WCC offers a free Zero Waste Education Programme for primary and intermediate schools and kindergartens. If your child’s school or kindy is interested in getting invoved in the Climate Festival – this could be the way to do it! The programme is available all year too –teachers and principals can get in touch with our Waste Educator at lorraine.boennic@wcc.govt.nz

Through these fun sessions, children gain practical skills and knowledge for waste minimisation at school and at home. They also learn about sustainable resource use by examining the link between natural resources, the products we use and the resulting waste. Students consider the Te Ao Māori concept of kaitiakitanga. This helps us see ourselves as guardians of resources, not to be wasted but to be cherished and safeguarded so we leave our world in a better place than we found it. Children take their knowledge and curiosity home, fostering more reducing, reusing, recycling and composting in the wider community. The programme is full of interactive activities and engaging resources and games, with guest appearances from real worms and a worm puppet for the younger audiences, through to a deep dive into fast fashion, e-waste and ecological footprints for the older students.