1 NZ may be a small country, but in the wider world, what we do, use and consume affects lives everywhere. So I'm on a mission to see how we're treating our backyards both here and further afield. What are we doing to be cleaner and greener? What do we need to change? And what does the future hold? So join me, Te Radar, as I go global. Don't worry ` I'll plant plenty of trees to offset the travel. Now, where's my passport? Copyright TVNZ Access Services 2013 GENTLE MUSIC Appearances can be deceptive. ELECTRONIC BUZZING Take, for example, my eco-friendly form of transport manufactured about 40 years ago from good old Glenbrook steel. Now, there are some people who might say that a bike this age is fit only for scrap, but I know that there are some very clever clogs out there who can take things that appear to be totally useless and turn them into things that are very very useful. So I'm off on a journey to find people with an eye for hidden potential. BELL RINGS GENTLE MUSIC There's an old saying ` when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. It's all a matter of perspective. Lemonade's the obvious thing, but if you put your thinking cap on, add a drop of this and a pinch of that, and good things are sure to rise. (LAUGHS) Electronics isn't my forte, but the voltage I'm working with here is` is pretty safe. Let there be light. E-lemon-tary, my dear Watson. Hardly gonna read by that, but it's quite romantic. If something as simple as a lemon can spark a bright idea, imagine the potential if life hands you pests, plagues or by-products. I'm going where my forebears have already been to find out more about turning a problem into a solution. My great-grandfather was a deer culler down here back in the days where deer were running rampant in the high country. Must've been incredible to see. No helicopters back then. You lugged in what you needed, and you were stuck there for a season. I'm only going bush for a night, but I'll be in the safe hands of Chris from Lake Hawea Hunting Safaris, who has transformed pest eradication into a tourist venture. Good. Good. Good. I hear you're here to shoot a rabbit. I hear you're here to shoot a rabbit. Well, I'll hopefully shoot a rabbit. And you've turned on a stonker of a day for it. And you've turned on a stonker of a day for it. Apart from the wind, mate. But first I'm being put through the same training and safety programme as Chris' clients. BANG! Shivers. There's some breeze on there. BANG! BANG! The rabbits will be doing very well if this wind continues up tonight. That's not bad under the conditions. That's not bad under the conditions. Yeah. That one here, totally safe. BOTH LAUGH Measure the trophies by the size of their ears. Measure the trophies by the size of their ears. Do you? Oh, I didn't know that. Oh, I didn't know that. (LAUGHS) I reckon you're making that up. I reckon you're making that up. BOTH LAUGH We're not going to see plague proportions, but you will see rabbits, and you'll see a few hares too, probably. but you will see rabbits, and you'll see a few hares too, probably. Ooh, they're bloody hard to shoot. And an odd naughty possum. And an odd naughty possum. Oh really? Pest eradication. So, the foreigner coming to hunt for trophy heads has been one of the longest established businesses in this area short of sheep farming. It's been happening for over 100 years. The Otago herd, the red deer which are in this area here, originated from Scotland, and they started browsing on country that had never had deer browse before, and they just grew these enormous trophies. And the word got back to the homeland that this was the place to come. 'Course they're hunting a different kind of trophy in Queenstown these days. (LAUGHS) ARCHIVE: Today it's war on rabbits. The lorries set off for the factory at Bluff. This is food for export to Britain. These skins will someday keep someone warm. But for the rabbiters in Southland, killing off this pest is still a cold job. # Oma rapeti, oma rapeti... It's quite a pleasant night to be out hunting if you ignore the rain and the thunder and the lightning. Oh, there's two there, actually. Oh, there's two there, actually. Yeah. Awesome. BANG! BANG! Reload. Reload. BANG! # Oma rapeti... Shot! Shot! I got one. Shot! I got one. Big hare. Well done. Well, the reason I got him was because he was a bit bigger. Well, the reason I got him was because he was a bit bigger. LAUGHS: Yeah. 