“Speech is power. Speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

You know that sweaty, nervous feeling you get before you have to speak in front of the class? Well, two MPS students took that feeling to the next level having won their team competitions and going up against students from other Bays Cluster schools. Presenting to an audience of students, siblings, parents and teachers, Isla J (T@TT) and Lucy S (TRS) presented their speeches with enthusiasm and commitment. Both speeches had a sustainability focus and the girls passionately shared their research and thoughts on deforestation and our unquenchable use of palm oil.

Congratulations to Lucy who won the Year 5/6 division!

Check out a portion of their speeches here.

Excerpt from Isla's speech:

Dove soap, Ritz crackers, Cadbury chocolate… These items are destroyers. According to the World Wildlife Fund, every hour 300 football fields worth of lush forests are crashing to the ground to make way for palm oil plantations. Last year, NZ had the largest ever importation of palm kernel. And right now, there are 23,000 tonnes of dodgy palm kernel sitting in Tauranga Harbour. I have a dream, a dream where palm oil doesn't rule the supermarket shelves, animals are safe in their forests and we make ethical choices about the products we buy.

Excerpt from Lucy's speech:

Picture the beautiful Indonesian rainforests and then 840,000 hectares of trees per year slashed to the ground. Indonesian rainforests are at risk. The orangutan suffers from deforestation and it’s because of our love of chocolate and other manufactured foods containing palm oil. Every day fires are purposely set in rainforests and orangutans die or are severely burned. Some suffer from fatal chest diseases and babies suffering from dehydration and have problems breathing because of the polluted air. Worst of all Indonesia is supposedly the largest wild orangutan population.
And we’re killing them off.