:28):
its Paris Agreement targets thanwe are.
Or Australia. They are.
Well, they're still highly insufficient because nobody, not
a single country on earth, is ontrack to meet Paris.
Agreement No. But it doesn't matter because of
course we've blown past 1.5. We just have to hold it to 2°
now. But they have and now enough
solar and wind to power 18,000,000 homes, which is like
(06:49):
every house in the UK, Ireland and Australia altogether.
Do you think that New Zealand isjust good marketing then?
Yeah. Like we love a competition with
Australia. So don't get me wrong, there'll
be people listening to that stepthat are like stroked, but it's
actually terrible because we should be versing from like a,
what are you doing positively asa country, We just view China
(07:12):
and India as these like mass producers.
And we maybe got tarnished with that even like as children,
because my dad actually used to go on trips for work to China
and he'd bring us back like thisamazing robotic tech that we
couldn't get here. Like had a little puppy that ran
around, you know, And I was like, so stoked no one else had
that. Whereas now everyone just
(07:33):
absolutely like that's tarnishedand no one looks further like
you do to get those stats. I think we used to be a global
leader in many respects. We dropped the ball in some
ways. I mean, our farmers are some of
the most climate friendly farmers on Earth.
That's unarguable. But that doesn't necessarily
mean our farming was is without impact, of course.
But yeah. And the more this government
(07:56):
just goes through our environmental protections like a
Wrecking Ball, you know, the worse it's going to get.
And the worse are it is for businesses who are trying to
export to, which is why I find it just a breathtakingly stupid
decision. This is a positive podcast,
sorry. Don't let me brave about Should
we play good and bad, Angel? OK, so when I look outside, I
see in New Zealand, this is in my head.
I see lots of green. Yeah, I see farming.
(08:18):
And that actually, to be honest,to me is not all negative.
Like I said, I'm not in the climate space, so, you know, and
I eat meat, so I can't judge that much.
So I look outside and I look at New Zealand and I think, wow, so
green, so safe. Like that's how I grew up.
That's my perspective. India seems very like, you know,
people heavy. I just imagine like when I went
(08:40):
to Thailand, I just imagine the busyness and the smells and the
emissions like, do you know whatI mean?
I just picture that. But then it's not quantifiable
when you're a visitor in the country.
It's only when you dig deep and it's.
Just it's looking past the mediapropaganda and propaganda sounds
quite harsh, but it is. It's just looking past the stuff
that you assume because it's what you're taught, right?
(09:01):
And it's not to say that people do have preconceived notions.
I find it very irritating when people.
Oh, but it's made in China, particularly about electric
cars, right? They're the best electric cars
on the market. Yeah, they're.
Swastika we need it, couldn't just.
I used to have a swastika. Sorry, a Tesla.
You know, I used to have one. I just think that's the most
brilliant nickname for a Tesla. I'm sorry but he was like, I can
just go fuck himself, right? I was like, no one should name a
(09:22):
car there. And then I realized what you
were doing and I was like, do weneed to tell you that?
Was genius yeah. I feel sorry for tears.
They're owners because they probably bought them well before
Elon became AI have no words butlike electric vehicles.
China is leading the winds made in China in many ways and
ethically as well. Their batteries are often free
(09:43):
of cobalt, for example. So yeah, this xenophobia we have
is totally misplaced. But yes, I mean, India is
explaining it's coal because it needs to, you know, move into
the more developed world if you want to use those definitions,
right? Yeah.
They are. Adding more renewable capacity
every event, coal and I just think sometimes we need to pay
attention. If you look at solar analysis,
(10:05):
actually looks like Australia because Australia is doing well
here. 30% of Australian homes have solar panels.
Yeah. Wow.
And are they incentivized to putthem in?
I believe in some states they are like SA is leading the way,
we're just not the state you'd think.
You'd assume the sunniest statesnot the SA is not sunny.
But no in. Queensland is sunnier, yes, but
I guess you'd have to fight off all the bloody spiders on the
(10:27):
solar panels. Could you think of anything
weird? Yes.
See for me here some. Kind of tradie and.
No. Oh.
That's just me right out. Yeah, that's definitely not the
career path for you. No, that's very.
God, Oh, now you're. Going to turn of them.
Oh, there would be like Wibs. No, I'm fine.
No. In a snake and even the.
Snake, the snake, you know, I mean the snake would just be
buds. We're going to Australia for a
(10:47):
holiday to Port Douglas in a couple of months and I am very
excited because snakes are oftenfound the place we're staying so
I will just die of happiness andno leave.
Anyway, this is. Well, I went to get solar panels
for our house. We did a big renovation.
I was like, I, you know, now's the time.
And we were incentivized throughANZ, we could get solar panels.
(11:08):
Cause a green home loan. Yeah, One percent, 1% home loan,
I think it was like 3 years, which we utilized for double
glazing, wool and carpets. There was a lot of good things
going on there. We considered solar panels and
then we got absolutely put off. So we got put off from this is
just obviously friends and word of math, but it was like, oh,
they're not going to make you your money back for 10 years
(11:30):
kind of thing. So it was the first myth
question mark. And then the second thing was,
oh, our grid is not established enough that if you make extra,
you know, like sure, you might get some kind of like cash
incentive putting it back in thegrid, but it's not, it's almost
like not worth it and we can't handle it.
And so. You're actually put off it,
right? Yeah, and that sucks, right,
because I'm considering it, which should be the first step
(11:53):
for people to, I feel like come on board and and incentivize me
make the most of their interest and be like, hey, yeah, that's
so easy, we're going to get you on here.
This is all the great things about it, but I just wasn't.
The power companies have a stranglehold on our power
generation for sure. Like we will.
It's going to take an awful lot and it will take government
regulation to get solar and micro grids which are of course
(12:14):
you know, community specific generation.
Not like a mini den, but say a cluster of houses.
Like say my 3 neighbors and I would all have solar panels and
share say a battery right? Yeah.
See, that's great. Yeah.
But under the current regulations, there's no
incentive financially for us to.Do that.
No, because we can't put it backinto the grid.
And then you financially, if youdon't see that for 10 years and
(12:38):
you're paying power bills, you know, whatever, then you're,
you're like, oh, well, what was the point?
I read overseas there was a country where every time they
put a car parking building in, maybe was it like Norway or
Sweden, Switzerland, somewhere like that.
They always seem like the world leaders again, from a marketing
perspective. And they said every time we put
a car park building, we must roof it, like put solar panels
(13:00):
on the roof. Yeah, how was it Not global
rules, right? That is great incentivise, like
they'll have something for the building companies or property
developers and then as a small country we should be able to
pick up on that stuff and implement it, you know, within
the year surely. Yep.
And I know there are people saying, oh, but we're going to
get the minerals of Sol panels and you can't recycle them.
