Neighbours increasing their knowledge of sustainability

From left, Angela Trillo from Envirohub, Sandra Cohen from the NZ Tree Crops Association BoP branch, Milsom Place resident Wiki Mathew, Helen Parks from the association and residents Patrick and Sjaan.

Kids on the way to school filling their pockets with fresh fruit - it's an image that could become reality as one element of a pilot project currently under way in Te Puke.

Envirohub's Sustainable Neighbourhoods Project started at the end of 2019 with Western Bay Regional Council support.

The project began with 10 households in Milsom Place and surrounding streets.

The idea is to encourage and support change and awareness to develop a lighter environmental footprint and, in doing so, generate greater community cohesion.

''We have covered many aspects of sustainable living and part of this has been providing each household with a worm bin, support to begin gardening, composting, sharing fruit, beeswax wrap-making, preserving, rat trapping and looking at the impact of fast fashion, upcycling, recycling, refusing, repurposing, waste-free living and waste audits,'' says Envirohub's community co-ordinator, Angela Trillo.

The project began in December last year with a neighbourhood meeting.

''We got some pivotal people in the community to see where it might be well suited and Patrick Rounds came on board and he helped initiate the contact with people in the street.

''We did some door-knocking and in the end we got a gauge on who would be interested and we ended up with 10 households - mostly in Milsom Place but also Hayward Court and Bayview St.''

Recently, Vincent House on No 3 Rd has also come on board.

''It's suitable for them and how they operate in wanting to be more sustainable,'' says Angela.

The most recent development has been the support of the local branch of the New Zealand Tree Crops Association which is to provide two trees per household.
Members recently visited the households.

''That day they were determining what plants would suit what's already there. They are going to get one native tree and one fruit tree per back yard and we hope to get some sharing of fruit among the neighbours and anything spare, we'll encourage them to take down to EmpowermentNZ.''

Angela says fostering a community spirit is all part of the initiative.

While in the area, the branch representatives also visited Vincent House and agreed to plant a shelterbelt of fruit trees around one the newly removed buildings.

''One of the things we are doing is creating awareness of sustainable practices and regenerative practices, which is what I'm personally putting into it,'' says Angela.

Another initiative is to adopt the nearby Hayward Park and plant it on a bigger scale to develop a small fruit and native tree forest.

Angela says the park is a site where Western Bay District Council is keen to look at culturally and community appropriate planting.

''What we want to do works in really nicely with what they are planning for it anyway, and we are happy to do it. It's all about resources now.''

The next step is to create a planting plan.

''We'd like to see fruit trees, plus natives for bees and birds and also shelter - that's a big thing - there's nothing around the children's playground or the picnic table.

''Imagine a row of feijoa trees where kids going off to school can stuff their pockets.''

A number of events had to be put on hold due to alert level 4 lockdown but the lockdown highlighted the need for residents to be more sustainable and resilient.

Once the households' trees are delivered Angela will organise a backyard planting day
Longer-term Angela says there is a vision of doing more in the streets that are part of the pilot and also to created sustainable neighbourhoods in other areas.