When people ask me what degree I studied, I tell them but they look confused. So I explain that sustainability is about justice—environmental, social, and economic.
Then I suggest they think of sustainability as a river: we must look after our own stretch of the river so we can enjoy good lives, but we’re also morally obliged to not send danger downstream to others (1). Those downstream would need to fix our mess, assuming they can. They wouldn’t enjoy life to the same degree we do and that’s not fair; it’s unjust.
Let’s imagine we’re looking at our stretch of the river. The water at our feet reflects how well those upstream fulfilled their obligations to us, knowingly or not. Is it as healthy and life supporting as it once was? If, like me, your river is the Ōpāwaho-Heathcote, would you eat whitebait caught in it? Or would your child’s accidental gulp after a fall from the rope swing send you rushing to hospital for a stomach pump? Gaze upstream and wonder how the water arrived at this state. Wonder what those upstream did wrong and what they got right.
For instance, until the early 1800’s the Ōpāwaho was a mahinga kai, a source of food, for Māori. Then European settlers built tanning and wool scouring industry on its banks; they poured poisonous waste into the water. Today, Christchurch City Council and Environment Canterbury manage the river; volunteers plant natives, trap pests, and pick up rubbish. The Ōpāwaho is improved but remains polluted with chemicals, metals, sediment, and poo (2). With continued kaitiakitanga (care) perhaps future kids will again jump fearlessly into the water: Mo tatou, a, mo ka uri, a muri ake nei – For us and our children after us (3).
Sometimes, like the Ōpāwaho, the river of sustainability is literally a river vulnerable to pollution, erosion, and lost biodiversity. Sometimes the river is a metaphor for time. Sometimes it refers to geography. But always the river of sustainability represents justice. It reminds us of the moral obligation we have towards others in our community.
Next time: Who is my community?
1: Thiele, L. (2016) Sustainability, John Wiley & Sons.
2: Everything you wanted to know about the Ōpāwaho is on the Ōpāwaho-Heathcote River Network website.
3. Arapata Reuben wrote for Stuff about efforts to clean up the Ōpāwaho, the city’s most polluted river, back in 2016.
Photo credit: Vivienne, 04 March 2024 - The Ōpāwaho from Ernle Clarke Reserve.
Very eloquent, I like the way you ground it in the local
Tēnā koe Vivienne. This is wonderful- I am looking forward to you bringing it all together for me to understand and take more action- in my part of the river and beyond. Ngā manaakitanga.
This is such a beautiful way of explaining sustainability.