You can't recycle them that. Isn't it right?
(13:21):
And they last so long that they used to.
And if you follow Mike from Electrify Altero, who are
wonderful and have just releasedtheir manifesto about how New
Zealand could be electrified, the payback for solar panels in
most places here is just four years, which is really quite
achievable for a lot of people, particularly with things like
the Greenhoundland. Yes.
So they need to be doing more like marketing and education
around that to convert people like me.
(13:43):
So at the dinner parties, I can say 10 years, that's dramatic.
I heard it was 4 and then I go and buy it right?
Yeah, good. So you know half of your
Powerville is actually the transmission, so not generation
or the actual electricity itself.
It's getting it to you. I didn't that.
Blew my mind actually. But there's a couple of micro
grids like Ports of Auckland have a pilot micro grid DC thing
(14:04):
for lighting and appliances and stuff.
And there's a there's one on Great Barrier island as well
which is basically just a solar and battery system which powers
a pub which is important and a neighboring building of some
description and it's all solar or 98% solar.
Used to be diesel. Pretty cool.
How much does that impact you when you're deciding on like, I
(14:25):
mean, office spaces might be difficult in Christchurch, but
would you ever have Incredibles set up here?
And is it building? Like was that going to need a
building? Eventually.
Oh Devilene. Well, I mean free to launch.
That's right, we're all holding our water filled glasses up.
You know, even do you have a flavour waiting?
We're going to start a campaign.It's going to be my glasses
waiting for Incredibles. You just have to give me like.
(14:47):
A cool, no pressure. One week lead time.
Great, great. Yeah, OK.
Yeah, solar panels and that sortof generation wouldn't have an
enormous impact because there probably isn't a great deal of
choice here, but it would be great for something for
landlords to add to it. And that's a complicated
question, probably. Because I was like, imagine you
hire one commercial building over the other because they've
(15:08):
shown you how they, I don't know, factories seem cold.
They're large spaces, right? So if I was a landlord, I would
love to like incentivize someone, even maybe they spend
more monthly rent with me because I've kept it warmer.
The office space is warmer. And these are all the steps I've
taken for it to be, as I don't know, environmentally friendly
as possible. Marketing.
(15:29):
Everything's marketing. Everything's marketing OK.
I'm going to bled through some fun, good community topics.
She's not even smiling. She said the word fun and she
didn't even. Well, I I'm just doing actually,
I'm keeping an eye on the time, actually.
OK, because I'm doing this podcast not dressed.
I'm not naked. I'm in my dressing gown.
And Kate and I are friends, so it's fine.
Yeah, this is not unusual. I record this podcast regularly
(15:51):
and it's terrible. But did you know that we, well,
I'd say we. I had nothing to do with it,
obviously, but the little spot of Kiwi, Kiwi poku Poku.
It was reintroduced to the SouthIsland after being extinct for
over 100. Years.
No. Just I think last month.
Isn't that cool? That is a positive news story.
Yeah. So up in the there's a sanctuary
in Nelson and of course it's 700DTS.
(16:14):
So it's not a small sanctuary, which is good because of course
Kiwi are quite roamy and adorable and it's fully predator
against and being peace free since 2017.
So they were obviously waiting for a long margin of safety
there. That's very cool.
I feel like I have more chance of seeing that than I do it.
Like Willow Banks, you know, walking in the dark, enclosed.
Go to far. North, you see the wild, not all
(16:36):
the time. They're not just like all over
the show, you know, just walk through a field of them.
But you definitely see them if you go for a walk in twilight.
OK, because sometimes I feel like we're the only country
that's like, here's a national mascot.
Yeah, you never see it. Don't worry about it, don't
worry about actually seeing it. It could be a myth but like, no
stress. Well, Australians have drop
beers, of course. I mean, I've never seen a drop
beer. Have you seen a Oh, you make it
(16:56):
a fat heard the myth of the pro.OK, you know Australia is full
of everything deadly and killery, which isn't actually a
myth. That's true.
Yeah, well, drop beers are a cartoonized version of koalas
that Australians have made-up that to try and scare tourists
with for some reason. They drop on your head.
And murder you yeah this isn't true just to be really clear to
anybody else and drop beers are not real we don't need to make
(17:17):
Australia scary than is the spider's manners are all on
their. Own If Australia makes koala
beers seem scary, that is like pink, you know what I mean?
Australia says Peak Australia. We have snake spiders and we
also have these fucking beers that fall on your hip.
Yeah, pictures of them are like dripping blood and they've got
fangs and Sophia. No, they've they're gone.
They're gone all the. Way no Kiwi are much cuter.
(17:39):
Cuter than a koala beer. They are not cuter.
Than a sugar glider. Cuter than a drop beer.
Oh, I love a sugar. Glider I saw a sugar glider
about died. Love a sugar glider?
Where were you, Australia? Yeah.
Yeah, we're Dude. We rang first.
Yeah, they come out sort of dusk.
So cute. You could just die, actually
die, and it would be worth it. Talking about Australia and
freaking cute. Tasmanian devils were wiped out
(18:01):
from mainland 3000 years ago, which probably wasn't as much of
our fault as everything else is.That was almost certainly mostly
due to dingoes, but probably isn't to do with.
Us too, the only interaction I've had with the Tasmanian
devil. Was is the.
Cartoon No, it was at Arana Parkwhere they were walking on a
track, right? So there's all this grass.
They were walking on a track, 2 came up to each other and
(18:23):
instead of just a little, a little bit walking around each
other, you know, like one step to the left, they hissed, they
roared. Whatever you call that noise
that they made, it was I was like to my sister.
So what do we think they're doing?
No, they were just arguing over this one square metre of land
and well. It could have been a really good
square metre. So.
(18:44):
Could have been delicious. Put it this way, I'm not
surprised if they get wiped out anywhere because they didn't
seem look. I know, I know, but like just
walk around well. If you've seen the cartoon, you
know that they are not the most reasonable animals you've ever
met. They are hilarious.
OK, they're nothing like the cartoon.
Again, if you're I think they'readorable.
Grumpy old men. But Aussie Ark released 30 into
(19:06):
another British free sanctuary in NSW 2021.
Just a year later there was 7 babies and by 2023 there was
500. Yeah, it's because they don't
walk out of one square of land, so they're together.
So they're getting. That's why they're like, oh,
we're here now, we've finished fighting.
We may as well do something about it, honestly.
(19:27):
There's the three FS, right? There's a biology button that's
got a famous passage that says something about the three FS
feeding, fighting and mating. Because of course you can't say
the the other F word, and you should.
Take my other one out, yeah. Beavers have gone back to
Portugal and to the UK, which isamazing because Beavers are the
coolest things ever. Have you ever seen a Beaver like
on TikTok? Like eating a chunk of just so
(19:51):
cute. And they're just little
harmless, like they seem like they only do good, like they're
in the water. They are they, unless you're.
