Local Produce: Te Oraka – The Good Space

Posted 10:51pm Sunday 13th April 2025 by Jonathan McCabe

Run by the University’s Sustainability Office, Te Oraka is so much more than a thrift shop. Their kaupapa is to make sustainability accessible to everyone through a series of events and initiatives. Jesikah Triscott, their Kaitakawaenga (Engagement Team Lead) told Critic Te Ārohi about Te Read more...

Sustainability Office: Tetra Pak Recycling and Prizes for Sticking Around for the Mid-Sem

Posted 11:56pm Sunday 13th April 2025 by Hanna Varrs

The nature-loving students at the helm of the University of Otago’s Sustainability Office have announced a range of projects to keep campus clean and green. Critic Te Ārohi sat down with tētēkura (student leads) for a fantastic yap about waste management (subverting the rubbish Read more...

University Targets Students in Push for ‘Net Carbon Zero’ Goal

Posted 7:55pm Sunday 5th May 2024 by Hugh Askerud

Otago University’s Sustainability Office is extending an invite to students for support and feedback as it drives towards ‘Net Carbon Zero’ by 2030. The office is looking to expand its efforts through several engagement sessions with students that aim to reflexively inform and Read more...

Live Laugh Lettuce

Posted 2:11pm Sunday 19th March 2023 by

Dunedin students have long copped a bad rep when it comes to sustainability. Google “Otago Uni student culture” and you’ll see images of crappy $2 store costume-clad Hyde Street Party goers, couch burnings, and streets littered with broken glass. These depictions don’t Read more...

Pollinator Workshop at Te Oraka

Posted 1:41pm Saturday 24th September 2022 by Zak Rudin

Last Saturday, Animal Aquatic Plant Ecological Society (AAPES) and Slow Food Youth Otago (SFYO) joined forces to host a pollinator workshop at Te Oraka. The workshop had it all: “pollinator activities, groovy tunes and yummy snacks”. What even are “pollinator activities,” Read more...

Local Produce | Te Oraka: Student-run Thrift Store

Posted 2:20pm Sunday 8th May 2022 by Nina Brown

The old Unipol weights room on Anzac Ave has been transformed into a sustainability hub for students by the Sustainability Office and their team of tetekura (student leaders), including Maddy, Lizzy, Gerry, Annabelle, John and Jesikah (office team lead). Already open Tuesdays and Thursdays 11-1pm, Read more...

Food Sci 4th Years Fight Food Waste

Posted 2:16pm Sunday 24th April 2022 by Fox Meyer

A group of Food Science 4th year students have designed a food box - like Hello Fresh - based entirely around NZ’s most commonly-tossed consumables. They plan to use local foodie social media accounts to promote their sustainable selection of goodies. “One of our main messages is that Read more...

New Club Wants To “Make Composting Sexy Again”

Posted 5:45pm Friday 1st April 2022 by Denzel Chung

A new club at Otago Uni wants to raise awareness about how food choices can make a big difference to our planet and our pockets. Their priorities include encouraging students to forage, compost, and stop throwing out so much food.  According to their blurb, Slow Food Youth Otago (SFYO) is a Read more...

The Art of Opshopping: How to buy less and buy better

Posted 1:43pm Monday 16th August 2021 by Molly Willis

Why buy new? was the motto in our house when I was growing up.  Whether it was inheriting my cousin’s old pair of ski pants, a bag of clothing from that lady at mum’s work’s eldest daughter, or Sunday shopping for vintage homeware at the Crow’s Nest (the best junk shop Read more...

The Cycle of Agua: How to recycle your cooking water and save the planet

Posted 5:07pm Sunday 28th March 2021 by Susana Jones

Water. Everyone’s favourite health food. We know and love it, and most of us should probably be drinking more of it. Sure, 70% of the Earth is covered in water, and with global warming being today’s hottest topic, sometimes it seems like we are being engulfed by water. But that drip-drip Read more...