From bug hotels to edible gardens, it’s been a rewarding journey for Anchorage Park School as they recounted their journey at the Enviroschools Bronze Reflection held recently at a school event attended by Cate Jessep and Rebecca Goffin from the Auckland Council Enviroschools team.
Working towards a sustainable future has been hard work as students, staff, parents and the community have all been part of the journey.
They worked weekends, after school and lunch times to help sustain a new environment that included creating a wetland to encourage native birds and wildlife back to the area.
Interestingly, the forest area in the school houses bug hotels, native trees and an outdoor classroom for students.
Students have spent a lot of time planning what to plant and hope to give away any excess produce to local communities in the future.
The waste-free lunches initiative is a driver in becoming a waste free school. Students have been making beeswax wraps in order to eliminate plastic wrap from their lunchboxes.
“That apart they’ve been trapping pests to prevent them killing off native birds and maintaining outdoor environment,” says Lorraine Field science leader at Anchorage Park School.
“It has been a very rewarding journey which has been led by a team of eco warriors and our STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) club. Our next step is to achieve the silver award.”