A tree, I suppose, which you might think a little bit
differently. But they're in the water.
They're making dams. Like, what's a Beaver going to
do? Do you know what I mean?
I feel like he's just very unbothered.
Yeah. I would agree and they saved
Portugal like millions of dollars by creating some dam
that you know human engineers would have taken several years
(20:13):
to do. Very cool.
And they have to reduce wildfirerisk.
Yeah, great. Right, Because they're making
gaps between the. So they slow water flow, they
create well recreate wetlands, you know that we've drained
improved by diversity. We sequester carbon like we
continually underestimate how important various species.
Are has Australia ever thought about borrowing some Beavers
(20:34):
during wildfire season? Oh my God, so I read a news
report. You say that a bunch of students
at a university somewhere I clear didn't pay attention to
details. Standard.
They have started using sound waves to put out fires which
could have massive ramifications.
Imagine if you could put out fires in drought prone regions
like California without water. Yeah, amazing.
(20:55):
OK, Yeah, we should like follow that up.
We should find out that university.
I should look into that more before talking about it, I will.
No. Great.
But it just all these things that are going on that you don't
hear about, right? There's a, a local group called
Harbour Care up in Reglan. They have planted 2 million
native trees. Their nitrogen and their water
is down 45% in just ten years. E coli is down by 80%, so the
(21:17):
water is 1 set closer to being swimmable and drinkable because
so much of it isn't Kai. Auckland.
They've got food forests all over Auckland so heaps of
communities have access to food that perhaps they didn't
already. Because of course food poverty
is very much a thing here. Yeah, in Queensland there's 150
schools that have solar power, saving some.
Some schools are saving $10,000 each.
(21:38):
That's right, power and honestlyso many of these things that are
environmentally friendly, OK, coming from the space save money
like position it you'd say this position your marketing number
one, they care about the farmers, the everyone.
They care about the financial save before they care about the
sustainable. That sometimes can just be a
positive byproduct. Like it's not because they don't
(21:58):
care. No, no, no.
It's. Because unfortunately the world
we live in, things have to add up financially.
That's right. You have to have that first and
then you can care once you're sustainable financially.
Yeah, honestly, I think a lot ofmarketing misses a trick.
There were providing the education around it.
And so I don't know, maybe the people that don't think of these
new technologies have a marketing kind of brain, right?
(22:22):
So there's a lot of people out there doing these incredible
things, but if nobody knows about them, feels very
worthless. Totally.
Keep sending Brianne on Instagram.
You're positive news stuff and we'll do a.
Round up because it is really interesting the last thing I
wanted to end on was because there's so many good things I
couldn't fit the ball into an episode right, but was so last
week was the UN Ocean conferencein nice and I have no time for a
(22:44):
lot of these conferences like COP whatever number this year is
they're building a road through the Amazon so that delegates can
get to COP. I just you couldn't make this
shit up. They are building a road through
ancient rainforest for a conference about climate change.
I couldn't believe it. I didn't believe it was real
until I did a whole bunch of research and that is, I think
it's unfathomable, but. They.
(23:06):
Achieved some stuff at this treaty.
So the High Seas Treaty is basically about protecting the
international waters that no country governs.
If you like. They needed 60 signatories to
ratify it. So a whole bunch of countries in
excess, I think of 100 and something, 120, maybe even 140
countries have signed it, but only 55 have ratified it.
(23:27):
And for it to come into force, we need 60.
So just 5 short. We are not one of them.
Surprise. But yeah, they expect that to be
kicking off in January 2026, andthat means legally binding
marine protection in international waters, which will
be the first time ever. That's pretty freaking cool.
OK. I feel like New Zealand should
get on board with that. Yeah.
I mean, not one to be in government.
I don't think you or I would either survive there, but.
(23:49):
I only as a dictator would you want to be my.
You can be second in charge if you're like.
Oh, easy, basically. Just do everything I say, which
will probably be a struggle because neither of us are great
at taking orders. You're like sign this form and
I'm like, OK, what did it say? But anyway, at least we'd ratify
it, right? I feel like.
And then we'd we'd tell our mates we need four more.
We wouldn't need one because we're just like, guys, we're not
fishing in that section of the ocean.
(24:10):
Yeah. We're probably far away from it.
Where is it? It's international waters is all
over the. Place Pirates.
All about pirates. Yeah, yeah.
Just bring back pirates without,you know, some of the more
horrendous things they did. But pirates to protect the sea?
Imagine that Marine the Saviour pirates.
Yeah, like what's? Well, they exist.
Don't mate. Sea Shepherd and the guy who's
founded it, who's split with SeaShepherd now, I cannot think of
(24:32):
his name. That's annoying.
That's ridiculous. Anyway, his new foundation too.
I'll have to put that in the show.
No, it's, I cannot believe I've forgotten his name.
But there's a couple of other things.
They also announced €8.7 billionin funding commitments for ocean
conservation because ocean for some reason is the least funded
conservation environmental. I know why immediately.
I know why because, well, you can't see anything.
(24:54):
And people have no empathy to fish.
It's very bizarre. There is a weird disconnect
between how important the ocean is and how important we treat
it. Yeah, you put like your ankles
on the beach and then you're like, well, I don't need to save
that because the water looks so good.
Do you know what I mean? Yeah.
French Polynesia established theworld the largest marine
protected area, about 5,000,000 square kilometres.
Wow, only 1.1 is fully protected, but there is more
(25:16):
protections that are going to gothrough next year.
Samoa did something similar. So it protected I think almost
all of its waters, which is about 330 square kilometers,
which is about the size of Vietnam.
Tonga has expanded into new marine reserves.
Like these guys are trying to meet their 30 by 30 goal.
So 30% of ocean and land predicted by 20-30.
(25:37):
Something else that Al 0 is dismally failing at.
Palau has, I know, fishing sanctuary across 80% of its
exclusive economic zone, which is about half a million square
kilometers, whereas Chile and Portugal have continued to
expand their zones and now they are protecting over 30% of the
national waters. Now, it is worth noting that the
(25:58):
level of protections vary, right?
High protection and protection are surprising, like I was about
to. Ask you for dummies like tell me
what protection means because you're saying no fishing that I
mean that lines up. There's a place for them to
breed, but what else does protection mean?
It very much. Depends.
The UK says, I thought you have marine protection areas, but
then they've just said hey, we're going to stop bottom
trawling in some of our areas. And I thought, right, this is
(26:19):
obviously the right conclusion, but it turns out they're going
to stop bottom trawling in some of their marine protected areas.
So they're saying these areas are.
Protected. And they're still doing.
