Kia ora everyone

The last 2 days have been huge for me and the team at Hikoi Mt Maunganui.  We have successfully shopped for and prepared a 100% plastic free morning tea as well as organising our team for our first Big Plastic Clean Up which took place yesterday in conjunction with the Tauranga Stream and Estuary Clean-Up Programme on the salt marshes in Matua, Tauranga.

Plastic Free Morning Tea

As you already know (or have read in my past blogs) it is very hard to shop for food items that are plastic free… I thought, oh no, how am I going to avoid the simple products like milk that are nearly impossible to buy without a plastic bottle?.. But through a friend who drinks raw milk I met a guy called Kevin who runs Teacher in the Paddock in Papamoa and who milks his own cows and bottles the fresh, raw milk into reusable glass bottles! How novel!

I was really lucky to meet such like minded people as Kevin and his wife Jane. Teacher in the Paddock offer educational after school programmes for kids, school visits, woofing and more on their city-farm in Papamoa. Their programmes are about teaching kids and adults how we can create pathways for a sustainable future.  These guys are just lovely, caring people who have a real passion for the environment and are keen to share their knowledge openly with anyone. Kevin and I had a great chat about the milk industry and what is really going on behind the scenes with the milk we are (almost) forced to drink in supermarkets these days and about all the benefits of drinking raw milk both on the body and on the environment. I was shocked (but not really surprised) when he told me some of the kids that came on his programmes didn’t even know that cows weren’t blue (as they are pictured on the milk bottles) and some confused cows for camels!

If you want your kids to learn how to use and care for the land in a correct and respectful manner then take them along to their educational after school programmes. They even arrange pick ups from schools! Much better than TV!! Contact Kevin on 07 542 2257 or check out the Teacher in the Paddock Facebook page

Fun fact: Did you know that if you make a milo with raw milk you will rediscover the skin that sits on top of the milo – just like the good old days. Beautiful!

So with the biggest problem of milk in plastic bottles avoided the rest of the morning tea came together nicely. We also had almond and coconut milk and made baking from the bi product. We added in some fresh fruit and veges and we washed all the mugs and spoons we used by hand.  I was very proud to prove that it IS possible to prepare a 100% plastic free morning tea!

How to get raw milk and our Plastic Free Morning Tea (Hikoi staff and French crew in background)

Big Plastic Clean Up

What an amazing day we had and the perfect weather too. There were approx 300 of us including 220 students, adults, volunteers and an ace team of Hikoi French internship workers who all helped cleaning up the rubbish and to make the day a massive success!  Hikoi offered spot prizes for the most interesting pieces of rubbish found on the day and the students from Otumoetai and Bellvue primarys took to the challenge with great enthusiasm and did not mind at all jumping in the mud to retrieve all sorts of rubbish in the salt marshes. They made us laugh and smile all day and some won prizes for their finds of rubbish which included a bike, a wheelbarrow and even a street sign!

Dianne, a Natural Environment Co-ordinator from the council, told me some very interesting stories about how the salt marshes came about and how they were saved from being dredged and becoming a marina for the big boats and about the wildlife and plants that can be found there. She loves her job of providing safe walkways in the Tauranga area and says it’s the best job to have in the world! She also told me she has lots of pairs of Keen footwear which she uses in her job and recommends thoroughly!

Pics of the clean up, interesting rubbish we collected and the kids!

Thanks to everyone who helped us and who followed and supported us on the day and during  the whole month of Plastic Free July. Hikoi will be back next year,  bigger and better so see you all then!

– The Hikoi Man