On 9 September Year 8 students were fortunate to visit the Waitakere Transfer Station to learn about Fast Fashion and how it affects the environment.  We entered through a gate to a garden that was filled with repurposed objects and materials.  One of the cool inventions was a bike that dispenses water when you pedal it.  There was an elephant made out of scrap metal and a garden with repurposed decorations.  After exploring the garden we split into two groups. 

Group 1 stayed outside to learn more about the cycle of fabrics and Group 2 went inside the small classroom to learn about what fabric is best for the environment and how we can live a more sustainable life.  Some of the things we learned were that a linen shirt takes a few weeks to break down and you can make bags out of a pineapple!  Supporting local businesses is better for the environment and it takes six years to drink the amount of water that it takes to make one pair of jeans. 

While we were outside we did a fun activity making pom-poms out of old cut-up T-shirts.  The pom-poms turned out great and we hope we can hang up some of them in our classroom.  We also learned how wool was made and how at landfills, they compact the rubbish together which is very bad for the environment.  We were taught that putting old batteries in the rubbish can cause huge fires. 

Overall, it was a very enjoyable and informative trip.  Sharing our knowledge means that together we can support Auckland’s goal to be rubbish free by 2040, which sounds like a challenge but is a reachable goal.

Alice Strudwick & Petra Jacobs, Year 8