But there's still bottom trawling, which is one of the
most destructive things you can do.
Like, it's farcical, but that's fine, OK.
So quite a range, protection's abit loose, but we don't want
green washing. So maybe when they talk about
(26:39):
their levels of protection, likewhere do you find this
information? I do a lot of research, man.
Yeah, but it's not necessarily easily found.
I put some stuff in the show notes for people to go and have
a look at for like updated oceannews.
I guess I'm just like, who reports on that?
Do you know what I mean? Like if New Zealand did do more
in the way of ocean protection, would that be like, like who's
(27:00):
in charge of? WWE, it's a great source.
Obviously I'm biased as a as a board member, but.
Obviously. Legitimately a very useful, non
biased, straight down the line source.
Yeah cool. The CE is bloody fabulous.
There's lots of stuff going on in like in North End,
Marlborough and Taranaki. They're doing a whole bunch of
kelp refurstation projects so kelp can grow up to half a metre
if not more in a day. It's mad.
(27:22):
And when you have kelp, you thenget filter feeders, you get
cleaner oceans in a matter of days.
Like it's it's phenomenally quick.
These are EE lead reforestation projects and they're focusing on
native species that we're starting to lose.
And they're massively successful, 240% increase in
kelp coverage. And they're also removing
Kenner, which are obviously problematic in massive numbers.
So it's pretty cool. That goes to show what happens
(27:44):
when you combine Indigenous marine management and scientific
monitoring. Yeah, I can't believe that.
It's very cool. Now I have a bajillion good news
stories, but also there's only so much good news you want.
Like let's go back to the regular scheduled prisoners.
And please, no, I'm not joking. But I am giving away a copy of
Rewilding the Sea by Charles Clover to somebody out there
(28:04):
right now. So head over to Instagram to
enter and you will find all you need.
It's actually a really interesting book and quite a
good insight into what Rewildingthe Sea would look like.
And it might even make you want to be a seaweed drama because I
actually would quite like to do that.
So do you feel better about the side of the world?
The answer is yes. Yes, the reason for the dramatic
(28:25):
pause is yes, but I want, you know, there's some great
newsletters out there. Do we have, I'm just thinking is
there like an Instagram or zero place and maybe there are that
share positive news stories? Oh my God, yes.
Like Elena. I can't think of her last name.
Don't ask me names of people offtop of my head.
This I wouldn't learn. I'm terrible.
There's lots. Of good news so there's Elena
she was the climate change and waste educator online.
(28:48):
I'll put her in the show notes. That same guy yes name I don't
know either. I will put a whole bunch of them
in the show notes people have a look.
It is really important to balance some of this negativity
with some. Positive stuff, Yes.
Well, it makes me feel a little bit happier about going online,
knowing that there's some positive things out there.
Totally. Yeah.
Honestly, keep them coming. That was great.
I feel much better about the world, for my children and for
(29:09):
myself. And hopefully she's not even
making that up. Folks, no thank.
You for joining me. No worries on the part.
We will see you. Well, Microgreens this week will
be on more about ocean health and some of the good stuff going
on. She's a big fan of the a big
deep. Dive, as it were.
Wow. That's a very AI phrase which is
absolutely ruined for me. I cannot bear AI.
(29:31):
No sloppy. Luck.
Anyway, we'll see you next time.Kyoro Katiaki Ciao and there you
go. I hope you learned something and
realise that being green isn't about everything in your pantry
matching with those silly glass jars or living in a commune.
If that's your jam, fabulous. But sustainability at it's part
is just using what you need. If you enjoyed this episode,
(29:53):
please don't keep it to yourselfand feel free to drop me a
rating and hit the subscribe button Kyoda and I'll see you
next week.
Kyoto Kaitaki and welcome to NowThat's what I Call Green.
I'm your host, Brianne W, an environmentalist and
entrepreneur trying to get you as excited about our planet as I
am. I'm all about creating a
scientific approach to making the world a better place without
the judgement and making it fun.And of course, we will be
chatting about some of the most amazing creatures we share our
planet with. So if you are looking to
(00:26):
navigate through everything green or not so green, you have
come to the right place. OK, marvelous.
Welcome to the studio, Kate. I'm scared I don't know what
we're doing. This should be favorite kind of
podcast. You should be scared.
The last few episodes have been a little bit heavy.
Firstly the climate change episode, which was grim.
(00:47):
Then we had the political roundup which made me so angry
it was not funny. I did not know how much our
government sucked. Absolute.
I'm trying not to be biased. I did not realize how much our
government had made decisions with which I do not agree the.
Nice light hearted episodes, they were great.
Yeah, yeah. So I thought we all needed a
break from the the world becausenow that's good news out there.
(01:09):
And we're going to talk about positive news.
So I have some fun news stories to talk through with you.
Oh. OK, love.
That's the plan. So welcome back to the Positive
Podcast where we're always talking about hopeful things.
I like to think that we always end in our hopeful note.
Anyway, first question for you out of the blue.
She's got no preparation for this, so give her some grace.
What do you think about climate or nature or sustainability, or
(01:30):
the environment in general? What's the one thing that makes
you feel a little bit hopeful, even if it feels really small or
stupid? I feel like working with interns
that are under the age of 20 that their knowledge or access
to knowledge is like far supersedes what I had.
So I'm 32. I feel like if I was interested
(01:51):
in that space, which to be fair I was at 18 or 19, it would have
been much harder unless I'd goneto university to be able to
access anything. So for example, people calling
brands out on TikTok or greenwashing and stuff.
I wouldn't have even known aboutthat then.
Yeah, I like that. You can't say it's a bad thing
that you have so much access, somuch information, because I do
think it's causing a lot of people anxiety and overwhelm.
(02:13):
But it is definitely a good thing in many respects.
I feel like you're allowed to know, right?
Like you're allowed to argue thegovernment.
You're allowed to push back on things at a much younger age,
and those conversations feed into your daily life.
For example, I'll see people buying clothing and they'll be
(02:33):
like, I say, under the age of 20and they'll come to work and
they'll be like, oh, I got this code.
And then talking about that, it like came from a place that is,
you know, ethical will actually be something that they even
bother to say. I just feel like I never said
that at that age. I didn't make any decision based
on that. But then at the same time, like
I didn't have Teamu and Shane doyou know what I mean?
(02:54):
I didn't have the villain in thestory either.
Well, you, you did. You had JJS, right?
I remember when JJS came to Queensland where I grew up, and
it was like somewhere we wouldn't hang out because it was
this new shiny. How exciting, Super cheat.
You could go and buy all sorts of things and not once did I
ever think about where it was made, where it came from.
Yeah, I was about to say I didn't know that was bad.
Same with like Kmart coming in. You don't know it's bad until
(03:17):
you know the good. Like you have to have access to
the good to realize that you have a villain.
