Vision

We identified a need to reduce single-use paper and plastics used by students who need to drink water during their school day. We envisioned providing water vessels to students as needed while also bringing awareness to climate action.

Action

For our climate action project, Perth and District Collegiate Institute bought reusable water bottles to hand out at the office instead of the single-use styrofoam cups we have used since the water fountains were turned off.

The first step in completing this project was creating the design to go on the water bottle, an altered Blue Devils logo with the theme of climate action. The next step was finding a company to produce and/or print the water bottles. A local company was our first choice; therefore, we consulted a local company that has produced many custom items for PDCI many times. However, we switched to an alternative company that was a bit further afar that would maximize our quantity to allow the most students to benefit from the project.

We bought 210 water bottles using the grant given to the school by the Climate Action Program. Not only does this project help keep single-use plastics and paper waste out of our local landfills, but it also raises awareness of climate action. By doing small acts such as using reusable items, we can reduce the waste that we produce and help our planet.

Reflection & Celebration

Although we had a long shipping delay due to a missing package, we have been happy to start the process of giving water bottles to students at the office as needed to refill at our many stations located throughout the school. Since COVID, all of the drinking fountains have been turned off and only have bottle refill capabilities. By allowing any student access to a reusable bottle, we are also creating equal access to resources that some may not have. It has been a great success, and all bottles are being labelled as handed out. As well, the label on the bottle has started conversations around consumables and waste in our daily lives. Our goal is to get enough reusable bottles for all of our student body, but this was a great start and has been well received.