Author: Lucia

The Te Papa museum had a lot of information about New Zealand’s history, impact, and culture. It was neat hearing some personal stories about why people migrated: some were refugees, some were wealthy land owners looking to expand, and others were searching for new job opportunities. There was also plenty to learn about native species…

The sustainability trust is making great strides for the environment. We are reminded of the waste pyramid, some of which’s guiding principles are valued in the following order: reduce, reuse, recycle, and only landfill as a last resort. With a high emphasis on recycling as a sustainability effort, it sometimes feels that businesses forget the…

Today was a mix of many different speakers from many fields including architecture, city planning, and more. I enjoyed hearing the speakers present about the cardboard seat challenge, which looked like a fun introduction to sustainable architecture. Then hearing that up to 50% of landfill waste is from construction was really shocking and I’m glad…

Today we got to meet with Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA). They are a cooperation similar to a trust in which members are given valuable information regarding tourism in their sector. Specifically, TIA noticed a gap in their 2025 tourism plan (designed in 2014): the plan had no mention of sustainability! So, they have since created…

We had a full day at Victoria University in Wellington! I was happy to see so many aspects of sustainable development come to life on campus. For example, we got a glimpse of one of the bee hives and we also explored the milk room, which uses glass bottles for whole milk, along with the…

Today was amazing! We got to see amazing natural resources at the Waimangu Volcanic Valley, like Frying Pan Lake, Inferno Crater, Cathedral Rocks, and more. It was so neat to see the lakes steaming hot from the ground and bubbling with Carbon Dioxide. Learning about the prospects of geothermal energy was also interesting. Our guide…

There was a lot to learn about sustainability through Sanford Fishing! Interestingly, I thought one of the most important topics we discussed was the packaging around the fish products. It is very easy to demonize all single use plastics and point fingers at companies that use them, but our speaker pointed out that until there…

I had a great time restoring the New Zealand natural habitat at Waiheke Island! I can’t believe how dry and barren the hiking trail used to be. Native plants and forestry are great for flood reduction because shrubbery can absorb water, so this definitely has applications to flash flooding in California. Has anyone seen the…

I like Sky City and New Zealand as a whole’s approach to sustainability: that the Earth belongs to not only ourselves but to those who came before us and those who will come after, so it is our duty to keep it clean for future generations. The speaker talked a lot about challenging the norm,…

My name is Lucia. I love cats, classic rock, and heavy metal. I do gymnastics and I’m graduating with 3 majors: Kinesiology, Physics, Computer Science. I love exploring and I believe you’re never too old to try something new. Can’t wait to see New Zealand! :]