Yep. No access to education and
information is massively different, so that's definitely
a good one. Also, the fact that we know so
many people are working to make a difference.
Yes, and they can see those rolemodels in action.
Like I also think it's more accessible to donate to overseas
causes back in the day from likean investment point of view, you
(03:39):
know, you had to be a middle-aged white man to invest
and you had to put down 10 grand.
Now you can be an 18 year old female putting $5 on Cheersies
in an investment fund that is good for the planet where you
could donate to a 'cause you sawon TikTok.
I just feel like for everything it's bad.
It's also, if you use it well, can be positive.
(04:00):
Yeah, yeah. For every tool humans create,
there's always a downside. That's that's what we do.
But I agreed, yes, there is a lot of good that has come from
things. And then the other thing I think
probably one of the biggest things for me is this place when
I bought it to my lifestyle was neglected and sad and filled
with weed, meth and misery, right.
And now it's just stunning awesome.
(04:21):
And that's in three years and there's been an awful lot of
work and if the amount of investment, but it didn't have
to be like it could have been done slower and and cheaper.
And but the fact that I now havea bell bird wake me up most
mornings. Absolutely.
Really. Annoying actually because I'm
not a morning person, but also you can't be mad at a bell bird
because she's beautiful. No.
And I look outside and then you're like property, you know,
(04:41):
we're here and there and it's stunning.
And you had potential to be like, I just want a huge lawn
and a soccer field. Like, do you know what I mean?
Like, obviously you don't have kids.
So we look at that with a very different lens.
True. But when you got here and you
saw what it currently had, you, again, had the accessibility to,
like, find out what to do to make it like the wildflower
(05:03):
zone. You know, you even said that you
got some of that inspiration from online.
And I feel like you've got room for a veggie garden.
And you're trying to constantly think of how to grow your own
ecosystem. Yeah.
That's really cool. I wouldn't have a clue where to
start with that. Like that's why your podcast has
been quite handy for the residential side or even people
(05:23):
in apartments. Just dig it up.
Just dig it up if you've got a piece of law and dig.
It up, yeah, do something with it it's.
Really helpful isn't it for everyone listening.
What? What do you mean?
Just dig it up bro. Dig up your concrete outside
your apartment, Yeah. But I have some actual, you
know, some outside these four walls, foolish walls, good
stories. Yeah.
Everybody is forever blaming thelikes of China and India is, you
(05:43):
know, the sole sources of climate change.
And what's the point in Al Tiro doing anything when India and
China aren't doing anything? Well, I talked about China and a
couple of podcasts ago and how much they are actually doing.
But India is doing just as much if not more, right?
So they are the third largest emitter globally.
So about 7% of global total, which is a lot.
But let's not forget there is a lot of people live there.
(06:05):
You know, there is more than a billion people who live there.
So per capita, their emissions per person, 1.9 tons versus New
Zealand is 6.7. So it's just yeah, per person,
yeah. Yeah.
Well, when you put it like that.It's 15 tons in Australia.
You think about where the majority of Australia's power
comes from and you know. The minerals and stuff they
export, yeah. But you know, India is closer to
(06:28):
its Paris Agreement targets thanwe are.
Or Australia. They are.
Well, they're still highly insufficient because nobody, not
a single country on earth, is ontrack to meet Paris.
Agreement No. But it doesn't matter because of
course we've blown past 1.5. We just have to hold it to 2°
now. But they have and now enough
solar and wind to power 18,000,000 homes, which is like
(06:49):
every house in the UK, Ireland and Australia altogether.
Do you think that New Zealand isjust good marketing then?
Yeah. Like we love a competition with
Australia. So don't get me wrong, there'll
be people listening to that stepthat are like stroked, but it's
actually terrible because we should be versing from like a,
what are you doing positively asa country, We just view China
(07:12):
and India as these like mass producers.
And we maybe got tarnished with that even like as children,
because my dad actually used to go on trips for work to China
and he'd bring us back like thisamazing robotic tech that we
couldn't get here. Like had a little puppy that ran
around, you know, And I was like, so stoked no one else had
that. Whereas now everyone just
(07:33):
absolutely like that's tarnishedand no one looks further like
you do to get those stats. I think we used to be a global
leader in many respects. We dropped the ball in some
ways. I mean, our farmers are some of
the most climate friendly farmers on Earth.
That's unarguable. But that doesn't necessarily
mean our farming was is without impact, of course.
But yeah. And the more this government
(07:56):
just goes through our environmental protections like a
Wrecking Ball, you know, the worse it's going to get.
And the worse are it is for businesses who are trying to
export to, which is why I find it just a breathtakingly stupid
decision. This is a positive podcast,
sorry. Don't let me brave about Should
we play good and bad, Angel? OK, so when I look outside, I
see in New Zealand, this is in my head.
I see lots of green. Yeah, I see farming.
(08:18):
And that actually, to be honest,to me is not all negative.
Like I said, I'm not in the climate space, so, you know, and
I eat meat, so I can't judge that much.
So I look outside and I look at New Zealand and I think, wow, so
green, so safe. Like that's how I grew up.
That's my perspective. India seems very like, you know,
people heavy. I just imagine like when I went
(08:40):
to Thailand, I just imagine the busyness and the smells and the
emissions like, do you know whatI mean?
I just picture that. But then it's not quantifiable
when you're a visitor in the country.
It's only when you dig deep and it's.
Just it's looking past the mediapropaganda and propaganda sounds
quite harsh, but it is. It's just looking past the stuff
that you assume because it's what you're taught, right?
(09:01):
And it's not to say that people do have preconceived notions.
I find it very irritating when people.
Oh, but it's made in China, particularly about electric
cars, right? They're the best electric cars
on the market. Yeah, they're.
Swastika we need it, couldn't just.
I used to have a swastika. Sorry, a Tesla.
You know, I used to have one. I just think that's the most
brilliant nickname for a Tesla. I'm sorry but he was like, I can
just go fuck himself, right? I was like, no one should name a
(09:22):
car there. And then I realized what you
were doing and I was like, do weneed to tell you that?
Was genius yeah. I feel sorry for tears.
They're owners because they probably bought them well before
Elon became AI have no words butlike electric vehicles.
China is leading the winds made in China in many ways and
ethically as well. Their batteries are often free
(09:43):
of cobalt, for example. So yeah, this xenophobia we have
is totally misplaced. But yes, I mean, India is
explaining it's coal because it needs to, you know, move into
the more developed world if you want to use those definitions,
right? Yeah.
They are. Adding more renewable capacity
every event, coal and I just think sometimes we need to pay
attention. If you look at solar analysis,
(10:05):
actually looks like Australia because Australia is doing well
here. 30% of Australian homes have solar panels.
