In researching her Caring for our Watersheds project, Katelyn discovered a starting fact about her school’s use of dry erase whiteboard markers; “My school goes through approximately 1570 markers within a 10 month period.” That’s 1570 markers going in the trash each year. Given that these markers “are plastic, toxic, and non-recyclable” Katelyn saw the need to make a change to “prevent and lower the amount of chemicals making their way into the Lake Winnipeg watershed.”
Katelyn proposed reusable, refillable, nontoxic ink markers by AusPen. Switching to these pens will support “eliminating piles of unneeded plastics and toxins from our landfills to create a healthier watershed.” Katelyn also discovered that this is a more cost-friendly option, too, with potential savings of 55%! Thanks to contribution from Caring for our Watersheds, Katelyn was able to purchase these markers for her school with the hope that this plan will travel across her school division.
This project was selected as the international implementation idea for 2017.