Is it criminal to kill an elephant for its tusks?

Such is the analogy for the utter disregard for perfectly reusable items that are callously crushed and binned on a daily basis at the Waiheke dump.

There are people who are willing to pay for these items if only the staff would set them aside for the Hope Shop to sell.

Time and time again I've seen the loader ploughing through perfectly saleable furniture, kitchen cabinets, sinks and bathes with taps, shower units, bikes, spa pools, plumbing, motors, lineal metres of hardwood and so the list goes on.

There may be many reasons for this but the end result is the same, a well made, useful, technological item of value has been destroyed for its scrap value or to be unceremoniously combined with all manner of unusable waste or because it's just too damn hard to put it aside for someone who could use it.

If this travesty continues then we need another drop-off yard run by people who are more in tune with the environment and thoughtful of the plight of those who can't afford to buy new.

Locals might be employed to salvage and dismantle items into their separate components in the case of electrical or mechanical things for instance much like car wreckers do, say, 'Pick A Part.'

Everything electric is destroyed because it seems just too expensive to employ an electrician to test and pass everything. It's cheaper to rip the copper from a perfectly good motor and sell it for scrap. This then is like killing an elephant just for the tusks.

New Zealanders are poorer for this mentality. When we have no more metals to reuse and no more second hand mechanical and electrical items what is going to happen if the economy becomes such that we can't buy or obtain new? How do we repair what we have? How might our youth learn to repair and make things like my father taught me? Where has sensibility gone?

So the list of travesties continues unabated before our very eyes.

Waihekeans can help stop this by insisting that items that can be sold back to the community are set aside for such purpose.     Proactive houseboater.

Snorkel among the fish, Ostend, Waiheke Island.

From the Proactive Houseboater.

Around mid January to mid march fish begin to enter The Causeway Bay, Ostend. Schools of sprats appear first followed by yellow eyed mullet, eagle rays, piper, porori, kahawai, flounder and kingfish.

The Causeway Bay is a tidal mudflat with a tidal estuary which is a protected ecological area north of the causeway proper. It is home to tuna (eels), crabs, birds, shrimps, snails etc. 

Sharing the bay are various birds according to season. The most commonly sighted are seagulls, black back gulls, kingfishers, variable oyster catchers, shags and ducks. To a lesser extent are pied stilts, dotterels, herons and swallows.

As a houseboater sharing The Causeway Bay I have noticed a marked improvement in the water quality, thus as a consequence there is a proliferation of fish and some seaweeds. Though almost unnoticeable some shellfish and starfish are appearing.

The waterfront on the east side of the bay nearest the children's playground and public toilets on Wharf Road at present is the most publicly used space and is shared with a small community of house boaters. It is wonderful to see families, tourists and picnickers enjoying this clear section of beach.

Personally, it would be nice to see boats moved 20 metres out from mean high water at least from the Sunflower houseboat to the boat ramp at the boat club.

That aside, the reason I write now is to share the enjoyment our family has feeding the vast schools of small fish that swirl around our legs whilst standing still in the water.

Can I inspire you to come down and try this?

I only wish I had an underwater camera. I'm not suggesting it has anything like the attraction of our popular marine reserves but sometimes if you haven't got that closeby a little can mean so much and please... Don't think the present marine debate..It is so not what I'm alluding to.

Bring your snorkeling gear and more importantly, an underwater camera before the season ends. Best to check the tides and clarity of water.

Please leave your fishing gear at home and enjoy these creatures in their natural habitat.

Don't get me wrong, our family love fishing, we just can't eat those creatures that trust us enough to visit us freely and give hours of fun watching their grace.

Steve Matatahi.