Chalked today, gone tomorrow
Campaigners for 100% Possible wasted their time trying to chalk their messages on the Wintec city campus.
Chalked environmental messages at Wintec’s City Campus were removed on Tuesday morning, before they could reach the majority of students.
Supporters of the nationwide 100% Possible campaign to find alternatives to fossil fuel wrote the slogans around 5pm on Monday.
Calls to action were chalked on the front of Wintec House and the Hub, before a security guard discovered the group and asked them to move on.
Wintec’s security team leader Perry Murray was not entirely surprised to hear people were leaving their mark on campus.
“The only issue that I had was that I hadn’t been made aware of it.”
Wintec facilities manager Wayne Elliott said while they had to call someone off another job to water blast the chalk, it was removed in 30 minutes on Tuesday morning.
“Nothing against any of the causes that people have…
“Everything washed off all right, and there’s no damage done to anything. It’s just that they, in future, come and ask us if they want to do that sort of thing.”
The quick removal meant that several students in the quad at lunch time on Tuesday had not seen the message.
Campaigner for 100% Possible and Generation Zero group member Alejandra Jensen said: “Our Generation Zero crew here in Hamilton thought it would be awesome to do some chalking at Wintec and Waikato University to try and raise some awareness … and to get people talking and engaging with the message on a daily basis.”
Aside from being asked to move on at Wintec, the group had not had any complaints.
“Most of the people that approach us whilst we’re doing it have been genuinely interested… chalking is quite effective – initiating that first conversation.”
Generation Zero is one of two youth-led groups collaborating on the 100% Possible campaign, the other being 350 Aotearoa.
“We are a nationwide, youth-led movement demanding action on climate change. We believe that it is 100% Possible to move beyond fossil fuels to create a thriving sustainable future,” Jensen said.
As well as generating public awareness, the group aims to encourage the government to invest in environmentally-friendly energy and technology.
The group’s next chalk art plan is bubble factoids, or speech bubble facts, highlighting how New Zealand could be cleaner and greener.
