Vision

We are a group of students (grades 3-5) from around the globe who want to reduce our environmental impact through school-wide composting, student and staff education on waste management and community engagement.

With grant money, our plan is to do the following:
-Purchase the paper compost bags necessary to enhance teacher buy-in (staff do not support a “no bag” system)
-Provide bi-annual student workshops on waste reduction and responsible disposal (beginning of the year and mid-year refreshers)
-Provide bi-annual teacher/support staff workshops so that the adults can be more knowledgeable and invested in the success of the programme (this is key and we have not had enough funding to do this in the past)
-Take our Wastenot Warriors on trips to local waste, compost and recycling facilities

Action

Westmount Park Elementary is a large, English-core public school that serves a very diverse community. We started a composting program four years ago with only minimal staff buy-in. Since then, our project has expanded dramatically with the formation of the Wastenot Warriors compost club. We have students in Grades 3-5 who collect compost bi-weekly, as well as parent volunteers who rinse dirty bins, wash dirty cutlery and oversee triage. In addition, we have hired ENUF (https://enufcanada.ca/) for two years in a row to do waste audits and to provide student workshops on sorting waste responsibly. We are at the point where most classrooms compost and use reusable utensils, though there is definitely room for improvement. Our goal is to get the whole school involved and for our garbages to be empty of biodegradable waste. We would also like to go on group trips to our local waste/recycling centres. Due to budget cuts, we did not receive any school board funding this year to continue our project for the 2025-2026 school year. In order to reach our goal, we need to continue purchasing paper compost bags, provide age-appropriate, up-to-date workshops for our staff and students and have educational field trips.

Reflection & Celebration

At the end of the 2023-2024 school year, we held an outdoor lunch event in our school garden where we honoured our Wastenot Warriors. We set up an ice cream sundae station as a token of our appreciation for their hard work and dedication. These students had given up recess time all year long to help keep our compost programme running. The students also received certificates and our parent volunteers were gifted items designed by one of our Sustainability Committee members. It was special to be able to celebrate in the garden, as many of the same kids help with its maintenance. A lovely time was had by all!

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