Kiri Danielle will feature in a new reality television series, Kaitiaki Wars. PHOTO/ STEPHEN PARKER
Kiri Danielle will feature in a new reality television series, Kaitiaki Wars. PHOTO/ STEPHEN PARKER
A Rotorua woman is tracking down owners of dumped rubbish and returning it to them as part of a new reality television series.
Kaitiaki Wars is a Maori Television series featuring local television personality and environmental advocate Kiri Danielle. She is one of four "earth guardians" throughout the country who were filmed during their clean up crusade.
"We picked up tonnes of rubbish, trailer upon trailer loads. It was household rubbish, food waste, car parts, furniture.
"Kaitiaki Wars shows me going out finding dumped rubbish, sifting through it to find an address and putting it on the truck and taking it back to them," Ms Danielle said.
"Generally the reaction has at first been denial but then they do admit to it and apologise.
"It's the way we choose to confront them we're asking them to love Papatuanuku (Earth mother) and to show respect. If I said, 'Stop throwing rubbish', they'd say, 'Get stuffed,' but if I said, 'Can you please care about Mother Nature, your mother,' they say, 'Okay'."
Ms Danielle said she formed a close connection to the mud pools at the Arikikapakapa Reserve which featured in the series.
"Five years ago I was absolutely devastated. I was alone, broke, depressed and had just separated and found myself alone in Rotorua without any family and no support.
"I used to go for walks and found these pools and hid here and cried for three months. I fell in love with Papatuanuku, the beauty, steam, the peacefulness and re-connected with her. I started noticing every piece of rubbish.
"Mother Nature helped heal me and now I want to give back to her. I really want to encourage people to please love Mother Nature as if she's a mother, would you treat your mother like this?," Ms Danielle said.
She said the show was part of her "personal mission" to clean up the country before expanding to the rest of the world. She said she recently helped co-ordinate the visit of NASA's scientists to Rotorua.
"I'm now in talks with an American charitable trust where I will be walking from the Stuart Island through to Cape Reinga picking up rubbish and followed online by children in an American classroom. We hope to expand it for children in Australia too.
"I also want to go to places in the world, explore the beauty of that place and see what we can do to help," she said.
Kaitiaki Wars screens on Tuesday night on Maori Television at 8pm.
