Waiheke Sustainability Centre
Open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. Bookable spaces for community groups and private hire.
Welcome to the Sustainability Centre
Waiheke Resources Trust opened the Waiheke Sustainability Centre in July 2016. It is a hub for the many community groups working to build community capacity and protect and restore our natural environment. It is a space to collaborate, for the community to access information and for all community groups to hold workshops and events.
Where to find us
We will be on Waiheke’s most popular beaches! Keep an eye out for the flags when your there.
When we’re there
This project runs during January through to Waitangi Day.
What we do
Encouraging beach goers into sustainable behaviours by supporting a “pack-in, pack out” approach to their visits through organised beach cleans, talks and other fun activities.
Keep Up with Us
The Beach Ambassadors socials come back to life every summer, so make sure you’re following the WRT Facebook page and the special TikTok (@beachambassadors_waiheke) just for this project. Amusing stories, information on how to keep our beaches clean, and more!
Ambassadors
Related resources
About us
We work to celebrate and protect all the resources we have, and build capacity and knowledge in the community toward the creation of a resource-full future for all.
WRT Projects
Find out more about our environmental and social projects on Waiheke Island; from food rescue to wetland restoration.
Sustainability Centre
Waiheke Resources Trust is based at the Sustainability Centre, which is a hub of activity in support of our projects.
Our Solar Journey
How we did it
WRT’s solar journey started with a French electrical engineering intern Solene who did a study of our energy use and recommended we ‘go solar’. At WRT we know how to party so we turned our Chairman’s birthday into an international event with scripted videos, a live stream, fabulous food, music and a very special brew. Great volunteers, generous friends and our partners at Clean Stream Waiheke Ltd partied hearty and together we raised enough for a solar system. A total of $5,000 was raised which Clean Stream Waiheke Ltd matched, giving a grand total of $10,000 to go towards funding solar panels.
What Next
We do not yet produce enough to cover everything for our busy days, such as Kai Conscious Café, or when people use the centre in the evenings or on weekends. But we can work towards this by raising the funds to complete the next two phases of our solar power journey.
Phase 2:
We are now looking to invest in an expansion with another row of panels, allowing the centre to be off-grid and completely self-sufficient, reducing our impact on the environment through energy savings.
Phase 3:
We will then be investing in a battery so that surplus energy generated can be stored and used on cloudy days or in the evenings, when the panels will be generating little or no power.
Once we have these essentials, we will look to install e-bike and car charging points, to help encourage and support the use of electric transport on Waiheke. If you would like to help us with these goals, get in touch.