Yeah. Wow.
And are they incentivized to putthem in?
I believe in some states they are like SA is leading the way,
we're just not the state you'd think.
You'd assume the sunniest statesnot the SA is not sunny.
But no in. Queensland is sunnier, yes, but
I guess you'd have to fight off all the bloody spiders on the
(10:27):
solar panels. Could you think of anything
weird? Yes.
See for me here some. Kind of tradie and.
No. Oh.
That's just me right out. Yeah, that's definitely not the
career path for you. No, that's very.
God, Oh, now you're. Going to turn of them.
Oh, there would be like Wibs. No, I'm fine.
No. In a snake and even the.
Snake, the snake, you know, I mean the snake would just be
buds. We're going to Australia for a
(10:47):
holiday to Port Douglas in a couple of months and I am very
excited because snakes are oftenfound the place we're staying so
I will just die of happiness andno leave.
Anyway, this is. Well, I went to get solar panels
for our house. We did a big renovation.
I was like, I, you know, now's the time.
And we were incentivized throughANZ, we could get solar panels.
(11:08):
Cause a green home loan. Yeah, One percent, 1% home loan,
I think it was like 3 years, which we utilized for double
glazing, wool and carpets. There was a lot of good things
going on there. We considered solar panels and
then we got absolutely put off. So we got put off from this is
just obviously friends and word of math, but it was like, oh,
they're not going to make you your money back for 10 years
(11:30):
kind of thing. So it was the first myth
question mark. And then the second thing was,
oh, our grid is not established enough that if you make extra,
you know, like sure, you might get some kind of like cash
incentive putting it back in thegrid, but it's not, it's almost
like not worth it and we can't handle it.
And so. You're actually put off it,
right? Yeah, and that sucks, right,
because I'm considering it, which should be the first step
(11:53):
for people to, I feel like come on board and and incentivize me
make the most of their interest and be like, hey, yeah, that's
so easy, we're going to get you on here.
This is all the great things about it, but I just wasn't.
The power companies have a stranglehold on our power
generation for sure. Like we will.
It's going to take an awful lot and it will take government
regulation to get solar and micro grids which are of course
(12:14):
you know, community specific generation.
Not like a mini den, but say a cluster of houses.
Like say my 3 neighbors and I would all have solar panels and
share say a battery right? Yeah.
See, that's great. Yeah.
But under the current regulations, there's no
incentive financially for us to.Do that.
No, because we can't put it backinto the grid.
And then you financially, if youdon't see that for 10 years and
(12:38):
you're paying power bills, you know, whatever, then you're,
you're like, oh, well, what was the point?
I read overseas there was a country where every time they
put a car parking building in, maybe was it like Norway or
Sweden, Switzerland, somewhere like that.
They always seem like the world leaders again, from a marketing
perspective. And they said every time we put
a car park building, we must roof it, like put solar panels
(13:00):
on the roof. Yeah, how was it Not global
rules, right? That is great incentivise, like
they'll have something for the building companies or property
developers and then as a small country we should be able to
pick up on that stuff and implement it, you know, within
the year surely. Yep.
And I know there are people saying, oh, but we're going to
get the minerals of Sol panels and you can't recycle them.
You can't recycle them that. Isn't it right?
(13:21):
And they last so long that they used to.
And if you follow Mike from Electrify Altero, who are
wonderful and have just releasedtheir manifesto about how New
Zealand could be electrified, the payback for solar panels in
most places here is just four years, which is really quite
achievable for a lot of people, particularly with things like
the Greenhoundland. Yes.
So they need to be doing more like marketing and education
around that to convert people like me.
(13:43):
So at the dinner parties, I can say 10 years, that's dramatic.
I heard it was 4 and then I go and buy it right?
Yeah, good. So you know half of your
Powerville is actually the transmission, so not generation
or the actual electricity itself.
It's getting it to you. I didn't that.
Blew my mind actually. But there's a couple of micro
grids like Ports of Auckland have a pilot micro grid DC thing
(14:04):
for lighting and appliances and stuff.
And there's a there's one on Great Barrier island as well
which is basically just a solar and battery system which powers
a pub which is important and a neighboring building of some
description and it's all solar or 98% solar.
Used to be diesel. Pretty cool.
How much does that impact you when you're deciding on like, I
(14:25):
mean, office spaces might be difficult in Christchurch, but
would you ever have Incredibles set up here?
And is it building? Like was that going to need a
building? Eventually.
Oh Devilene. Well, I mean free to launch.
That's right, we're all holding our water filled glasses up.
You know, even do you have a flavour waiting?
We're going to start a campaign.It's going to be my glasses
waiting for Incredibles. You just have to give me like.
(14:47):
A cool, no pressure. One week lead time.
Great, great. Yeah, OK.
Yeah, solar panels and that sortof generation wouldn't have an
enormous impact because there probably isn't a great deal of
choice here, but it would be great for something for
landlords to add to it. And that's a complicated
question, probably. Because I was like, imagine you
hire one commercial building over the other because they've
(15:08):
shown you how they, I don't know, factories seem cold.
They're large spaces, right? So if I was a landlord, I would
love to like incentivize someone, even maybe they spend
more monthly rent with me because I've kept it warmer.
The office space is warmer. And these are all the steps I've
taken for it to be, as I don't know, environmentally friendly
as possible. Marketing.
(15:29):
Everything's marketing. Everything's marketing OK.
I'm going to bled through some fun, good community topics.
She's not even smiling. She said the word fun and she
didn't even. Well, I I'm just doing actually,
I'm keeping an eye on the time, actually.
OK, because I'm doing this podcast not dressed.
I'm not naked. I'm in my dressing gown.
And Kate and I are friends, so it's fine.
Yeah, this is not unusual. I record this podcast regularly
(15:51):
and it's terrible. But did you know that we, well,
I'd say we. I had nothing to do with it,
obviously, but the little spot of Kiwi, Kiwi poku Poku.
It was reintroduced to the SouthIsland after being extinct for
over 100. Years.
No. Just I think last month.
Isn't that cool? That is a positive news story.
Yeah. So up in the there's a sanctuary
in Nelson and of course it's 700DTS.
(16:14):
So it's not a small sanctuary, which is good because of course
Kiwi are quite roamy and adorable and it's fully predator
against and being peace free since 2017.
So they were obviously waiting for a long margin of safety
there. That's very cool.
I feel like I have more chance of seeing that than I do it.
Like Willow Banks, you know, walking in the dark, enclosed.
Go to far. North, you see the wild, not all
(16:36):
the time. They're not just like all over
the show, you know, just walk through a field of them.
But you definitely see them if you go for a walk in twilight.
OK, because sometimes I feel like we're the only country
that's like, here's a national mascot.
