North & South – June 2019

8 | NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019

I WENTSHOPPINGonAnzac

Day.Apartfroma strolltothe

dairyformilk,I can’tremember

evergoingshoppingonAnzac

Day.It feltwrong.Theproblem

wasI’dbeeninvitedtoa good

friend’sweddingonSaturday;

AnzacDaywasThursday,I had

workonFriday,anda quick

flickthroughthewintryend

ofmywardrobeshowedI had

nothingsuitabletowear.

You’dberighttoquestion

whyI leftthistothelastmin-

ute.I’mnota naturalprocras-

tinator,butnoramI a natural

shopper.Besides,allofmy

mother’ssnappydresssense

double-helixeditselfintoone

ofherfourdaughters– andit

wasn’tme.SolistenedtoRa-

dioNZ’sAnzaccoverageinthe

morning,anddecidedI’dhit

themallrightonits1pmopen-

ing.Aucklandhadturnedona

balmy,sunshinyautumnday,

soI figuredthere’dbeonlyme

anda fewotherdress-buying

desperadoeswaiting for the

doorstoopen.

HowwrongI was.Justaf-

ter1pm,whenI arrivedat

themega-mall,it wasparking

pandemonium:everyoutdoor

spaceseemedtobetaken,cars

circledlikewhitepointers,ex-

haustfumesandtensionfilled

theair.TheRNZnewsbulle-

tinwasstillplayingthe“Last

Post”andsnippetsofTrevor

Mallard’sspeechinGallipoli

• buthereinthe parking lot,
  it waswar.
  BythetimeI madeit inside,
  thewalkwayswereheaving
  withpeople.Afterfiveyears
  inLosAngelesinthe80s,I
  neverthoughtNewZealand
  wouldfollowtheUStobe-
  comea nationofrecreational
  shoppers.Inthemalls,noone
  everseemstobewildlybetter
  dressedforallthisretailther-
  apy.OnAnzacDayafternoon,
  it was the usual parade ofjan-

dals,sneakers,T-shirts,hood-

iesandjeans– witha smatter-

ingofturbansandsaris.Kiwis

havealsoadoptedtheAmeri-

canhabitofcarryingfoodand

drinkwhilewanderingabout,

asthoughterminaldehydra-

tionorstarvationmightother-

wisesmitethemmid-shop.

I sawoneyoungwomanina

busystationeryshopbalancing

a trayofsushiand a takeaway

coffeecup.

I haven’tearnedanymoral

authority– asa consumeror

human– regardingmyown

sustainabilityefforts.Mybest

contribution,if youcancallit

that,ishavingaddedonlyone

childtotheplanet.Otherwise,

mypale-greencredentialsare

thatI liveina smallhouse,

driveanenergy-efficientcar,

andtryto“reduce,reuseand

recycle”.I havevastroomfor

improvement.Andyes,I did

buya dressforthewedding.

Atleastit’sa naturalfabricand

moreslow-fashionthanfast;I

tendtowearthesamefavour-

iteclothesandshoesforyears.

Thebig,head-bangingprob-

lemisthatwecan’tgoonlike

this.Areviewbookcamein

recentlybyAustralianDamon

Gameau(thechapbehindthe

documentaryThatSugarFilm

andThatSugarBook). Hisnew

book,2040:YourHousehold

HandbookfortheRegenera-

tion, isa ratheroddmixof“

deliciousrecipes”andanother

220 glossypagesofecological

doomand“practicalwisdom”

forsolvingourplanet’sprob-

lems– one“cooking,shopping,

gardening, working, sharing”

stepata time.Gameauhas

somegoodtips,butthere’d

needtobea lotofusroasting

pumpkinskinsandfittinglow-

flowshowerheadstocounter

thealarminginformationin

otherchapters.Acompanion

feature-documentary 2040 is

abouttobereleasedinAustralia.

I wasn’tsurprisedtoreadwe

usemoreresourcesthanthe

Earthcanreplenishina year.

Butapparently,weusethem

alluparound1 August.From

thenon,we’restealingfromthe

nextyear.NewZealandwasn’t

featuredina diagramshowing

theresourceconsumptionofin-

dividualcountriesin2018,but

I can’tbelievewe’dscoreany

betterthanAustralia– andit

usedupitsshareofresources

by 31 March.“We’restealingthe

future,sellingit inthepresent,

andproudlycallingitGDP,”

environmentalist Paul Hawken

wasquoted.

We’vegota longwaytogo

whena Februarybusinessre -

portadopteda heartytoneto

announce,“theNewZealand

retailindustryisnowworth

$92.3billiona yearandhas

grownata fasterratethan

Australia’ssince2013”.Isthis

reallya goodthing– thatwe’re

allspendingmore?Andprob-

ablynotonlow-flowshower

heads.Also,let’snotforget

mostKiwisdon’tevenhavethe

moneytospend.NewZealand

hasoneoftheworld’shighest

householddebtlevels,worse

thanSpain,ItalyandGreece.

We’vealreadyreachedPeak

Stuff– itseemswejustdon’t

want the party to end. +

SHOP TILL

WE DROP

Virginia Larson

editorial

Science vs the superbugs

INSOMNIAThe surprising

truth about a bad night’s sleep

A GOOD NEWS STORY (^)
The flourishing of community papers
THE WAR AGAINST
INFECTION

• • New advice on antibioticsWhy UTIs now put

(^) • women in hospital Threats to safe
surgery and rest-home care
50 YEARS ON: SAVING MANAPŌURI AND THE CAMPAIGN THAT CHANGED A NATION
ONTHECOVER
Computerartwork
ofStaphylococcus
aureusMRSAbacteria.
It is carriedbyaround
30 % ofthepopulation
withoutcausingany
symptoms.However,
in vulnerablepeople,
suchasthosewhohave
recentlyhadsurgery,
it cancausewound
infections,pneumonia
andbloodpoisoning

• andit’ s resistant
  tomanycommonly
  prescribedantibiotics.
  Design:Jenny
  Nicholls. Illustration:
  Getty Images.

I wasn’tsurprisedtoreadweuse

moreresourcesthantheEarthcan

replenishina year.Butapparently,

we use them all up around 1 August.