Cycling, composting and growing a garden are a few changes that Abbie, Chris, 5-year-old Charlie and baby Jack Corradino have made in New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
Cycling, composting and growing a garden are a few changes that Abbie, Chris, 5-year-old Charlie and baby Jack Corradino have made in New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
A photographer from the United States is trying to make everyday changes to better the environment in the hope that New Zealand will not end up like his home country.
When Chris Corradino moved to New Zealand from New York in March with his family, he was pleasantly surprised tofind three provided recycling bins at his new Mahora home.
The Corradino family of Chris, wife Abbie, 5-year-old child and baby are on a journey making changes in their everyday lives to reduce their impact on the environment.
Corradino said the main factors in making the changes were his children and a want to protect the natural environment.
"Unfortunately, I feel like the country that I came from, the president there did such damage and he overturned so many important regulations where large corporations are able to dump harmful toxic chemicals into rivers, it's just really dreadful.
"I would like to do whatever I possibly can, even if it's my small part in my own home, to help reverse that effect and not make it so here in New Zealand the way it was in America."
In his local photography business, NZ Photo School, Corradino uses digital film equipment with no film or harmful chemicals and always rides his bike to photoshoots sometimes upwards of 50km-60km to show the natural beauty of Hawke's Bay.
At home, the first change the family made when moving in was planting a garden and then creating an outdoor compost bin from used tyres.
They also try to walk and bike everywhere, use op-shops and use reusable products including reusable nappies where possible.
After living here for a few months, he said New Zealanders "prioritise the environment".
Chris Corradino goes by bike to all photoshoots he does in his business NZ Photo School, sometimes cycling upwards of 50-60km. Photo / Supplied
"There's this concerted effort to not fill up the landfills but to actually use this stuff for good or recycle at the very least."
Where he is from in New York, some apartment complexes wouldn't have recycling options and people were not friendly to cyclists.
In the US, he said, he would try to be environmentally thoughtful but it was not as easy as in New Zealand.
Environment Centre Hawke's Bay general manager Richard Croad said that effective and lasting change to a personal footprint comes from small steps and everyday changes lead to better outcomes – a path he said Corradino is on.
He says making personal changes are important in that they do reduce the footprint and they also shift the mindset.
"I regard my role here is not about recycling but about education and encouragement - being green is a social concept before it is a physical one, and once we start making conscious changes the journey begins."
Croad said people should adopt changes that work for them.
"The solutions for Chris will be different for his neighbours and friends, however, it's the direction in which we point which is important."
Other changes Croad suggests are using a keep cup and taking your own container to get takeaways, make a "ginger bug" to create at home soda drinks, worm farms and return packaging to where you bought an item.
He also applauds op-shopping but says the market in Hawke's Bay can be limited and underdeveloped
"As a community we need to accept that if the council isn't providing a service it's because we aren't making it an issue."
Croad also moved from the US to New Zealand, in this case from Portland, Oregon after Trump was elected but has instead found things more difficult here.
"Much of it dictated by economies of scale, but some of it by lack of infrastructure and a laissez faire approach."