'OMA RAPETI' CONTINUES There we go. I wish I'd found a way to hang this light. I'm just holding on to it. It's a` It's a solar-powered light bulb, essentially. Can only imagine what people who moved here, you know, 120, 140 years ago would've done for a solar light bulb. I imagine this would've been almost beyond their comprehension. And yet here I am using it in a fairly casual manner. Just turn it off. I'm a human that has the power of light. I'm not gonna say that they would've considered me a god, but they would've been pretty awestruck. I never really made a dent in the rabbit plague, but fortunately there's a NZ company turning Central Otago rabbit and high-country deer hoof into a pet food that's the dish du jour for America's pampered pets. Here in Carmel, California, it's illegal to wear high heels without a permit, but that's another story. It's where I'm meeting Kimberly and spokesdogs Coco and Chanel from ZiwiPeak. Doris Day lives over here on our golf course up the hill. I sing 'Que Sera, Sera' often. She has about 10 dogs, and she has a cook, and they cook the food for the dogs every breakfast and dinner. As a kid, I used to go out and shoot rabbits and bring them home for dog food. They loved it. Essentially, you're doing the same thing. They loved it. Essentially, you're doing the same thing. The animals absolutely adore it. But it's a wonderful project, because what we're doing is helping the farmers in the South Island to eradicate these rabbits, but also it's helping our brand. The quality of the rabbit down in the South Island is second to none. I mean, it's living on thyme and sage and` Oh, it's self-seasoning. Oh, it's self-seasoning. ...you know, tussock grasses and berries. And putting that with lamb is a wonderful combination. And putting that with lamb is a wonderful combination. Wild Central Otago rabbit and lamb. Yeah. Yeah. I'm starting to salivate. Yeah. I'm starting to salivate. Good. We'll just have to try it. Shall we? Can we do that? Cos I've not had my lunch. Come on, dogs. There you go, Chanel. There's a hoofer. There you go, Chanel. There's a hoofer. Coco. Sheep bone. Thank you. And whereas they get something to chew on, I'm getting some rabbit and lamb. It smells like a pate. If I didn't know that that had come out of that can... It's got lots of goodness in it. It's got heart, liver, kidney, green tripe, the green-lip mussel. > It's got rabbit. > Well done. > That is a mouthful of Central Otago. If I was a dog, I'd be over the moon to get something like that. As a human, I'm pretty damn pleased about it at this point in time. Are you having some? Why not? Why not? < (LAUGHS) Cos you've got good teeth and shiny hair, so, you know... Cos you've got good teeth and shiny hair, so, you know... Mm. And this will stop flatulence. Really? Really? Mm. And bad breath. That's my day pretty much sorted out. It's a dog's life; I'm living it. Not bad, is it? Not bad, is it? Then later on, I'll go and sleep in my kennel. I've got two nice kennels in the garage. (LAUGHS) 'Americans consider NZ to be this green paradise.' Deer on the hills and rabbits in the pastures, and in the background of the hobbits on a trek there's these people standing around roasting haunches of venison and eating it at long banquet tables, drinking large tankards of mead. Actually, to be fair, that isn't all that far from the truth. LIGHT`HEARTED MUSIC I've crossed the Gulf of Mexico to say hola to Cuba. They've been forced to find their hidden potential the hard way. Trade embargos in the early '90s cut off oil and fertiliser supplies, so in the face of famine, the farmers had to return to traditional and sustainable practices. Cows became increasingly valuable, not only for their milk, but as essential agricultural equipment, which is why anyone caught killing one faced 10 years in prison. Why does he use the bulls and not a tractor? Why does he use the bulls and not a tractor? (SPEAKS SPANISH) It was a tradition here to do it. And, like, he says they feel good doing it like that because it's part of their tradition here. Is it hard work but maybe sometimes quite relaxing to be behind the bulls? (SPEAKS SPANISH) He said it'd be a lot easier with a tractor. He said it'd be a lot easier with a tractor. (LAUGHS) He says every work in the field is hard work. Cubans are highly adept at finding the hidden potential in things. Three quarters of the country's sugar mills run on bagasse, the fibrous residue left after the sugar cane is crushed. It's estimated that up to half the country's electricity needs could be met by the bagasse alone. Even better, bagasse-based electricity is carbon neutral. My guide, Tony, knows Sixto, a former professor of Marxist Philosophy. He's built a basic sugar press from old car parts, although he doesn't need the bagasse for power; his pigs provide that. He's so far off the grid that we aren't even entirely sure we're on the right track. Yes. Thank you. Hola, Sixto. Radar from NZ. Radar from NZ. Hola. 