Sustainability at Sylvia Park

How Sustainability Matters at Sylvia Park with Outside In

Thanks to a strong vision and a passion to give back to our community, we have created a meaningful, measurable and long-term sustainability programme, partnering with Outside In who have helped guide us on this journey.

A once unused space to the rear of Sylvia Park is now a flourishing community garden. It’s used as a teaching tool for children from the local Sylvia Park School. Outside In horticulturists lead weekly gardening lessons to help the children grow seasonal vegetables.

While they’re learning about nature, they’re also having a whole lot of fun. Their teachers report higher school attendance on days spent in the garden. A pocket orchard of fruit trees will soon be planted around the space, adding to the ecological and social benefits.

We have also established an extensive on-site composting scheme. This turns much of the food waste from food tenancies into compost. A great compost needs green waste – and that comes from Outside In horticulturalists, who maintain the beautiful interior and exterior greenery that flow throughout the expansive grounds.

In just two years, we’ve composted over 9 tonnes of food waste, 2 tonnes of green waste, more than 500kgs of coffee grinds and harvested 12m³ of premium compost. We use this to nourish the soil around the retail centre, and the community garden, reducing fertiliser needs. On top of that, we also capture and filter rainwater from the upper carpark.

It’s a comprehensive and fully circular scheme that’s achieving change – and helping build the gardeners of tomorrow.

About Outside In

Outside In began with a simple desire to bring nature indoors.

Their vision is to weave plants through the urban environment, regenerating spaces and rejuvenating the people who inhabit them. They know plants make people feel better, work better and perform better.

By using clever design and a curated palette of plants Outside In bring spaces to life. The result transforms workplaces, boosts business, and enhances people's lives. They're committed to continually improving life by unifying nature and design.

About Sylvia Park School

Great schools are the result of a wide range of people over a long period of time. Sylvia Park School continues to be extremely fortunate in having a dedicated and highly skilled staff, a committed Board of Trustees and a very supportive group of parents who have helped to develop the positive learning environment for tamariki.

Sylvia Park School strives to provide learners with the very best opportunities and innovative programmes and resources to support their learning. They want their learners to find their passion, experience success and know who they are and where they belong. Sylvia Park School is recognised as being forward thinking and offers a digitally enriched learning environment with a strong emphasis on student wide inquiry.