Conservation Week: Doing "good" for nature
- Avcol
- Sep 4
- 2 min read
Te Wiki o Te Taiao is New Zealand Conservation Week (1-7 September 2025) is a great opportunity to do something good for nature, and show others how they can too. The Environmental Group got in early to celebrate with two wider school events.
First was the 'Clothes Drive' which was a huge success. The main driver of this activity was recycling clothing - this reduces our impact on the planet as fast fashion has a big toll on our precious resources! For a couple of weeks in advance, the group had been stockpiling donations coming from students, staff and outside organisations. A huge thanks must go to Mrs Lynne Van Etten and our school nurses' team for their huge donations. Also, a massive thank you to Wendy Perese from World Moving & Storage, an Avondale storage facility that are passionate about reusing, donating & reducing waste. Wendy and her team collected and dropped off x8 boxes of new and used clothing for the event and we appreciate the donations so much.
With more clothing than anticipated, we were nervous about what we would do with it all. However, on the back of organisational skills and wide promotion of the event, engagement across the school was huge and students cleared out 80%+ of all the donations received. 100's of students filtered through the classroom across lunchtime to find themselves some new threads - all free of charge! The remainder of the items have found homes with relevant items going to Taurewa, the Auckland Hospital Emergency Department, the Fashion Technology classes and local Op Shops.
The next activity on the cards was a bake sale, which you might ask "how is this focused on conservation?". The group wanted to do some fundraising to contribute to conservation efforts and Give a Trap was identified as the organisation for the funds to go to. Give a Trap is primarily focused on the Predator Free 2050 mission that aims to reduces pest species that make it harder for our native wildlife to flourish. Environmental Group students contributed some amazing themed goods and ran a smooth operation with the bake sale raising around $400. This money will purchase traps and trapping supplies for community groups operating across the West Auckland and Waitakere Ranges.
Congratulations to all Environmental Group students for their display of kaitiakitanga and action in the conservation and sustainability areas. We encourage everyone to be altruistic and do something beneficial for the environment across Te Wiki o Te Taiao. Whether it is picking up some rubbish that isn't yours, or helping to improve a natural habitat, every little action counts!
Mr R Stephen
