Waste themed film competition winners celebrated

Schools and early childhood centres in the Manawatū District that entered the ‘taking action in reducing waste’ short film competition were celebrated at a prize giving event held in Feilding last night. 

Horizons Regional Council Enviroschools Manawatū facilitator Rowena Brown, along with Manawatū District Council solid waste and recycling officer David McMillan, proposed the film competition as a way to highlight issues surrounding waste in both urban and rural settings.

The competition was open to all early childhood centres, primary, intermediate and high schools in the wider Manawatū District.

The overall award winner was Manchester Street School for their short film ‘Paper Recycling’. Manawatū Mayor Helen Worboy presented the School with a certificate and $300 to put towards environmental initiatives.

Mayor Helen Worboys was impressed by the messages conveyed in the videos.

“These young people have shown a strong awareness about the need to care for our environment and I am very confident about the future and their ability to improve and maintain a sustainable planet for everyone.”

Horizons Regional Council environmental educator Sarah Galley and one of the competition’s judges said Manchester Street School’s entry was selected for it’s environmental story telling in a simple, factual and entertaining way.

Certificates and $100 cheques were also presented to Sanson School Juniors for their ‘Rubbish: a journey through time’ entry in the What Is Waste? category; Sanson School Seniors for their ‘Food Waste’ film in the Zero Waste Design category; and Manchester Street School for their film ‘Worms - the cycle of food scraps’ in the Zero Waste Project category.

“Waste minimisation practices in schools, centres and the community are one of the core areas within the Enviroschools programme, supported by both Horizons Regional Council and Manawatū District Council,” says Ms Galley.

“It’s the first time the film competition has been held. Both councils were pleased with the quality of entries, showing how schools and centres already have strong waste practices in place.

“We hope their films show other schools how environmental initiatives are easy to implement and help to get children thinking about the themes while creating life-long learning experiences.” 

In addition to the screening of all competition entries, the evening included waste information displays from Enviroschools, Zero Waste, reusable nappies, what Manawatū District Council are doing to reduce waste going to landfill.

Manchester Street School’s winning film can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/oQgd0ESpxYU

The Enviroschools programme aims to equip young people with the competencies they need to be leaders in sustainability resulting in long term behaviour change.  The Enviroschools vision is to create a generation of people who instinctively think and act sustainability. The programme promotes the sustainable management of natural and physical resources by addressing issues relating to waste, water, energy, transport, and biodiversity.  There are 47 Enviroschools across the Region, covering early childhood, primary and secondary levels.  These are funded by the relevant Territorial Authorities. For more information on Enviroschools in the District, please contact education@horizons.govt.nz  

Pictured above: Overall prize winners from Manchester Street School, Isobel Elmslie, Alice Dawson, Kymani Corbett and Sam Claasen.