Vision

Our vision is that all students and staff rethink and refuse purchases that are packaged in single use plastics. If that is not possible, we envirion a school where all students and staff reuse and repurpose waste, if possible, they compost everything that can rot and after all of that, they recycle anything that is recyclable and put all waste in the correct bins around the school.

Action

We conducted a waste audit of our school and calculated how much compost, recyclables and redeemables are placed in the garbage, instead of in the compost and recycling bins. After that, we contracted someone to build us three waste stations and installed them around the school, clearly labeling them so students and staff know where things should go. Then, the Environmental Science students created a presentation (one in French and one in English) explaining to students and staff how to use the waste stations properly. All teachers in the school showed the presentation to their period 1 classes. We currently have ordered three more waste stations and we will be installing them next week. We are also going to paint them (blue for recycling and green for compost) and make signs so students know what goes where.

Reflection & Celebration

So far, we are really pleased with the feedback we have received for the waste stations. Once in a while, we find things that don’t belong in a bin, but we feel that over time, we will see fewer and fewer items in the wrong container. Also, since we have started using these waste stations, we have made $55.00 for the redeemables we have collected and that money is going toward our greenhouse and other environmental projects around the school.

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