Enviroschools road trips to learn sustainable business tips

Dozens of teachers and students have been on the road taking a first-hand look at some of Northland’s sustainable businesses as part of an Enviroschools Northland bus tour.

St. Francis Xavier Catholic School pupils, Lucy Crawford, left, and Bella Bonetti, demonstrate their business card making skills during the Enviroschools Northland sustainable business bus tour in Whangarei on Tuesday.

The Northland Regional Council played a key role in bringing Enviroschools north in 2003 and there are now more than 60 local schools in the popular programme, many of which incorporate sustainable business ideas into their curriculum.

Susan Karels, the council’s Enviroschools Regional Co-ordinator, says sustainable businesses are successful economically and have minimal negative impacts on the environment, community, and society.

She says as part of this week’s tours, 77 participants from nine schools in the Whangarei district visited a number of school-based and commercial sustainable businesses on Tuesday.

Participants visited Whangarei Heads School, which trades eggs, runs its own second hand shop, sells hand-designed tea towels and is just moving into the possum fur trade.  They also visited St. Francis Xavier Catholic School to view its hand-made business card production line and also checked out  Mangakahia Area School’s ‘Trash to Treasure’ products made from waste.

On the commercial front, tour participants visited Reclaim (formerly Paper Reclaim), an established local business which recycles waste plastic, aluminium cans, paper, cardboard and glass.

Today about 50 participants from six Far North schools are scheduled to visit a number of similar initiatives in the Kaitaia area, including the CBEC Resource Recovery Centre, CBEC’s Healthy Homes Tai Tokerau and a number of school-based businesses at Oturu School.

Oturu School’s businesses include one that produces olive oil, pickled olives and soap and another that makes balms from various products grown and/or produced at the school including honey from its beehives, aloe vera and kawakawa.  A third business sells several varieties of school-produced honey.

Northland Regional Council member Bronwyn Hunt says the tours are designed to help the Year 4-8 students and their teachers learn how action projects can grow into sustainable businesses, see what works well and hear how challenges can become opportunities.

Councillor Hunt says many environmental projects have been turned into money-making ventures by enterprising Northland schools and students, with Oturu School a ‘star performer’ in that regard.

“Sharing knowledge is an essential part of the Enviroschools process and as part of that, Enviroschools events provide opportunities for all participants to learn from each other.”

“These bus tours are about the environment and the economy growing together,” she says.  As well as the long-term benefits we’re looking at today, many schools also report immediate financial benefits from their involvement in Enviroschools, such as lower water, electricity and waste disposal bills.”

Meanwhile, Mrs Karels says further information about the Enviroschools programme generally is available via the regional council’s website www.nrc.govt.nz/enviroschools