We have been fortunate to have the ZWZC programme at Orewa College for about three years. Its’ aim is to educate students about the immense value of soil, food waste, composting, and the carbon cycle. While this goal can be challenging, the programme’s hands-on approach has been essential in engaging students and making the learning experience both practical and meaningful. The values of the programme align perfectly with those of our school, as we are a proud Enviroschool committed to educating our students about sustainability and environmental preservation.
- Sarah O’Donnell, Year 7-8 Environment Teacher, Orewa College
Last year, at Wentworth College, I was supported by ZWZC to launch our food scraps collection. The program was delivered as part of our Year 8 Global Perspectives program. I would not have been able to launch the program without the help of ZWZC, Betsy and her team. They were able to provide invaluable lessons to our Year 8 students to teach them about the value of food as a resource, provide us with bins to collect our food scraps in, and conduct a waste audit to show us how much we are sending to landfill that shouldn’t be. Without this program and support I would have not been able to achieve a food scraps diversion program. It has led to our Wentworth Kaitiaki club being established this year and we hope that with continued support we will be able to continue to divert waste from landfill.
- Jennifer Sampson, Wentworth College
The Zero Waste, Zero Carbon programme has been delivered to Year 7 students at Northcross Intermediate for 7 years and has always made an impact around our school. By looking at the carbon cycle through the eyes of healthy soil, our students can see the positive benefits of various composting options. The programme also brings Recycling, Reusing, Repurposing, Remaking, Rethinking, Reducing and Refusing into a practical and real context that helps students retain the learning and turns information into knowledge that can lead to positive actions that have a real impact on our community.
-Kel Hartell, year 7-8 Environmental Studies teacher, Northcross Intermediate