'Sure, there's a language barrier, but few words are needed for this.' All right. The unveiling. BOTH LAUGH Whoa. Whoa. (SPEAKS SPANISH) Whoa. (SPEAKS SPANISH) An old American car. 'Course it is. It's a car transmission. Wow. Push` Push that around. Push` Push that around. (SPEAKS SPANISH) Jeez, I wish my dad was here to see this. But then I suppose he can probably just watch it on TV. (SPEAKS SPANISH) So the sugar cane goes in there. Yeah. Sugar in; juice out. Ah. LIGHT`HEARTED MUSIC Oh, bravo. Oh, you can change it. Oh, you can put it on the back. Do like a multi-purpose machine. So what is this one for? The coffee. The-They put them in there. Then it comes out already without the husks. The perfect machine ` sugar and coffee. (SPEAKS SPANISH) Oh, wait. He has` Oh, wait. He has` There's more? Oh, there is more. I see another cog. Wow. Look at that spin. So you can run pretty much anything off that. Oh, the grinder. Si. Si. Oh, you're going to put a grinder with a belt ` a belt drive up on to there. ALL LAUGH This is one of the greatest machines I think I've ever seen. All it takes is a mule. Or if there's no mule, there must be some students ` some philosophy students. (SPEAKS SPANISH) (LAUGHS) (SPEAKS SPANISH) This'll be the ultimate workers' paradise for philosophy students. I think they could learn a lot. What brings a professor of philosophy to live in the middle of the jungle? (SPEAKS SPANISH) (SPEAKS SPANISH) He wanted to put in practise what he learnt in theory. So what was the theory that you wanted to put into practise? 'The theory of knowledge of Lenin.' Yeah. Right. H-How do you think Lenin would've coped here in the Cuban jungle? Would he cope as well as you? Would he cope as well as you? (SPEAKS SPANISH) Would he cope as well as you? (SPEAKS SPANISH) (LAUGHS) No, no, no. Cos you are quite the inventor. Cos you are quite the inventor. (SPEAKS SPANISH) He likes all sort of things that he can invent and make his life easier in a place like this in the middle of nowhere. That's why he created things like the biogas for his kitchen here. How does a` a professor of philosophy learn how to do that? How does a` a professor of philosophy learn how to do that? (SPEAKS SPANISH) Yeah. He says, 'You know that all the inventions have been because of the need of man of doing something, 'to find a solution for something.' What's the best thing about being out here? What's the best thing about being out here? (SPEAKS SPANISH) Oh, there's so much joy in eating the food that you plant, seeing how it grows and eating it fresh over there, rather than just going to the shop and buying something that looks beautiful but is tasteless. (SPEAKS SPANISH) Cos here he is the boss and the worker. Doesn't have anyone else. Perfecto. Perfecto. ALL LAUGH I wish I'd learnt that when I studied philosophy. I wish I'd learnt that when I studied philosophy. (SPEAKS SPANISH) If he walked back into a` a lecture theatre now, what would be the o` the one thing he would tell the students? what would be the o` the one thing he would tell the students? (SPEAKS SPANISH) Uh, the best thing they can do is work. Tell you what, that's not going to please the philosophy students. Tell you what, that's not going to please the philosophy students. ALL LAUGH Typical philosophy students. For many people who come to Cuba, they are looking for the grand architecture of Havana or the fragrant smell of cigar smoke, but for me, the absolute highlight was the machine. Like the Swiss Army knife of cogs and gearings. It can pulp sugar, it can grind coffee, it can sharpen the knives and then have some other function that may be determined at some later stage. I'm staying, uh, at Sixto's... they must be the coffee pickers' lodgings. It's a bit like a downmarket shearers' quarters with the benefit that the jungle sounds are outside, the sound of frogs and bugs, and you could imagine Fidel and Che being in