When you look at the impeccably styled and glamorous broadcaster Miriama Kamo, you wouldn’t think she dresses in second-hand clothes.
But the queen of recycling has made it a mission to buy pre-loved clothing and wear it proudly as much as possible.
“I’m talking to you now in an entirely second-hand outfit,” says Miriama, 49, on a call from TVNZ headquarters, where she has been recording a Sunday episode. She has on a bright yellow sweatshirt with black leggings.
While some people might balk at wearing used clothing, Miriama grew up with it, so it comes easily to her.
“Growing up, we all wore second-hand clothes and I loved it,” she says. “My mum used to come home from the Methodist Mission with bags and bags full of clothes because there were five kids, and then we had cousins and wider whānau living with us as well. So it was just a really good cost-effective way of clothing us all.”
Miriama says her mother Mary was also really good at creating something fashionable out of these treasures.
“I remember when bubble skirts were in, she found a way to make them herself by buying these big, long hippy skirts, and then tucking them under and sewing the hem to the waistband. She was so creative.”
Miriama called her mother the “GOAT”.
“She was the ‘greatest of all time’, the OG [original] for me of zero-waste,” she laughs.
With her “greatest of all time” mum Mary and daughter in 2017.
Miriama’s renewed interest in wearing recycled clothing began when she started a zero-waste journey in her own home.
“I feel like it’s been in chapters,” she tells. “So there’s been the chapter of gardening, the chapter of water saving and the chapter of skincare. The last one has been second-hand clothes and it’s just been so much fun.
“But I realised when recycling became a passion for me, I also had to do it mindfully, taking it up because I realise it matters to do it that way, not just to have fun.”
And now she can’t see any reason to go into a chain store. But with a passion for New Zealand-made, a job on camera and supporting charity events, she does occasionally turn up in something new.
“If I buy new clothes, I support Kiwi designers, so that’s the only time you’ll see me in new clothes now.”
She says she now has some great mates and whānau, like Kiri Nathan, TK Store and Mena, who make beautiful clothes and do it sustainably.
“I love Shjark in Grey Lynn because they ensure that all their clothes are made here in New Zealand and most of their production is done within a 30 kilometre radius of their studio.”
The broadcaster also makes second-hand clothing look easy and stylish on her Instagram account, where she models her latest finds for her 11,700 followers.
Although Miriama admits having an 11-year-old daughter causes some issues, Te Rerehua is at an age where she likes to shop at chain stores, something Miriama just can’t agree with.
“She just thinks I’m the meanest mum in the world because I refuse to go to some of the fashion chains. So occasionally, she manages to haul her dad in there. There’s one particular chain store she loves and I absolutely do not love, and so that’s an absolute no from me to coming in with her. I will tag along with her for this or that, but I always feel guilty about it!”
Like Mum, Te Rerehua loves fashion!
As Miriama pursues her zero-waste lifestyle, she need only look back over a few months in Aotearoa to be reminded of why her passion is important for the planet. Miriama was deeply affected by the recent Cyclone Gabrielle, which devastated parts of the country.
“It was just absolutely horrific. I covered it for Sunday and for Marae, and telling those stories about the way people were suffering was another real wake-up call.
“It was an excellent illustration of what we’re facing if we don’t change and take some measures to reduce emissions.”
With Earth Day coming on April 22, Miriama says she is working hard to get that message across to people.
“Second-hand is not the answer – it’s just one answer,” she explains. “A big part of the answer is not to buy and consume as much. We are designed to want more and to collect more, so it’s really just about being mindful about the way that we’ve been moulded to want more and to try to not do that. I urge people to look at the statistics around how much clothing we produce and how much we waste.”
Miriama says that 80-100 billion items of clothing are made worldwide each year, but on average are worn only seven times. That will soon increase to 150 billion items and New Zealand sends around 100,000 tonnes of clothing to landfill each year – about 44kg per person.
“Ninety percent of what we buy ends up in landfills – isn’t that horrific?” she says. “The fashion industry is hugely polluting and it can also be very unethical in a lot of places around the world.
“I like to think about the things that I’m wearing in terms of the supply chain, where it comes from and who has been involved in its creation, and whether there may have been harm to them along the way.”
When asked if what she’s doing on her own is enough to make a change to the world, Miriama says every individual’s actions are.
“If we all didn’t bother, then nothing would change. It takes just one person to do something inspiring and then hopefully the next person follows and so on.
“That’s why I go on social media, to try and make sure that the next person sees it and hopefully becomes inspired to do it, and that we all start doing it.
Showcasing her fab finds on Instagram (the red suit is borrowed, not thrifted).
“I don’t think that what I do will create a huge revolutionary change. It’s crazy to think that. But what I do hope is that other people will be reminded of the amazing planet we live on and how much we take it for granted, and how beautiful it is, and why wouldn’t we want to take care of it?”
Miriama often thinks about a quote she heard when doing a story on climate change that drove the idea home of continuing to fight for the planet. “It said, ‘What if I’m wrong about this? Well, if I’m wrong, what we end up with is clean rivers and cleaner air, so it really isn’t that big of a deal if I’m wrong.'”
Miriama has also changed the way she eats after a dare from her daughter Te Rerehua to go vegan for a month.
“I think she thought I’d say ‘no way’ and then she’d have a good laugh. Instead, I said, ‘Okay, yeah, I will’ and I did. And the reason that I’ve largely stuck with it is that my back pain disappeared and I haven’t had back pain since. It’s been two years – it was truly miraculous. I just don’t want to go back there again.”
Miriama still eats fish and meat occasionally, but for the most part, she eats mainly plants and admits she’s boring her daughter silly explaining the benefits.
“I’m always saying to her, ‘Isn’t your body amazing how it heals and it does what you ask it to do, especially if you look after it?'” she laughs.
When Miriama isn’t working on Sunday and Marae, she spends a lot of time supporting charities and events, like the New Zealander of the Year awards, of which she’s Patron/Te Koruru.
Miriama in a second-hand outfit on Sunday.
One charity she and her husband Mike Dreaver are heavily involved in is Kotahi Rau Pukapuka, which aims to translate 100 books into te reo Māori, including J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea and Dr. Seuss’ Oh, The Places You Will Go!
The idea came from Mike, who speaks a few languages and learns well by reading.
“We realised that there weren’t really any grown-up books to read if you’re learning te reo, and so we got some people together and created the charity,” she explains. “We’ve got seven books out now, another 10 in the works and then we’ve got to get to 100.
“It’s a long, long journey and it’s a hustle all the time looking for funding, but we’ve been really fortunate with the people that we’ve got around the table. Our selection process for the books is quite rigorous because we want to make sure that there are books available for learners at any stage of their journey – for kids and adults.”
There is no doubt that life for Miriama is busy but well spent as she leans into issues which she feels strongly about. But sometimes, she admits, she does need to slow down a bit and for that, she has recently started meditating.
“I did one class and at the end I said to my friend, ‘I don’t know if I’ll come back because I think I might have meditated for about 1.3 seconds of that whole hour,'” she tells. “But then I felt really good for the rest of the day. And then weirdly, I felt quite good for the whole week, so I tried it again and I’ve stuck with it.”
She laughs, “I have to remind myself that I don’t need to nail it and be the best at it, like, ‘I’m going to be the best meditator in the world!'”
