Sustainability is a journey. At Dio we want students to develop an awareness of the sustainability issues that face us all.
A sustainable school prepares young people for a lifetime of sustainable living, through its teaching, values and its day to day practices.
At Dio we want to demonstrate responsible practices for our girls and our wider community through actively engaging them in learning and positive actions.
Sustainability can mean different things to different people. At Dio we define it as:
We are kaitiaki of our planet. We thoughtfully use all our resources as treasured taonga ensuring that how we live in this world preserves the same quality of life for future generations.
While we have started the journey, we need to take a phased approach with a focus on key initiatives which are managed by a team of staff and students. We will not succeed unless our whole community is involved.
Sustainability needs to be woven throughout our school to create a lasting impact.
Our vision can be broken down into three key pillars:
Our education, the lens of sustainability is integrated into all subjects to re-enforce student learning. We teach a holistic view.
Our people, as a community we stand with a shared vision of sustainability and the difference we aspire to make to our planet.
Our place, we embrace Kaitiakitanga – acting as guardians of our planet. We measure our impact to help prioritise our efforts.
Waste and Recycling We are working towards more sustainable practices to reduce our waste and promote recycling. Today we have processes to recycle batteries, polystyrene, fluorescent tubes, scrap metal, paper and e-waste. While it is a start, we want to drive this further over time.
Water conservation We aim to design for and operate with water efficiency. We collect rain-water for our swimming pool, washing concourses and toilets. We have 60,000 litre tanks collecting rainwater which is stored for watering our hockey turf and lawns.  New buildings are designed with water conservation in mind, housing grey water tanks underground to support our school.
Travel and Traffic We encourage sustainable travel and provide facilities for healthier, less polluting modes of transport. Over 500 students travel to and from school via bus and we have established Dio bus services to support this (9 private buses and 7 AT buses) We also have 3 walking buses and encourage cycling and scootering where possible.
Energy conservation We aim to design for and operate with energy efficiency, using renewable energies and energy conservation strategies. We use solar power for our aquatic centre, and all lights are being replaced with power-saving LED alternatives.
Buildings and Grounds Our grounds bring students closer to the natural world, capture their imaginations through the outdoors, and help them learn about environmentally friendly practices. Our junior school playground is a great example of sustainable development.
Measuring our impact We ran a large waste audit in 2023 which gave us huge insight into what we send to landfill and what could have been recycled. We have set goals around limiting the amount we send to landfill and we measure our progress each month . We will run another waste audit in 2024 to assess the impact of our waste reduction initiatives
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