Today the Year 5 Eco Leaders were lucky enough to meet with Nigel Zhang a climate change expert who has worked for the UN as an auditor. We're hoping he can work with Sunnyhills School to reduce our carbon footprint in 2021.
This is a summarized transcript of our Zoom meeting:
Isla - Hi we’re year five Eco Leaders from Sunnyhills School. Our school is a GreenGold Enviro school
Izzy- Thank you for meeting with us today and helping us .
Izzy - we’ve got some questions we’re hoping you can answer
Drake - What inspired you to be an environmentalist?
I started by becoming an engineer in China and then I worked for the UN. I realised we have the technology to address climate change but need to educate people. I studied Environmental Management at University in Australia to try and address the problem from a different perspective.
Jade - what is a carbon footprint? And what do you do to reduce your carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint is all the emissions your life produces. There are 6 main greenhouse gases.
Jade - how do we work out a carbon footprint at school?
That’s a big question. We can identify where you produce carbon. For example the school’s electricity bills & amount of waste you produce.
Drake - we’re planning to plant more trees. What are some other things we could do?
Reduce electricity use
Reduce waste
Walk to school
Solar panels
Look at heating options
Jade - what is your carbon footprint?
My own carbon footprint is 5.4 T. The NZ average is 7.3 T. The Australian average is 15 T
Izzy - would you like to come and visit our school next year?
Yes, very much so, we can calculate the school’s carbon footprint and then look at ways to reduce it.
Isla and Izzy- thank you for being with us - we learnt lots and are looking forward to continuing next year!
How do you think Sunnyhills School is doing when it comes to litter?
James - 8.3/10 - because whenever I walk around the school I normally see some litter around. There’s always that tiny bit of littering but not that much.
Joeric - when I was in year 3 and four I always saw plastic bags in drains, but now I don't.
Anvay - 9.9/10 - I only see very small pieces of paper on the field and deck.
Harry - 8.5/10 I still see not that much rubbish but I still see some.
Lucas - 7/10 - OK but some around.
Georgia - I saw a Gatorade bottle on the ground that still had energy drink inside. I think when the playground has been blocked off people have put it there and the wind have put rubbish down there.
What types of litter do you predict we’ll find?
Jayden - I think we will find muesli bars and candy and bits of plastic because some people are cheeky and break the school rules.
James - around the deck where we eat lunch is the most dirty part of the school.
Stefanie - there’s ice block wrappers and candy wrappers outside room 17. I don’t know how it got there. Maybe the builders.
ACTION RESULTS
We sorted the litter into 3 groups - food related, paper and miscellaneous.
The biggest group by far was food related.
Mrs Daniel - paper is biodegradable.
We found balloons from Kelly Club - we could ask them to stop using them as they can’t be recycled - Joeric
The biggest amount we found was food and drink wrappers - we could do naked lunch - Joeric
Use resusable lunch containers - James
Stefanie - don’t use glad wrap - there was lots - it’s very light and can float around. James - it’s very convenient. Joeric - it looks like jellyfish.
Mrs Daniel - lots of miscellaneous litter was from the building site. I wonder how we could make renovating and building more sustainable... biodegradable hazard tape?
How might we stop so many food wrappers around school?
Marco - make food wrappers heavy so they don’t fly away
Annie - take the food wrapper off at home
Abigail - put food wrapper straight in your bag
Lachie - eat inside
HImanshu - if you see rubbish pick it up
Mailia - put foil on your food
Jayan - Close your lunchbox when you unwrap something
Hayley - not bring any plastic wrapper to school
Hamish - don’t take any food with wrappers on it
REFLECTION - Naked Lunches would stop most of the litter around the school.
NEXT STEPS - How could we get more Sunnyhills families doing naked lunches?
Hayley - yell in their face that plastic is bad
Jayan - make an advertisement - YouTube
Abigail - tell people about using plastic containers instead of wrappers
Chloe - make a poster
Hamish - send an email to the parents
Marco - have stickers that tell people not to use plastic and put them on windows and doors
Ashley - do a plastic treasure hunt and the people who collect the most get a prize
Anastasia - Hold a competition and who ever has a rubbish free lunch box wins something
Sam - Encourage people to bring more fruits or take off the wrappers at home
Lachie - Everyday a person from each class picks up rubbish
Aston - do a nude food challenge - no wrappers allowed
Zoe - give people with nude food house points
Theo - when you get a lunch order put the wrappers in your bag to take home
Which suggestion do you think is best? Perhaps the Sunnyhills Eco Leader could implement a new initiative in 2021
Today our Eco Leaders harvested greens, herbs, fruit and kawa kawa leaves from our Mara Kai (Edible Garden). We made kawakawa tea and garden pesto. Yum! Of course we composted all our waste.
Recipes:
KAWAKAWA TEA
Kawakawa leaves
Boiling water
Sunnyhills Honey
Cover kawakawa leaves in boiling water. Brew for 3 minutes. Drain. Sweeten with honey if desired. Can also be cooled and drunk cold.
GARDEN PESTO
Broad beans
Mint
Sorrell
(or any garden herbs available)
Lemon juice
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Blend in a processor until smooth. Eat as a dip or sauce.
Today the Greenfingers Gang harvested broadbeans to take home. We left some to dry on the plants so we can replant broadbeans next winter.
It was great to see that Liam brought his little brother Noah along on his first day at school.
At lunchtime today the Travelwise Leaders took bike skills for the Year 2 and 3 Students. Everyone had fun and at the same time had the opportunities to practise their bike skills at the same time.
In Year Five we've been focusing on Sustainable Energy. We're now calculating our carbon footprint so we can measure the impact of the action we are taking to reduce our negative impact on the world.
You can work out our carbon footprint too and find out how to help fight climate change at https://www.futurefit.nz/
Year Five & Six have been focusing on Sustainable Energy & Climate Change this year. We've identified the current situation and explored alternatives. Now it's time to take action! We're planting hundreds of native trees to sequester carbon from the atmosphere and offset our carbon footprint. Thanks to Trees for Survival for supplying the seedlings and potting mix!
