Meet Environment Network Manawatū's volunteer intern Laurin Benedict

Environment Network Manawatū volunteer intern Laurin Benedict.

A realisation holistic development cannot be achieved by a singular view brought Laurin Benedict to Environment Network Manawatū (ENM).

Benedict is the organisation’s volunteer intern for the next three months.

She arrived in Palmerston North from India about a year ago to pursue a Master of Sustainable Development Goals at Massey University.

Benedict has an undergraduate degree in science majoring in chemistry, botany and zoology.

After spending her life in Bangalore, a big and crowded IT-focused city, moving to Palmy was an interesting change.

She loves being closer to nature and being able to see constellations in the sky from her bedroom window.

As she studies, Benedict is coming to understand “there is an utmost need for holistic thinking where a combination of scientific thinking, social awareness and community approach is needed to bring about sustainable development and global conservation rather than a singular view approach to development problems of our day and age”.

She chose to do her internship at ENM because of its goals and objectives of combining community actions and science towards social and environmental conversation and development.

Her primary focus is the Plastic Pollution Challenge. The challenge seeks to understand the scale of plastic pollution going into the Manawatū River via our urban streams and to use this knowledge to improve the health of our waterways.

Benedict is also helping to streamline recycling systems so they are easier for the public to engage in. ENM is now recycling wine bottle caps and plastic number 2 lids, which cannot be put in the council recycling bin.

Benedict says volunteering is a fabulous opportunity to increase community bonds and social interactions towards bettering the community and its environment.

To find out about Plastic Pollution Challenge events visit enm.org.nz.