One of the many ways NZ farmers neglect environmental responsibility

I want the farmers of New Zealand to actually be held accountable for their domestic waste and the refuse produced from their farms.

Currently, as it stands, farmers are allowed a permit issued by the Department of Conservation to burn all of their rubbish. This is called a fire permit.
This fire permit sanctions farmers to set alight their organic waste too, this is the entrails of trees they cut down for firewood, scrub that they have cleared, wood materials and anything else they can get their hands on. By burning the organic matter instead of letting it naturally biodegrade, a vital step in both the carbon and nitrogen cycles are being completely skipped. This exponential step halts the rest of the cycle, because the nitrogen and carbon in the waste is not being released into the soil by the decomposition of microbes, no, instead it is being released straight into our atmosphere as the carbon dioxide and nitrogen gas we know and love today as greenhouse gases.
Thanks to DoC doling out these permits, farmers are negligently disposing of their waste, causing biological implications. Among all of the harmful things they do in the name of agriculture, this must be the most senseless one for this burning of rubbish is done not in the name of heat or light, but meagerly in the name of laziness.

I live on a farm that has a view over the whole of the Piako district. It feels like you can see everything; the rolling hills of Waikato, the ranges that cut through the land, the white capped peaks of Ruapehu, and the small towns that join the stars at night. It truly is beautiful. But then what takes away from this beauty is the columns of smoke that rise in the air. With this ugly sight comes a lingering acrid smell and flecks of ash that deposit in the corners of my eyes and possibly my lungs. (Combustion is known to cause carbon poinsoning and respiratory cancers) Accompanying the assault to my senses is the knowledge that our environment is needlessly being hurt by this.

Unfailingly my father brushes off my ‘Environmental bull’ (euphemism) and strikes the match without a second thought. It seems to be a norm within the typical farming community that the environment, that which they have no lively-hood without, is hardly a priority. It’s a bit chilly, ain’t it? Oh, I know the perfect pine. Your bin over-flowing? Boy, have I got the fire hole for you!
I’ll go get the four-wheeler and you grab a stubby. This may seem a bit rash of me to judge all farmers in a similar light. I realise I haven’t lived on every farm in the country, but I rely upon, as well as my limited experience, generalisations suiting similarly cultured individuals.

From my vantage point I can see too many people unnecessarily burning their waste. It doesn’t provide warmth because who would cuddle up next to a pile of burning garbage? From my basic knowledge of the carbon cycle and climate change the atmosphere probably doesn’t appreciate hordes of CO2 suffocating it. Also, the people in the towns don’t seem to be holding weekly bonfire parties to sacrifice domestic waste to the flame- most residents now have access to recycling bins (a much respected introduction) and refuse collection services.

Now, as far as I know, farmers have to eat. And where do these farmers go to fuel their hunger? Well, my guess would be the local grocery store, their only options being New World or Countdown. So, why not introduce a small centre where farmers are able to responsibly dispose of their waste, both recyclable and general? Surely they should not be exempt from their debt to the environment, especially when they are happy enough to prosper from it. To supplement, as the Department of Conservation, you could introduce regulations that inhibit the farming community from negligently discarding their waste, and force them to truly adapt their way of life to suit one that is more sustainable and environmentally-friendly. An example of these types of regulations being effectual: with the threat of fines farmers have eventually diverted the initially stream-bound flow of run-off. That’s 11,400 farmers who have changed an environmentally- hostile habit thanks to the efforts of DoC.

Sign this petition to get the New Zealand Department of Conservation to reconsider their enabling of farmers who haplessly dispose of their refuse. The sight, for me, of pallid smoke rising from mounds of waste is disheartening because, despite the very real threat of climate change, people are still finding convenience more preferable to sustainability.