Nelson Lebo: Too-hard basket is a cop out

Nelson Lebo

In the Northern Hemisphere where I grew up, Easter is a spring holiday rather than an autumn one. At my home on the outskirts of Detroit we could expect the snow and ice to have melted and crocuses and tulips to be in bloom. After a cold, dark winter, Easter represented light, warmth, rebirth.

For a kid who did not like primary school, Easter meant that a three-month summer holiday was not far away. Oh, the possibilities.

Many of these feelings of anticipation and hope could be summed up in a single ritual: the Easter Egg Hunt -- searching, seeking, filling my basket. As such, the Easter basket became a symbol of discovering the unknown and filling my life with richness. I'm sure those old baskets are still stored away in my parents' basement.

Fast forward 40 years and the most common basket I seem to encounter on a regular basis is what I'm told is the too-hard basket. Before moving to New Zealand nine years ago I had never heard of the too-hard basket, but now it's nearly a constant. I'm not saying it's as Kiwi as rugby, Marmite and pavlova, but I run into it a lot.

Don't get me wrong, I love living here. Most people are incredibly friendly and there is a welcome dearth of helicopter parents, handguns and inhumane healthcare policies.

I love the concept of whanau: upon moving to Whanganui six years ago, our family was immediately adopted by Athletic Softball Club. We have dozens of aunties, uncles and cuzzies right here in Wangaz.

I love the concept of kaitiakitanga: having worked in the environmental/sustainability field for three decades, I have never encountered a term that resonates so much in my soul. We've named our farm Kaitiaki as it best represents the regenerative approach we're taking for restore the land to health.

I love living in the first place on the planet where a river has been granted the legal rights of a person. We have completely protected and restored hundreds of metres of our tributary to the Whanganui.

But if there is anything that both holds our community back and reduces the effectiveness of the environmental movement in New Zealand, it is the too-hard basket. I've addressed some of my concerns in the past, and I've written hundreds of columns about what may be our best approach to holistic solutions: eco-design.

Once again, the big issues facing our community are climate change, wealth inequality and what can easily be described as a dismal housing stock.

These issues will cost our community tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue for local businesses, damage to property, and health effects, yet seem never to get traction. The failure to effectively address them makes our community poorer.

Innovative cities around the world address these issues to their advantage. The Rockefeller Foundation's programme, 100 Resilient Cities, highlights the smartest municipal governments on the planet.

Once again, I love Whanganui and I would like to see the environmental movement progress, but unless both let go of the too-hard basket, I'm afraid we'll end up an unmanageable basket case.

Dr Nelson Lebo is a housing consultant, organic farmer and permaculture designer.