this same jungle and plotting revolution. I'm not plotting revolution. Just here to drink plentiful supply of a cheap white rum and discuss Marxist-Leninist theory with a professor of philosophy who also has the ability to build possibly one of the greatest machines I've ever seen. GENTLE MUSIC While Sixto the philosophy professor sees the hidden potential in poo, Lindsey the phycology professor dines out on something we generally think of as kelp. Hello, ladies. Shall we sail? Hello, ladies. Shall we sail? Let's get going. Avast. So, what got you into seaweed? I was interested in aquaculture, taking from the ocean in a sustainable way, and seaweed just struck me as the most environmentally friendly thing you could possible do ` sort of, soaking nutrients up out of the water for people to eat. Lindsey is whisking me off to a mussel farm off Waiheke Island to show how we can clean up the invasive Undaria and how kelp can help to make money. Listed as one of the top 100 invasive species on the planet ` not seaweeds; of all species. Of all species? Of all species? Yeah. Because` Of all species? Yeah. Because` Well, that's hardly ideal. BOTH LAUGH BOTH LAUGH They're desperate to keep it out of Fiordland and keep it pristine, and they imported 35,000 kina to control it. And you're left with all of these wonderful kina. I wonder how many of them disappear on a daily basis, actually. I wonder how many of them disappear on a daily basis, actually. (LAUGHS) All right. Shall we get amongst it? All right. Shall we get amongst it? Let's get into it. Beautiful. Beautiful. It's the manliest thing I've done in a really long time. Hey, you got some. Look at that. Look at that. Excellent. Look at that. Excellent. Success. It grows everywhere. I've been invaded. This one's called Undaria pinnatifida, but in Japan, it's known as wakame. When you're eating sushi and you get that seaweed salad on top, that's this one. It's also the one that's found in your miso soup. It's amazing that NZ's one of the only places around that actually doesn't have a seaweed industry. It's a really environmentally friendly thing to do. There you go. Invasive but delicious. This is essentially made out of this part of the plant here ` this midrib. But the reason it's bright green is because when you put undaria into hot water... Look at that. It suddenly makes it quite appealing. C-Could I eat that? Look at that. It suddenly makes it quite appealing. C-Could I eat that? Yeah. You certainly could. It is delicious. It is delicious. It's not bad, eh. It is delicious. It's not bad, eh. Oh yeah. How big a market is it? How big a market is it? Huge. This one, wakame, $500 million a year in Asia, and we're not getting a bit of it. and we're not getting a bit of it. No, no. And yet here it is growing wild, literally. Free-range wakame. Any other uses other than just eating it? It's been shown to have medicinal qualities. We're doing some interesting work on its anti-cancer properties. There's another weed that research says can help our health. It can also replace carbon fibre and can be used to build bridges and roads. But, well, it has a bit of an image problem. You don't expect to be strolling through a field in the Waikato and stumble across acres and acres of hemp. Ahoy. Ahoy. How are you? Ahoy. How are you? Not bad. Ahoy. How are you? Not bad. Radar. 'Anne and Dave from The Hemp Farm want to share the good oil on hemp.' I've stumbled into Shangri-La. How much of this would one have to consume in order to become what they call 'high'? You wouldn't get high no matter how much. You'd get a headache. Right. Because that's one of the stigmas attached to it, isn't it? Everyone thinks hemp, and they think a whole lot of people growing dope. 'Hemp has literally hundreds of uses, including helping to clean the environment.' It sequences carbons from the atmosphere ` about 30 tons of carbon out of the atmosphere per hectare. And then it also does soil remediation at the same time. From the stalks, you've got your cellulosic ethanol. From the stalks, you've got your cellulosic ethanol. Essentially biofuel. Yes. Yes. The seed and the leaf are both very good cow fodder. In the Netherlands, they use the seed instead of palm seed. Cos a farmer can grow it on his land, keeping his` the soil remediated. And he can also feed his stock. It could provide the fuel to power your tractors to put your crops back in the ground. