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Our sustainability journey
Sustainability is an important part of everything we do at BestStart Waikanae and this year we have been invited to take part in some international research through the University of Canterbury which will support us in taking our journey even further.
As a starting point for this piece of work we wanted to look back over the past few years and consider where we started and what we have achieved so far. We will be blogging every month as a way of documenting our journey in sustainability and sharing it with our wider community. We will capture the highlights, the challenges and the fun as we work alongside our tamariki to nurture this beautiful planet of ours.
Planting our Orchard:
We are very lucky to have a large and natural outdoor area so one of the first things we did was create some garden beds and an orchard. A number of our families have gifted fruit trees over the years and our little orchard is growing each year.
Composting with the team from Organic Wealth:
In 2015 we started working with the team from Organic Wealth; developing a composting system, adding vegetable beds to our outdoor environment and learning how to nurture the soil and the plants that grow in it. The children are actively involved in caring for our gardens and harvesting produce while learning about lifecycles and healthy eating.
Exploring the Native Bush:
On our doorstep is the beautiful Hemi Matenga nature reserve; a very special place for us. Every week, since 2016, a group of children have headed into the bush to explore the native flora and fauna. This is a wonderful way for our tamariki to become connected to the land and understand how important it is that we take care of it. They have become Kaitiakitanga (guardians) of their natural world and strong advocates for Conservation. Last year we took our first group of intrepid explorers to Kapiti Island – an adventure we plan to do each year.
Learning about Water Pollution through Art:
Last year we were invited to submit a piece of art for the local ECO Art Exhibition at Mahara Gallery. At the time we were exploring the myth of Te Ika o Maui and the children wanted to include this in their mahi. We took this as an opportunity to explore water pollution and posed the question ‘What would the fish of Maui look like if we caught it today?’. Discussions followed, and the children had lots of ideas, theories and concerns. We worked together to create a stunning and thought-provoking piece of art from a range of recyclable materials and rubbish collected from lunch boxes.
Clean Up NZ Week with Waikanae School:
With the ‘big kids’ from our school next door, we headed off around the neighbourhood to do our bit for Clean Up NZ week. The children are super-vigilant when it comes to rubbish so they did a great job. This is something we do every time we go for a walk – our surrounding streets are very clean!
So as you can see, we have been very busy over the past few years but this is really just the beginning. We have big aspirations with our end goal being to become a Zero Waste centre. We know it will take time and there is a lot of learning ahead of us but our tamariki and kaiako are passionate and dedicated.
Check in on our blog each month to see what we’re getting up to.