Pupils at Waiwera South School celebrated the bronze stage of their Enviroschools journey last Thursday.
The year 0-8 children reflected on their achievement by thanking and sharing kai with everybody involved in the process and hosting a school tour.
Enviroschools is an action-based programme where young people are empowered to design and lead sustainability projects in their schools, communities and country, and participants undertake Enviroschools holistic reflection with pauses to consider the past, present and future of their Enviroschools journey.
Since signing on to the programme in 2019, Waiwera South had integrated learning for sustainability and environmental education into many aspects of school and community engagement and Clutha District Council Enviroschools facilitator Scott Martin said he noticed over his two years of engagement with the school the way the students felt empowered.
"The reflection process explores what it means to be an Enviroschool and provides an opportunity to celebrate achievements and identify next steps," he said.
"One of the bronze reflection statements is ‘Students at our school are exploring options and finding ways to take action for a sustainable future’,"
"This can be directly acknowledged from what the students noticed when conducting a waste audit of the school’s rubbish and recycling bins, [that] the majority of the school’s waste was paper towels used for drying hands."
"As a solution, they obtained a second-hand washing machine, brought in old towels which were cut and hemmed and now have a washing/drying roster for their reusable hand towel system."
"From growing their own food, including planning and planting an orchard, to foraging, numerous beach cleanups, and propagating and planting native trees for local riparian planting, the students of Waiwera South School are constantly challenging and inspiring the way we connect, explore and look after our local environment," Mr Martin said.
Waiwera South principal Kaz Bissett was keen to thank local people and businesses.
"We’ve found ways to achieve things at no cost but also benefited from generosity with materials and small funding grants," Mrs Bissett said,
"But we’re now saving about $2000 a year on paper towels and learning sustainability has financial, as well as environmental, benefits."
