Sustainability

SUSTAINABILITY EMBRACING A CIRCULAR ECONOMY

It’s time to say goodbye to linear thinking. A linear economy can be defined as when products are made, used, and then disposed of, with their materials lost to landfill. In a recycling economy, the materials from a product or its packaging can be utilised by other suppliers into other products.

Acircular economy takes this even further by creating a process where materials are recycled and reused over and over again by the manufacturer, who takes responsibility for the lifecycle and end-of-life of what they produce. Businesses can effectively take their old products and turn them into new ones.

Start with a Waste Audit

Recycling is essential for businesses and schools to reduce their environmental footprint and reduce waste disposal costs. Understanding your current waste habits will allow you to adapt your waste system to be as effective as possible.

Any waste audit should start with a Procurement Assessment.

What goes in must come out. A first step to assessing your organisations waste is to ensure you are not purchasing products that are not recyclable. For most inefficiencies, there is a company making a sustainable solution.

Reduce: Ensure you are engaging with sustainable suppliers.

Reuse: Are there single-use products that could be exchanged for reusable options?

Recycle: Check that there are not more sustainable alternatives for the products you purchase.

You can find handy DIY Waste Audit resources at www.methodrecycling.com/nz

Educate the Future

Kids are the future, so enabling them with the right knowledge around recycling and sustainability now will help protect our environment in the future.

There are organisations around New Zealand that work with schools to help instil sustainability habits within students that they will then carry with them beyond the education system.

Enviroschools is a nationwide programme supported by Toimata Foundation, founding partner Te Mauri Tau, and a large network of regional partners. Early childhood centres and schools commit to a long-term sustainability journey, where tamariki/students connect with and explore the environment, then plan, design, and act in their local places in collaboration with their communities.

Every early childhood centre and school across the country is unique, with its own ecology, history, culture, and community – so Enviroschools looks different in every setting. The journey of connecting with the place and its people is designed and led by each school or centre. You can learn more at www. envirschools.org.nz

Started in Wellington, the successful Your Sustainable School programme is going nationwide with help from the Ministry for the Environment. The programme offers Train the Trainer workshops to help roll out sustainability focussed, climate action, and waste reduction systems at your kura/school or kōhanga/early childhood centre.

How your kura/school or kōhanga/ early childhood centre will benefit from the Your Sustainable School programme:

• Better recycling systems and lower rates of contamination • New or improved methods to deal with food scraps • Spending less on waste management • Changes to procurement and better opportunities for cafeteria suppliers and cleaners • Empowered students and teachers driving a culture of climate action at school, at home, and in the community

You can learn more at www.sustaintrust.org. nz/your-sustainable-school. H

SUSTAINABLY SLASHING SCHOOL ENERGY BILLS

On top of helping to tackle climate change, it’s been estimated that Kiwi schools could cut up to $20 million a year off their power bills by using solar panels.

Down by more than half, New Zealand’s biggest school solar power system has slashed electricity bills at Kerikeri High School. The 174-kilowatt system eclipses what was previously the country’s biggest solar system, a 101kW solar panel array at Kaitaia College which opened in 2019. Kerikeri High associate principal Mike Clent said the move to solar power made a lot of sense.

Power costs in Kerikeri were among the highest in New Zealand and had increased by an average of more than 5 percent every year during the past decade.

At peak output, the system generated 60 to 65 percent of the school’s power needs and while the solar system, by SuperPower, cost a ‘’significant sum’’, Clent was confident it would pay for itself in five years. It had a projected life of 25 years so that meant 20 years of savings that could be directed into other areas of the school.

While the Ministry of Education does not have a preferred solar panel provider and is not running a solar panel installation programme, several schools plan to install solar panels that have been funded through the Sustainability Contestable Fund. In these instances, the panels will be paid for with Crown funds and owned by the Ministry. The Sustainability Contestable Fund was established to support schools to reduce their environmental impact and improve their operational efficiency. solarZero Schools

At the end of last year, New Zealand Green Investment Finance (NZGIF) announced it was continuing its investment in solar by providing an $8 million senior debt facility to finance solar panels on schools across New Zealand, alongside energy services provider solarZero.

The new energy initiative, called solarZero Schools, will enable Kiwi schools to convert sunshine into solar energy to power their school and contribute to an increase in New Zealand’s renewable electricity generation capacity. solarZero Schools provides solar energy services to schools for no upfront cost and with longterm fixed costs at a price below the current cost of retail electricity, making it an attractive option for schools.

“By financing solar panels on schools, we are helping demonstrate in a tangible way to future generations what a low carbon world can look like,” explained NZGIF CEO, Craig Weise.

“NZGIF’s finance will enable solarZero to deploy distributed solar across schools. This investment will accelerate the uptake of distributed renewable energy projects and contribute to the decarbonisation of the education sector.” solarZero is taking registrations for the Schools programme now and initial interest is high. School principals interested in the joining the programme can register their school via the solarZero website. H