SUSTAINABILITY (continued)....

CLOTHES

We looked at what our clothes are made of and where they are made. We thought about the effect the material, processing, and transport of our clothes has on the environment. 

We looked at ways that could be kinder to the environment - only buying what you need, fixing clothes instead of throwing them away, handing cloths on to others when we have finished with them etc.

Some clothes are made by recycling plastic bottles - check out this video! Do you think these clothes are better or worse for the environment? 

DEVELOPMENT

We thought about how people make a difference to the environment and looked at how we could make our towns more environmentally friendly. We became town planners and designed our own town, thinking not only about what would go in our towns, but also where it was placed. We looked at ideas from around the world for more sustainable towns - green roofs where flat roofs are planted to encourage wildlife, reduce heat, catch rainwater; the trial of solar panel roads in France; and ideas from Hundertwasser. You may have seen the Hundertwasser toilets in Kawakawa or the Hundertwasser Art Centre in Whangarei. There are so many ideas for creating great spaces to live and work that are also kind to the environment. I loved all the creative ideas that children came up with!

Vienna

Sustainability

 SUSTAINABILITY

This term we are looking at Sustainability - looking after our world's living things and resources.

We looked at a variety of topics with a sustainability lens.

RUBBISH

Where does it come from and where does it go? What does reduce, reuse, recycle, refuse mean? We found that if we recycle, reuse, reduce and refuse then there is less rubbish that will go to landfill.

We explored what can and can't be recycled and composted. We thought about how to encourage others to recycle. Some students designed contraptions to help reduce rubbish

PLANTS

We looked at biodiversity and why plants are important in so many ways - food for people, food for animals, shelter, shade, habitats, resources, medicine, beauty, etc. 

ANIMALS

We looked at how some animals affect others and the ecosystem. We focussed on keystone species like whales that can have an effect on their whole food chain as well as on the environment. We thought about how we can be kaitiaki and help care for animals. 

Some of the year 5&6's helped to set up and run a sustainability challenge at our school gala this year to encourage others to think about sustainability. Many of our students care deeply about this topic and the idea is to empower them to be able to make a difference if they want to.