Pupils from across Central Otago gathered for a day of educational eco-friendly activities.
Central Otago enviroschools facilitator Lucy Francke said the hui reflected the guiding principles of enviroschools, the main two being empowering pupils and creating sustainable communities.
This year’s theme was zero waste and the pupils started off by creating a koru made up of precious objects, in which they would contemplate the differences between a "circular economy" and a "linear one".
Pupils would first rotate around various hands-on activities about food preservation, composting, cleaning products, "fast fashion", waste in the classroom and battery recycling, she said.
The food preservation activity involved pupils learning about what makes apples — the most wasted lunchbox item — turn brown. Pupils cut up apples and experimented by preserving them in various juices.
