Celebrating World Environment Day

To mark World Environment Day on 5 June, the Otago Daily Times donated over 3,000 copies of Penguin Kind to schools across Otago and Southland. The book, written by Carolyn Managh, offers practical, achievable actions for living more sustainably.

Otago Girls High School

Student idea: Maya Ory proposed reducing illegal rubbish dumping in public parks by relocating bins further away from carparks and into park areas. She believes this would discourage people from dumping household rubbish while still making bins accessible for everyday park users.

Student idea: Milla Holden suggested developing an app called Huanui Rererangi ("Flight Path") that lets people adopt and track native New Zealand animals via GPS, raising funds for Predator Free 2050.

East Taieri School

At East Taieri School, the Kaitiaki Rōpū meet each week to lead and support sustainable initiatives across the school, while also caring for their local birdlife and stream health. As a rōpū, they generate ideas, take meaningful action, and work together on larger projects — including their own wetlands area.

Elmgrove School

Elmgrove School will plant a variety of native flax plants to attract more wildlife. The children will harvest the leaves and use them to experience traditional Māori weaving during Matariki celebrations.

St Joseph's Cathedral School

Small compost bins outside each classroom collect food scraps, which are then added to a larger composting system used to nourish the school gardens. The students also grow fresh produce in their vegetable gardens and generously donate much of the harvest to a local community pantry.

Fairfield School

Fairfield's Enviro Club has set up skink houses and tracking tunnels to monitor local species. They also do hands-on activities like growing microgreens, making beeswax wraps and studying a live bumblebee nest.