Sustainability, a word that has linguistic links to terms such as sustain, sustainable and sustenance, has recently become a household term and is often associated with protecting the environment for future generations. However, as well as being associated with the environment, we can also refer to the other elements of financial and social sustainability, with the three sometimes being referred to as "the triple bottom line", a term that is used in the business sector to encourage industry to equally promote social and environmental sustainability alongside the usually more emphasised focus on monetary profits.
For me, sustainability is about the past, the present and the future: the past because of the lessons that our forebears and ancestors can teach us about how to live sustainably; the future because this is what we want to sustain things for; and the present because what we do now is crucial to achieving sustainability.
I am very aware that my ancestors in many ways were experts in sustainability. My Māori and Celtic ancestors managed to sustain their lives, their cultures and their languages against the odds under the assimilationist policies of the British Crown. Moreover, the developed strategies that simultaneously allowed them to work in balance with the environment (most of the time) as well as ensuring their survival as societies.
Some of these lessons have come to me through lived experiences that have been handed down through the generations. I remember my mother spending a lot of time in her vegetable garden and in the kitchen making pickles and preserves. Us kids would help her with the work and afterwards, we would use the boxes that stone fruit had come in to do carpentry and make houses for our toys. And all through the winter we would have preserved apricots and peaches on our breakfast each morning. We would eat Granny Ol's plum sauce on our sausages, made from cherry plums from the orchard at our crib, where we would fish for our supper every evening in the summer.
These are some of the lessons that I am trying to pass on to my own children today. We have a large and growing vegetable garden, a greenhouse and chickens. The children are encouraged to spend time in the garden with us and their jobs include feeding the chooks every morning. We gather food, cook together, makes jams and chutneys, preserve and pickle. Children who 'don't like' certain vegetables are encouraged to come and gather, prepare and serve them, and it's amazing how often this changes their perception of the taste. We talk about the things we don't need to purchase when supermarket shopping, and look at the price and quality of their produce with a critical eye. Another way that we live sustainably is through our family focus on Māori language and culture.
In terms of the future, that is up to my children and theirs after them. For this reason, it is so important that I tell the stories and give them the knowledge and experiences that will enable them to build their own sustainable futures with lived memories as a template for them to follow.
