School students dig in to help the environment
Fonterra’s Brightwater manufacturing site holds an annual team day and as part of this, they aim to help out in the community.
For the past two years, the team have planted trees along the Wai-iti River for the Tasman District Council. This year, they invited Brightwater Primary school along.
A classroom of 19 boys arrived on their bikes with their teacher Alan Dobson, ready to get their hands dirty and all wearing Fonterra hi-vis vests that our company recently donated to the school.
Each Brightwater Operator partnered with a student for the planting, and they got through an impressive 285 trees in one hour, along the popular cycleway that is part of the Nelson/Tasman ‘Great Taste Trail’.
Environmental Manager for Brightwater Emily Macdonald says “We have been wanting more involvement with Brightwater Primary school, so this was a great way to start that relationship while also improving the environment along the trail.
“It was nice to see the children and our operators interacting and working so well together.”
Alan Dobson from Brightwater Primary school says “The boys thoroughly enjoyed working alongside your helpful team. Thank you for organising the event, it’s a day they will never forget and I hope it’s the beginning of many more activities to come.”
Brightwater Plant Manager Blake Aston says the site has collectively made a decision to be more active in the community and this is just one of the initiatives in place.
“The Brightwater site has been around for over 100 years and forms an integral part of our Upper South Island Operations. Along with Canterbury Area Manager Victor Gahamadze, we recently hosted over 40 of our farmers on site over two days, taking them through the plant so they can increase their understanding of what happens to their milk once it leaves the farm.”