Natureland Wildlife Trust and the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary are both $450 richer, a fitting end to an initiative by five secondary schools to reduce environmental footprint on the ball red carpet by reducing textile waste and have students cutting a dash no matter the size of their wallets.
Under the guidance of the Nelson City Council-funded Nelson Enviroschools programme, environmental groups at Nelson, Nayland, Garin and Waimea Colleges and Nelson College for Girls, ran a ball op-shop on Trafalgar St in the middle of this year, and did just that.
Nelson College environmental leader Ryan Thelin says around 200 items went for affordable prices, and the two local environmental household names were selected to donate a portion of their profits to as they encapsulated ambitions similar to theirs, and some students had existing ties to them.
“Both of them are just amazing because they facilitate lots of environmental exploration, whether you’re at primary school, intermediate, you get to go to these awesome places, and I really get to connect with nature,” he says.
“I think that passion is a big thing behind environmental action, and so when you can see what you’re fighting for, and you can see the impact that you can be having, and see those end goals, I think that’s an amazing way to really support environmental awareness and action.”
Natureland manager Leah Foster commended the donation, saying it would nurture its education programmes, and Brook Waimārama Sanctuary chief executive Chris McCormack says their $450 will contribute to his organisation’s “amazing cause”.
