Enviroschools Marlborough, Author at Enviroschools Marlborough

July 2, 2019

Renwick students lead BioBlitz

Students in Renwick School's 'Green Ferns' enviro-group organised and ran a BioBlitz this term, to find and identify many of the different kinds of living things at their school. The whole school was involved in the BioBlitz, with students ranging from new entrants through to Year 8s scouring the school grounds for living things to study. The edible garden and school stream area were a focus, after the Green Ferns identified them as potential biodiversity hot spots. The Green Ferns, supported by Ms Tullet, did lots of mahi to prepare for the day. They planned how the day would run, with different classes taking part at different times of the day and in different parts of the...

by Enviroschools Marlborough

July 2, 2019

Enviroschools stories

Recycling bin revamp at Bohally

Bohally Intermediate's classroom recycling bins got a makeover this term, as classes battled it out to win a mufti day. Each class was challenged to revamp their bins for general recycling and GOOS (Good On One Side) paper, in a competition run by the school's enviro-team. The competition aimed to make students and teachers think about recycling, and to make sure that the bins were easy to find in the classroom. Some classes went all out, completely redesigning their bins from the ground up, while others worked to make what they already had more eye-catching. Judging took creativity, wow-factor, functionality, and the use of recycled materials into consideration, and gave bonus points to classes that had...

by Enviroschools Marlborough

July 1, 2019

Enviroschools stories

Thrift shop open for business at MGC

Marlborough Girls' College students have a new addition to their school: a thrift shop where students can recycle and purchase used clothing. A visit to Nelson College for Girls last year sparked the idea for this exciting new venture. Since then, a group of keen students have worked with supportive MGC staff to take the thrift shop from idea to reality. The students have created an inviting shop, bursting with donated clothing, shoes, and accessories. They have used recycled materials as much as possible, including upcycled and repurposed driftwood poles, secondhand shelves, and picture frames. Students wanting to dress up for house sports days and competitions will be able to select clothes and accessories from the 'house...

by Enviroschools Marlborough

May 1, 2019

Enviroschools stories

Wrappin’ at Blenheim School

Last term, students at Blenheim School took action to make their lunchboxes more sustainable. The whole school was involved in a beeswax wrap making day, where each student made and took home their own wrap. Led by teacher aide and Enviroschools lead Tracy Holdaway, the wraps were made using a special recipe of beeswax, jojoba oil and resin (recipe and ingredients from Pure Nature), which resulted in a beautifully soft, pliable, and slightly adhesive wrap. Once the students had finished, 60 more wraps were made to sell at a very affordable price from the school office. The Envirogroup are hoping that this initiative will raise awareness about alternatives to single-use plastic wrappers in lunchboxes, and see a...

by Enviroschools Marlborough

March 27, 2019

Enviroschools stories

School Strike 4 Climate Action

A large group of empowered students and their supporters joined the School Strike 4 Climate Action at Seymour Square on March 15th. The students did themselves proud: peacefully, positively and enthusiastically making their voices and their message heard. The organising groups from Marlborough Boys’ and Marlborough Girls’ colleges did an impressive job of organising the local protest, and in the process, formed some new links between the enviro groups at the two schools. They are now hoping to work together on some other projects, so watch this space! ...

by Enviroschools Marlborough

March 27, 2019

General

A new noticeboard at Tirimoana

Earlier this term, students and staff from Linkwater School and members of the Tirimoana community attended a special ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Tirimoana Reserve, to celebrate the installation of a new noticeboard. The noticeboard is the culmination of a project by one of Tirimoana’s youngest residents, Linkwater School student Angus Howe. Last year, Angus learnt about the stormwater system, and found out that any rubbish or pollution that goes down the drains on his street, ends up in the nearby bay. To raise awareness about this, he helped to attach blue fish to the drains in Tirimoana, and then went one step further, designing a noticeboard that would allow him to further educate the...

by Enviroschools Marlborough

December 15, 2018

Enviroschools stories

Busy bees at Witherlea

Students at Witherlea School have been busy taking action to reduce their lunch waste. After doing some work around waste and finding out that most people throw away up to 45 kg of plastic each year, Witherlea students wanted to do something to help. They decided to begin their battle against plastic by introducing beeswax wraps to replace cling film in school lunchboxes. Their aim is for each student in the school to make their own beeswax wrap, using MDC's beeswax wrap kit, locally-sourced beeswax, and cotton fabric. So far, 80 children have made their own wrap, and the rest of the school will follow suit in Term 1 next year. The students love...

by Enviroschools Marlborough

December 4, 2018

Enviroschools stories

Community effort to recycle soft plastic

An exciting new collaboration between Riverlands School and local business Wineworks has led to the school establishing its own soft plastic recycling programme. Concerned that soft plastic wrappings commonly found in school lunchboxes weren’t able to be recycled along with the rest of the school’s plastics, students Sophie and Maia investigated possible options for dealing with this waste. A connection with nearby business Wineworks, via a school parent, led to discussions between the students and Wineworks staff. Wineworks recycle their own soft plastic, and decided to help, by adding soft plastics from Riverlands School to their programme. The students visited Wineworks to learn about how the plastic is recycled, and Wineworks provided the school...

by Enviroschools Marlborough

Author: Enviroschools Marlborough