Back to the future

War was declared the year Audrey Jones started school. Growing up in Liverpool, England, she remembers the sound of bombs falling on the city, the sky turning “red for days” when a German plane crashed into a match factory – and the push for self-sustainability that came with the conflict: “All the grass at our house was turned over, and we grew raspberries I remember.”

Those were the years before the current blight of food being packed in bags or bottles that are thrown away at first use. Milk was delivered in metal jugs and later, bottles, which were washed and reused. And the horse and cart that dropped them off were a source of fertiliser for the garden: “You went out with a shovel to get the manure and left it in a bucket for the rain to turn into liquid.”

Today, Audrey is 79 and manages the Facebook page for Abbeyfield Auckland, a retirement ‘flatshare’ in Sandringham where the elderly residents share communal spaces but live independently – and have embraced eco-friendly habits in their golden years.

Older generations can sometimes find the finger of blame pointing their way when it comes to explaining the cause of the world’s current problems. But at Abbeyfield residents look to the past for inspiration in solving the future’s problems.

“There was no option but to be green back then” remembers Gloria Forgie, 63, who sits on the committee that helps manage Abbeyfield.

“Fifty years ago there were very few packaged goods,” she says. Newspaper was used to pad posted goods, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap and things were saved and used again rather than simply thrown away.

“We had a quarter acre; we had chooks. We got a state house when I was young and had all the fruit trees out the back. It was not the norm when I was growing up to buy your fruit and vegetables: it was the norm to grow them.”

There are Abbeyfield houses in 16 countries and the non-profit organisation has taken steps to make its operation more environmentally sustainable. In 2008 a guiding document called Greenproofing Abbeyfield Houses was produced, and the 80-page study is packed with practical ways to help houses conserve natural resources, save money and reduce carbon emissions – from the choice of heaters down to the placement of trees. The study points out, for example, that deciduous trees on the south, east and west sides of a building reduce the need for air-conditioning in summer with their shade, while letting solar heat through bare branches in winter.

Gardening is a big part of the Abbeyfield way: raised beds were installed at Sandringham after the ‘greenproofing’ report came out, with potatoes grown as a first crop to break up the poor soil. These days it’s 71-year-old resident Neville Simpson’s (pictured) job to tend to the fruit and vegetables (“Trevor does the flowers”) and if the size of his lettuces are anything to go by, the man knows a thing or two about life.

“It’s more than a problem, it’s almost a man-made disease the way kids are forced to get involved in the electronic generation today,” he states with a passion.

“When I was a young fella we had nothing in the electronics way. I lived at Narrowneck in Devonport and our playground was Narrowneck beach with its rocks and reefs and cliffs to climb up. There were paddocks with blackberries and ponds with frogs and that was our entertainment.”

Touring Neville’s lush gardens it’s easy to see the pay-off of a life lived in practical, direct contact with the environment: borage and lavender will bring in bees to pollinate the tomatoes; beans, spinach and rhubarb are starting along the fence, and rows and rows of citrus are packed with glossy fruit.

Of course, everything finds its way back into the kitchen –inside, the housekeeper is making marmalade from leftover and donated fruit. We sit down to lunch, and it’s clear that the fresh and healthy produce from the garden benefits everyone.

Perhaps this country does have a few things to learn about sustainability from its older generation. “After all,” says Gloria, “New Zealand 80 years ago was very, very sustainable.”

How to live like we used to

• Waste not, want not: fold up old packaging and reuse it
• Buy in bulk to avoid packaging waste
• Gardening is good for you – and cuts food miles and wastage
• Unplug electronics; get outside
• Plant deciduous trees near buildings to cut down energy use
• Build houses to catch sunlight during winter
• Walk, don’t drive

Learn more about Abbeyfield homes at www.abbeyfield.org.nz.