The children are our future

Across the country, schoolchildren are recycling, reducing energy consumption and growing their own food. And these pint-sized eco-warriors are hoping their parents will act more responsibly on environmental matters, too. Kim Dungey looks at the kids who are turning their families green.

It's Friday and the kids of Opoho School are in their organic vegetable garden.

Not only can they name the plants they are growing - broccoli, silverbeet, parsley, potatoes and rhubarb - they can also talk confidently about the benefits of their compost heap and worm farm.

Kate Denys (10), says that even though the seaweed they put on the beds "stinks", gardening is good fun.

"Because you get to eat the food," adds Tim Horton (9), with a mischievous grin.

"And because you miss out on school work."

Later, the kids point out the yellow fish they painted on the concrete to remind them that anything going into the stormwater drains will end up in the sea.

According to Theo Molteno (7), it takes only a few plastic bags to kill a whale.

Environmental awareness among youngsters has never been higher.

At a school near you, children are planting native gardens, counting chip packets, cleaning out streams, calculating carbon footprints and thinking about food miles.

And at the end of the day, they take the green message home, educating their parents about the perils of plastic bags, conventional light bulbs and leaving the tap running while brushing teeth.

Like many youngsters, Opoho pupils are no strangers to lobbying.

Last year, they experimented with different lunch options, passing the best ideas on to the PTA as healthy alternatives to its winter sausage sizzle.

They also made non-toxic cleaners, later meeting the school cleaners and gaining an assurance they already used environmentally-friendly products.

The school is one of more than 600 in the Enviroschools programme, a government-funded scheme that sees pupils carry out environmental projects, then apply for coveted bronze, silver or green-gold awards.

Every classroom has compost and paper recycling bins, and two are responsible for the school's worm farm.

Pupils maintain nearby Dundas Bush and take turns to work in the edible garden, sometimes cooking and sharing the produce.

They sponsor dolphins, design eco buildings on computers and stock bird feeders they have built and placed around the school.

There are also walking buses and "wheels days" for bikes and scooters, both designed to promote exercise and fewer cars on the road.

And while children have been making dens for years, a new "eco-hut challenge" encourages them to build ones that enhance their school eco-system.

It's all a far cry from 30 years ago when nature studies involved drawing plants and "tidy kiwi" posters.

Back then, hardly anyone talked about the "environment", let alone sustainability.

The biggest change, Enviroschools representatives say, is that today's children don't just learn about the environment; they do something about it.

Pupils are encouraged to take action through locally relevant projects, first identifying the current situation and exploring alternatives and later reflecting on the changes they have brought about.

And the programme encompasses not just the natural world but the economic, political, social, cultural and built environment.

"It's not just about recycling, like lots of people think," says Dunedin "education for sustainability adviser" Tania McLean.

"It's much wider than that."