Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
This week has been about performance. We've been on assignment for one of the coolest magazines to come out of Australia: Great Ocean Quarterly. Enroute we have photographed New Zealand's world-class cross-country mountain bike athlete Anton Cooper, rising mountain bike talent Harriet Beaven and some of the girls from New Zealand's track cycling team around Rotorua and Cambridge.
But we were really here for one thing: Mamaki. Chances are you've used ecostore products in your home. Well Mamaki is the village where it all began.
Almost 30 years ago a young Malcolm and Melanie Rands decided that life could be better for everyone if a small group interested in living sustainably pooled resources. And so they set up Mamaki eco village in a forgotten gully not far from Matapouri Bay in Northland. It was a grandiose community project with an even grander timeline, but 30 years on and the hills that were once bare farmland are now cloaked in trees. Native birds swoop and dart and call throughout the day. The water that falls on the peaks and ridges of Matanui trickles into Te Wairoa Stream and through the homes in the village. The water then returns to the stream and exits into Matapouri Bay under the watchful gaze of the Poor Knights Islands. This is the performance end of life in Mamaki village.
That was always the goal Malcolm told me. "The water leaving the village had to be as clean as it was when it entered."
Quality of life is high in Mamaki. Food forests, gardens, chickens and goats provide food in abundance – the valley is thriving. Malcolm and Melanie raised two girls here: Ahi and Keva.
When the first batch of ecostore products shipped out from the basement of the Rands' home almost 20 years ago, it was well ahead of its time. Now consumers are beginning to wise up to the chemicals they use on their skin and in their cleaning and ecostore is leading the way. But it's not just about the products, it a way of thinking.
See you at the beach ...
Derek
PS A huge thank-you to Kate, Demi and the team at Dive! Tutukaka for showing us the Poor Knights Islands. This marine reserve is one of the best on the planet and should occupy at least one slot on your bucket list.
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: