Sporting chance
Actors, musicians, politicians and thousands of school students have all stood up for the climate, but where are those in sport who are champions both on the field and off it? Zoe¨ George hunts out four sporting stars doing their bit for the environment.
Stepping out onto a mountain is something 35-year-old Wa¯ naka-based Winter Olympian Janina Kuzma lives for.
‘‘You’ve got this untouched powder field and you’re putting your lines, your work, into that powder field,’’ she says. ‘‘The snow touching your shins is the most amazing feeling.’’
But she’s seen the direct impact that climate change has had on her sport and on the mountain climate.
‘‘The conditions are changing so fast that it’s getting dangerous with trying to understand snow patterns and when avalanches are going to happen, or rock falls,’’ she says.
‘‘Everyone knows climate change has a huge impact with our winters, and we’re seeing that more with winters coming later and unsettled weather.’’
In 2018, she stopped competing and picked up the camera instead, shining the spotlight on other winter athletes and the environment. In 2019, she released the film East/West, which followed the footsteps of Freda du Faur, the first woman to ascend Aoraki/Mt Cook.
The crew had planned to ski down to the glaciers from the mountains, but because the glaciers had retreated so much they had to hike ‘‘hours and hours’’ across unstable and dangerous rocks.
It was an ‘‘eye-opener’’ and a ‘‘huge shock’’ comparing photographs taken by de Faur in 1916 to the modern day. The glaciers had retreated several kilometres, Kuzma says. ‘‘It was one of the moments that really showed the impact of climate change firsthand – the glaciers melting back and how dangerous it was walking through that terrain,’’ she says.
‘‘Just seeing it in our own backyard and seeing it with my own eyes was hard . . . It was so sad.
‘‘I want our children to be able to experience and walk down the glaciers we walked out of, but they probably won’t be able to experience that . . . Hopefully we can change that by being more sustainable.’’
The path to sustainability is like climbing a mountain, one step at a time. For Kuzma it’s doing the little things that can sometimes help the most.
She loves heli-skiing and says it’s hard to be an advocate for the climate when she’s contributing to the burning of carbon. But to offset that, she plants native trees on her Wa¯ naka property with her husband. A vegetable patch and fruit trees have been planted too, reducing that footprint further still.
‘‘Planting natives provides a better habitat for our native species.’’
She also lives in a community that has a ‘‘strong sense of sustainability’’. Her local ski fields have got rid of single-use plastic bottles and all the cafes have signed up to Wa¯ naka Up, a scheme that offers sustainable cups to patrons, reducing the need for single-use items.
Kuzma’s never without her own reusable cup. That’s her top tip for doing your bit for the environment – ‘‘little steps’’.
‘‘If you’re a big coffee drinker like I am, always carry your coffee cup with you. My husband and I haven’t used a takeaway cup in years,’’ she says.
‘‘It’s super easy and a good way to start reducing your wastage.
‘‘Just be aware of your surroundings and what you’re doing. [Ask yourself] ‘How can I do my part to change that little bit?’ ’’
MARY FISHER
Paralympic gold medal swimmer and Paralympics NZ board member
Mary Fisher is legally blind. That didn’t stop her from winning two gold, two silver and a bronze medal at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Games. It certainly hasn’t stopped her from doing her bit for the climate, either.
She retired in 2018. It has been a ‘‘massive transition’’, but she keeps herself occupied by using her influence on the board of Paralympics New Zealand and by working with Blind Vision New Zealand on training volunteers, community education and organising events.
She also allows her (singing) voice to be heard in two Wellington-based community choirs.
‘‘It’s nice thinking about what kind of lifestyle you want to lead when retiring from sport. It’s all-consuming at that high