zero waste Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Enviroschools Marlborough

July 1, 2019

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

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

April 30, 2018

Enviroschools stories

Vote NOW to support Riverlands School!

Over the holidays, Riverlands School were lucky enough to receive the exciting news that they are one of three primary school finalists in the 'Resene Worthy Wall Campaign' for 2018. The mural art entry was put together by one of the school's amazing parents, Janelle Whippy, who is a talented artist. Janelle worked in conjunction with the school and the school's Enviro Group to develop a plan of suitable places for a mural and some key messages that they wanted to include. There were some amazing entries received this year by the organisers, so to make it through as a finalist has been a huge achievement. The winner of the competition is the school that gets the...

by Enviroschools Marlborough

April 4, 2018

Enviroschools stories General

Paper4Trees Update

Paper and cardboard recycling in Marlborough schools and kindergartens is going strong, and is benefitting our region in a number of ways. Through the Paper4Trees programme, 190 new native trees were earned in the 2016/2017 year, due to the recycling of 38 tonnes of paper and cardboard! These recycling efforts also saved over 300 m³ of landfill space, and prevented over 200 tonnes of CO2 from being produced in landfill. Since Marlborough joined in 2009, more than 1,300 trees have been earnt, through over 300 tonnes of paper and cardboard recycling. Ka mau te wehi, Marlborough! Marlborough District Council is continuing its support of this excellent programme this year, so make sure that your school or early childhood...

by Enviroschools Marlborough

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