Yeah, you never see it. Don't worry about it, don't
worry about actually seeing it. It could be a myth but like, no
stress. Well, Australians have drop
beers, of course. I mean, I've never seen a drop
beer. Have you seen a Oh, you make it
(16:56):
a fat heard the myth of the pro.OK, you know Australia is full
of everything deadly and killery, which isn't actually a
myth. That's true.
Yeah, well, drop beers are a cartoonized version of koalas
that Australians have made-up that to try and scare tourists
with for some reason. They drop on your head.
And murder you yeah this isn't true just to be really clear to
anybody else and drop beers are not real we don't need to make
(17:17):
Australia scary than is the spider's manners are all on
their. Own If Australia makes koala
beers seem scary, that is like pink, you know what I mean?
Australia says Peak Australia. We have snake spiders and we
also have these fucking beers that fall on your hip.
Yeah, pictures of them are like dripping blood and they've got
fangs and Sophia. No, they've they're gone.
They're gone all the. Way no Kiwi are much cuter.
(17:39):
Cuter than a koala beer. They are not cuter.
Than a sugar glider. Cuter than a drop beer.
Oh, I love a sugar. Glider I saw a sugar glider
about died. Love a sugar glider?
Where were you, Australia? Yeah.
Yeah, we're Dude. We rang first.
Yeah, they come out sort of dusk.
So cute. You could just die, actually
die, and it would be worth it. Talking about Australia and
freaking cute. Tasmanian devils were wiped out
(18:01):
from mainland 3000 years ago, which probably wasn't as much of
our fault as everything else is.That was almost certainly mostly
due to dingoes, but probably isn't to do with.
Us too, the only interaction I've had with the Tasmanian
devil. Was is the.
Cartoon No, it was at Arana Parkwhere they were walking on a
track, right? So there's all this grass.
They were walking on a track, 2 came up to each other and
(18:23):
instead of just a little, a little bit walking around each
other, you know, like one step to the left, they hissed, they
roared. Whatever you call that noise
that they made, it was I was like to my sister.
So what do we think they're doing?
No, they were just arguing over this one square metre of land
and well. It could have been a really good
square metre. So.
(18:44):
Could have been delicious. Put it this way, I'm not
surprised if they get wiped out anywhere because they didn't
seem look. I know, I know, but like just
walk around well. If you've seen the cartoon, you
know that they are not the most reasonable animals you've ever
met. They are hilarious.
OK, they're nothing like the cartoon.
Again, if you're I think they'readorable.
Grumpy old men. But Aussie Ark released 30 into
(19:06):
another British free sanctuary in NSW 2021.
Just a year later there was 7 babies and by 2023 there was
500. Yeah, it's because they don't
walk out of one square of land, so they're together.
So they're getting. That's why they're like, oh,
we're here now, we've finished fighting.
We may as well do something about it, honestly.
(19:27):
There's the three FS, right? There's a biology button that's
got a famous passage that says something about the three FS
feeding, fighting and mating. Because of course you can't say
the the other F word, and you should.
Take my other one out, yeah. Beavers have gone back to
Portugal and to the UK, which isamazing because Beavers are the
coolest things ever. Have you ever seen a Beaver like
on TikTok? Like eating a chunk of just so
(19:51):
cute. And they're just little
harmless, like they seem like they only do good, like they're
in the water. They are they, unless you're.
A tree, I suppose, which you might think a little bit
differently. But they're in the water.
They're making dams. Like, what's a Beaver going to
do? Do you know what I mean?
I feel like he's just very unbothered.
Yeah. I would agree and they saved
Portugal like millions of dollars by creating some dam
that you know human engineers would have taken several years
(20:13):
to do. Very cool.
And they have to reduce wildfirerisk.
Yeah, great. Right, Because they're making
gaps between the. So they slow water flow, they
create well recreate wetlands, you know that we've drained
improved by diversity. We sequester carbon like we
continually underestimate how important various species.
Are has Australia ever thought about borrowing some Beavers
(20:34):
during wildfire season? Oh my God, so I read a news
report. You say that a bunch of students
at a university somewhere I clear didn't pay attention to
details. Standard.
They have started using sound waves to put out fires which
could have massive ramifications.
Imagine if you could put out fires in drought prone regions
like California without water. Yeah, amazing.
(20:55):
OK, Yeah, we should like follow that up.
We should find out that university.
I should look into that more before talking about it, I will.
No. Great.
But it just all these things that are going on that you don't
hear about, right? There's a, a local group called
Harbour Care up in Reglan. They have planted 2 million
native trees. Their nitrogen and their water
is down 45% in just ten years. E coli is down by 80%, so the
(21:17):
water is 1 set closer to being swimmable and drinkable because
so much of it isn't Kai. Auckland.
They've got food forests all over Auckland so heaps of
communities have access to food that perhaps they didn't
already. Because of course food poverty
is very much a thing here. Yeah, in Queensland there's 150
schools that have solar power, saving some.
Some schools are saving $10,000 each.
(21:38):
That's right, power and honestlyso many of these things that are
environmentally friendly, OK, coming from the space save money
like position it you'd say this position your marketing number
one, they care about the farmers, the everyone.
They care about the financial save before they care about the
sustainable. That sometimes can just be a
positive byproduct. Like it's not because they don't
(21:58):
care. No, no, no.
It's. Because unfortunately the world
we live in, things have to add up financially.
That's right. You have to have that first and
then you can care once you're sustainable financially.
Yeah, honestly, I think a lot ofmarketing misses a trick.
There were providing the education around it.
And so I don't know, maybe the people that don't think of these
new technologies have a marketing kind of brain, right?
(22:22):
So there's a lot of people out there doing these incredible
things, but if nobody knows about them, feels very
worthless. Totally.
Keep sending Brianne on Instagram.
You're positive news stuff and we'll do a.
Round up because it is really interesting the last thing I
wanted to end on was because there's so many good things I
couldn't fit the ball into an episode right, but was so last
week was the UN Ocean conferencein nice and I have no time for a
(22:44):
lot of these conferences like COP whatever number this year is
they're building a road through the Amazon so that delegates can
get to COP. I just you couldn't make this
shit up. They are building a road through
ancient rainforest for a conference about climate change.
I couldn't believe it. I didn't believe it was real
until I did a whole bunch of research and that is, I think
it's unfathomable, but. They.
(23:06):
Achieved some stuff at this treaty.
So the High Seas Treaty is basically about protecting the
international waters that no country governs.
If you like. They needed 60 signatories to
ratify it. So a whole bunch of countries in
excess, I think of 100 and something, 120, maybe even 140
countries have signed it, but only 55 have ratified it.
(23:27):
And for it to come into force, we need 60.
So just 5 short. We are not one of them.
