Green Jam Hui
Friday, 8th August 2025 at 7:40am
GBHS Green Impact students had the opportunity to spend a day at Western Springs Garden Community Hall to find out about actions and opportunities that exist in the sustainability space.
'Green Jam' is a one-day event aimed at inspiring young people to take action for environmental sustainability in their schools and in their lives.
Keynote speaker, Christine Wang, from the Waiorea Community Recycling Centre, drew attention to the huge amount of clothing they receive through the centre daily, and initiatives undertaken to shift it.
Students took part in a variety of workshops, such as the 'Junk Hacking' hands-on workshop looking at EWaste and determining if it may have a second life by revival or repurposing; and a 'Creative Mending' workshop focussed on the reuse of textiles through deconstructionathon, to see how many garments can be deconstructed in 30 minutes. The Urban Ark Manawa Taiao workshop focussed on the importance of predator control, trapping our invasive mammalian predators including rats, possums and mustelids in both the urban and more rural environments, to protect our native flora and fauna. Some of our Green Impact students are already doing the Gateway Conservation programme so are very familiar with the different types of pests and traps.
Green Bay High School's Sustainability Activator, Amanda Hookham, from Ecomatters facilitated workshops on composting to explain three different composting types and their benefits, as well as a 'Love Food, Hate Waste' workshop to understand why is it so important to keep our food resources out of landfill, and feeding back into our soil to grow more food.
An update was given on the Te Whau Pathway Project, an exciting new pedestrian and cycleway that runs between Green Bay and Te Atatu, creating a sustainable way to visit our friends and families in West Auckland whilst enjoying the beauty of the natural environment of the Whau river.
Several students were excited about the possibility of volunteering with the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, where students as citizen scientists are taught how to monitor rocky reef habitats to track baseline health. Volunteers can become snorkel guides, do reef or freshwater monitoring, reef and stream restoration, public advocacy and more.
Kai Lawford (Yr 13) says he “really enjoyed learning about some of the awesome organisations that are making a difference at Green Jam. Namely the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust which I had never heard of before. I am excited to be able to volunteer or even intern with some of these groups and learn more about conservation”.
Year 9 student Emma Hart says she “discovered how many different volunteering opportunities there are for all experience levels.”
Year 9 Jade West says she “learnt that even small things we do can help the planet and that made me feel inspired to take action, even if it's just little things, because it all adds up”.
The day ended with a panel discussion, with Emma and Jade both contributing with questions to the panel.