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. Is there no end to its usefulness? Dave's also imported a newfangled machine to extract fibre from freshly cut hemp so that it can be used for everything from clothes to concrete. If we grew so much that we didn't know what to do with it, we could build roads, build bridges with it. Just use it like you would use cement. Except it's a lot lighter than cement, it's very insulative and it's not doing the damage cement would do to the environment. This sequences carbons. Every hemp product sequences carbons; it's locked up in the product. it's locked up in the product. It's like a wonder plant. You can put that on reels and make clothing with it tomorrow. Clothing as well. I'd forgotten about the clothing. Clothing as well. I'd forgotten about the clothing. Clothing's another one. Hemp is 95% more sun-protective than cotton, uses a sixth of the water to grow it. No chemicals involved. Yeah, that fibre is the longest, strongest fibre of any natural plant known to man. The tensile strength is just amazing. I've heard they've used this as a similar thing to carbon fibre. We've got people all over the world saying, 'We want your fibre.' The Chinese are saying, 'We want that fibre.' The Chinese astronauts have hemp astronaut suits. (LAUGHS) (LAUGHS) And they are bulletproof. (LAUGHS) And they are bulletproof. Stop it, Dave. Every time you open your mouth, you come up with another use for hemp. 'And we haven't even started on how you can eat it.' Hand to the mill. You've got the king of oils ` the most balanced oil you could use in your diet. You've got your omegas and amino acids in there. They used the oil in the spitfire motors in World War II because it didn't freeze at high altitudes. You never see that on the history channel. ARCHIVE: American hemp must meet the needs of our army and navy as well as of our industries. Thus plans are afoot for a great expansion of the hemp industry as a part of the war programme. American hemp will go on duty again: thread for shoes for millions of American soldiers and parachute webbing for our paratroopers, hemp for mooring ships, hemp for toll lines, hemp for tackle and gear, hemp for victory. Here's some that we did a couple of weeks ago. So that's gonna turn into that. So that's gonna turn into that. Yes. All the sediment will just sink to the bottom. Once you take the oil out, you've got the superfood left over, and that has the richness of the oil. But you've got a lot more. You've got fibre. You've got protein. If you're going to the gym to bulk up, it is the number one powder. I won't be doing that. I won't be doing that. (LAUGHS) So that's obviously no good to me. So that's obviously no good to me. I'll tell you what, we can make pasta out of that. You make` Seriously? Seriously? Yeah. You mill it down to a powder. You make pasta. You make bread. It's not often that I'm astounded, but I am astounded with just how many uses you can have for hemp. Henry Ford, the great car manufacturer, believed that we could grow a car. Not literally. He hadn't been dabbling with hemp's more notorious cousin, believing that you could sow seeds and a car would appear. Although what a great day that would be. No, in the '40s, the Ford motor car company actually produced an experimental car, two-thirds of its bodywork comprised of hemp fibre. It was actually stronger than steel. You could whack it with a sledgehammer, and it wouldn't dent. To make it even more environmentally sound, it ran on biofuel provided from the seeds of the hemp plant. The obvious spanner in the works? Well, the ban on hemp and alcohol. Can you imagine it if that had happened? A field like this potentially could replace the petroleum and the steel industries. Wouldn't that be something? I'm literally, in some ways, sitting in a field of dreams. It strikes me that perception is actually the big eco issue. If pests can be harvested for their potential, it's win-win. And weeds could be our supercrops of the future. If people can't see the potential of hemp, well, you'd have to say they're a bit dopey. Captions by Finn Scott-Kelly. Edited by Jessica Boell. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Tune in next week to find out why our long-finned eel is up the creek without a paddle. And I put my body on the line to find ways to clean up the not-so-crystal waters of Peru's Chicon glacier. And good old-fashioned pond scum. Copyright TVNZ Access Services 2013