Surprise. But yeah, they expect that to be
kicking off in January 2026, andthat means legally binding
marine protection in international waters, which will
be the first time ever. That's pretty freaking cool.
OK. I feel like New Zealand should
get on board with that. Yeah.
I mean, not one to be in government.
I don't think you or I would either survive there, but.
(23:49):
I only as a dictator would you want to be my.
You can be second in charge if you're like.
Oh, easy, basically. Just do everything I say, which
will probably be a struggle because neither of us are great
at taking orders. You're like sign this form and
I'm like, OK, what did it say? But anyway, at least we'd ratify
it, right? I feel like.
And then we'd we'd tell our mates we need four more.
We wouldn't need one because we're just like, guys, we're not
fishing in that section of the ocean.
(24:10):
Yeah. We're probably far away from it.
Where is it? It's international waters is all
over the. Place Pirates.
All about pirates. Yeah, yeah.
Just bring back pirates without,you know, some of the more
horrendous things they did. But pirates to protect the sea?
Imagine that Marine the Saviour pirates.
Yeah, like what's? Well, they exist.
Don't mate. Sea Shepherd and the guy who's
founded it, who's split with SeaShepherd now, I cannot think of
(24:32):
his name. That's annoying.
That's ridiculous. Anyway, his new foundation too.
I'll have to put that in the show.
No, it's, I cannot believe I've forgotten his name.
But there's a couple of other things.
They also announced €8.7 billionin funding commitments for ocean
conservation because ocean for some reason is the least funded
conservation environmental. I know why immediately.
I know why because, well, you can't see anything.
(24:54):
And people have no empathy to fish.
It's very bizarre. There is a weird disconnect
between how important the ocean is and how important we treat
it. Yeah, you put like your ankles
on the beach and then you're like, well, I don't need to save
that because the water looks so good.
Do you know what I mean? Yeah.
French Polynesia established theworld the largest marine
protected area, about 5,000,000 square kilometres.
Wow, only 1.1 is fully protected, but there is more
(25:16):
protections that are going to gothrough next year.
Samoa did something similar. So it protected I think almost
all of its waters, which is about 330 square kilometers,
which is about the size of Vietnam.
Tonga has expanded into new marine reserves.
Like these guys are trying to meet their 30 by 30 goal.
So 30% of ocean and land predicted by 20-30.
(25:37):
Something else that Al 0 is dismally failing at.
Palau has, I know, fishing sanctuary across 80% of its
exclusive economic zone, which is about half a million square
kilometers, whereas Chile and Portugal have continued to
expand their zones and now they are protecting over 30% of the
national waters. Now, it is worth noting that the
(25:58):
level of protections vary, right?
High protection and protection are surprising, like I was about
to. Ask you for dummies like tell me
what protection means because you're saying no fishing that I
mean that lines up. There's a place for them to
breed, but what else does protection mean?
It very much. Depends.
The UK says, I thought you have marine protection areas, but
then they've just said hey, we're going to stop bottom
trawling in some of our areas. And I thought, right, this is
(26:19):
obviously the right conclusion, but it turns out they're going
to stop bottom trawling in some of their marine protected areas.
So they're saying these areas are.
Protected. And they're still doing.
But there's still bottom trawling, which is one of the
most destructive things you can do.
Like, it's farcical, but that's fine, OK.
So quite a range, protection's abit loose, but we don't want
green washing. So maybe when they talk about
(26:39):
their levels of protection, likewhere do you find this
information? I do a lot of research, man.
Yeah, but it's not necessarily easily found.
I put some stuff in the show notes for people to go and have
a look at for like updated oceannews.
I guess I'm just like, who reports on that?
Do you know what I mean? Like if New Zealand did do more
in the way of ocean protection, would that be like, like who's
(27:00):
in charge of? WWE, it's a great source.
Obviously I'm biased as a as a board member, but.
Obviously. Legitimately a very useful, non
biased, straight down the line source.
Yeah cool. The CE is bloody fabulous.
There's lots of stuff going on in like in North End,
Marlborough and Taranaki. They're doing a whole bunch of
kelp refurstation projects so kelp can grow up to half a metre
if not more in a day. It's mad.
(27:22):
And when you have kelp, you thenget filter feeders, you get
cleaner oceans in a matter of days.
Like it's it's phenomenally quick.
These are EE lead reforestation projects and they're focusing on
native species that we're starting to lose.
And they're massively successful, 240% increase in
kelp coverage. And they're also removing
Kenner, which are obviously problematic in massive numbers.
So it's pretty cool. That goes to show what happens
(27:44):
when you combine Indigenous marine management and scientific
monitoring. Yeah, I can't believe that.
It's very cool. Now I have a bajillion good news
stories, but also there's only so much good news you want.
Like let's go back to the regular scheduled prisoners.
And please, no, I'm not joking. But I am giving away a copy of
Rewilding the Sea by Charles Clover to somebody out there
(28:04):
right now. So head over to Instagram to
enter and you will find all you need.
It's actually a really interesting book and quite a
good insight into what Rewildingthe Sea would look like.
And it might even make you want to be a seaweed drama because I
actually would quite like to do that.
So do you feel better about the side of the world?
The answer is yes. Yes, the reason for the dramatic
(28:25):
pause is yes, but I want, you know, there's some great
newsletters out there. Do we have, I'm just thinking is
there like an Instagram or zero place and maybe there are that
share positive news stories? Oh my God, yes.
Like Elena. I can't think of her last name.
Don't ask me names of people offtop of my head.
This I wouldn't learn. I'm terrible.
There's lots. Of good news so there's Elena
she was the climate change and waste educator online.
(28:48):
I'll put her in the show notes. That same guy yes name I don't
know either. I will put a whole bunch of them
in the show notes people have a look.
It is really important to balance some of this negativity
with some. Positive stuff, Yes.
Well, it makes me feel a little bit happier about going online,
knowing that there's some positive things out there.
Totally. Yeah.
Honestly, keep them coming. That was great.
I feel much better about the world, for my children and for
(29:09):
myself. And hopefully she's not even
making that up. Folks, no thank.
You for joining me. No worries on the part.
We will see you. Well, Microgreens this week will
be on more about ocean health and some of the good stuff going
on. She's a big fan of the a big
deep. Dive, as it were.
Wow. That's a very AI phrase which is
absolutely ruined for me. I cannot bear AI.
(29:31):
No sloppy. Luck.
Anyway, we'll see you next time.Kyoro Katiaki Ciao and there you
go. I hope you learned something and
realise that being green isn't about everything in your pantry
matching with those silly glass jars or living in a commune.
If that's your jam, fabulous. But sustainability at it's part
is just using what you need. If you enjoyed this episode,
(29:53):
please don't keep it to yourselfand feel free to drop me a
rating and hit the subscribe button Kyoda and I'll see you
next week.
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