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School Waste Reduction

Vision

Our vision is to create a school environment with as little waste as possible. We have implemented composting programs in the past and are now aiming to reduce waste in our school canteen. We hope to provide students with meals from our school canteen that are healthy and waste-free in order to inspire students and families to reduce waste in their own households and in turn do our part in minimizing negative environmental impact.

Action

In order to reduce the waste created by the canteen we purchased plates and cups to be used for meals sold in the canteen to students and staff. Cutlery was also purchased at the local MCC and donated by families to eliminate the use of plastic cutlery. Our UNESCO team worked with staff and our school’s canteen cook to decide on what was needed and how the biggest impact could be made. Students from the UNESCO team have researched and presented to classes in the school on the importance of reducing waste in our lunches and how to do so. A “Litter-less Lunch” day was implemented and prizes for participation were reusable lunch containers (cloth bags donated by a local maker “Playful Peanut”. The UNESCO team also purchased metal and silicone straws to sell to students. Straws were sold during parent-teacher evenings and at the school canteen. This has eliminated the sale of plastic straws in the school. The UNESCO team has also worked on making beeswax wraps for use in the canteen and for their own use. We will continue to work on completing these wraps to offer for sale in the school.

Reflection & Celebration

This project has not only educated the UNESCO team, but also led to sharing that knowledge with all ages of students in our K-12 school. Students are more aware of reducing the waste in their lunches on a daily basis which will hopefully transfer over to their individual homes. Our school canteen is close to eliminating the use of all single-use plastics! We continue to look for other ways to reduce waste in our school and to educate students on how those practices can become a part of their lives daily.

11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
12. Responsible Consumption and Production
13. Climate Action
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