Vision

Students recognized that responsible consumption and production are important for the future. The single-use plastic bags and other single-use food packaging results in a large percentage of the waste accumulated within our school. Students wanted to reduce the amount of single-use plastic bags within the school by providing all students in the grade 9 class with a reusable and dishwasher safe plastic bag. Students also recognized that purchasing reusable bags is a bigger investment upfront and many low-income families are unable to pay the upfront costs. All the ideas centered on climate action. By focusing their attention on reducing waste, more items would not need to be produced, and a reduction in carbon emissions would be possible.

Action

Students counted the school’s garbage four days in the week prior to giving out the reusable plastic bags. While counting single-use plastic food packaging items in the garbage, they also sorted recyclables, redeemables, and compost. The goal was to provide all grade 9 students with the bags but with strategic shopping, 418 bags were given to students and staff that wanted them.

After the bags were given out, the students counted the school’s garbage again for four days after giving out the bags, again four weeks later, and finally again 8 weeks after the bags were given out, each for four days’ worth of garbage. (We did not count the garbage from the bathrooms) Students then examined their data to see if the experiment was successful.

Reflection & Celebration

The students did not enjoy the action of sorting garbage but they recognized the importance of sorting waste appropriately and gained a great deal of knowledge on exactly what is recyclable, compostable, and waste. Students were surprised by many items not being recyclable at our local facility. The bags that were given to the school population have been holding up well and students are still seen with the brightly coloured bags. Overall, the experiment brought great discussions between classmates and a greater understanding of the little steps that can be taken to attain a huge impact on climate action and how responsible consumption is everyone’s responsibility. There was a reduction in the number of single-use food packaging items from the baseline week to week 1, week 4, and week 8. We considered the experiment a success! Although there was a greater reduction within the first week after baseline, students recognized that there were many variables effecting the results.