Tītahi Bay School cuts soft plastic going to landfill by more than half

Tītahi Bay School in Porirua began Term 2 with a whole school waste audit, and every class took part.

Rubbish and recycling bins from classrooms and school grounds were collected in the school hall. Enviroschools says the sorting turned up 500+ soft plastic items, an eye-opening experience for ākonga and kaiako.

A very dedicated kaiako and the school Enviro leaders led the day, with support from their facilitator. The audit set the scene for a wider look at how everyday products are used and how that use could be reduced.

When the school ran another audit at the end of term, its soft plastics going to landfill had dropped by more than half. The term ended with a whole school art exhibition showing the re-use and recycling of items and their link to te taiao.

Where it began

The work follows a Para Kore – Zero Waste opportunity that Enviroschools held in 2025 for taiohi from across Porirua. Enviroschools then offered a day to local kaiako. The thinking was that kaiako who understand what waste is, how it is created and where it goes can share that with their ākonga and colleagues.

The kaiako gathered at the base of Rangituhi maunga. They worked through the Enviroschools transformers activity, which looks at the whakapapa and lifecycle of everyday products. Kaiako can borrow the sets to use with tamariki, or be supported by their Enviroschools Facilitator.

Porirua City Council Waste Officer Deepa Goswami gave a presentation about resources, grants and places that support local action. The group then visited the nearby landfill, which Enviroschools describes as confronting and thought-provoking. Feedback from the day showed kaiako felt inspired to share their learning.

Other schools and centres

Discovery Kindergarten bought the pukapuka Papatūānuku has a Tummy Ache and Celia Seagull and the Plastic Sea to keep the kōrero about waste going. Tamariki and kaiako then wanted to run a waste audit to see how their waste practices were going.

Next door, Discovery school also started with a waste audit. A year 2 class took part with support from their facilitator and the tuakana Greenies crew. They noticed that soft plastics and food waste were represented the most.

Cannons Creek School built a new compost bin system with funding from the Porirua City Council Waste Minimisation Fund. Ākonga spent several weeks preparing the site, and tuakana leaders are now working out how to involve more tamariki across the school.

Many schools and centres have a compost bin or worm farm but not always the confidence or knowledge to use them. Termly local network hui, run in collaboration with Garden to Table, give kaiako resources and practical tips for managing compost systems.

The taiohi event

On 14 August 2025, 31 taiohi from 7 schools across Porirua came together at the Titahi Bay Surf Club to learn about Para Kore – Zero Waste. In the afternoon they joined a beach clean up and made messages of hope and determination as artwork on the sand.