Vision

It is our vision that Bathurst High School is aware of all waste that we produce in our building and that we ensure that as much of this waste as possible is diverted from our local landfill site.

Action

At Bathurst High school, many students buy lunch and snacks from the cafeteria to fill their stomachs; baked goods like cookies and cinnamon rolls are some of these common snacks. Previously, both treats were wrapped in one square foot of plastic wrap and around 10 of each are sold per day (which equates to 100 square feet of single use, plastic waste per week). As a collective, our environmental club decided that we would try to minimize the single use plastic waste with new paper packaging. With the help of our cafeteria staff and our digital arts teacher, we were able to package these items in paper bags sealed with a new logo. This logo was also a great way to advertise our club and our initiatives. The new paper packaging is less expensive than the plastic wrap and is more environmentally friendly.

Reflection & Celebration

We were surprised by the amount of positive feedback from staff and students; students were even asking if the baked treats were different recipes because they “tasted” better! The new appearance made the products more profitable and helped the school minimize plastic waste. We even noticed that students were re-using the paper sticker with our logo for other uses! We were all surprised by the impact of such a small action. Following this change and a school-wide community clean-up event on May 12th, we were able to celebrate all our efforts with a beautiful cake with our new logo on it!

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