2014 Gimli, Manitoba, Canada
Students at Gimli High School have taken an environmental interest in their school cafeteria. They’ve monitored the amount of waste produced by their cafeteria and decided they wanted to look for better options to reduce that waste. Carly, Tristin, and Hayden proposed testing compostable and paper plates to see if they would hold up in their cafeteria and if they will break down in their school’s compost bins. Once their testing is complete, they plan to work with the school to see what kind of changes can be made to make their cafeteria greener.
“The materials that these various plates, cups, and cutlery are currently made of will either never decompose, or will sit in our landfills for a minimum of 50-80 years. According to environmentalhealthnews.org, plastic in landfills can leach harmful chemicals that spread into groundwater. This means that not only are we littering our earth and filling our landfills, but we are infecting our groundwater, drinking water quality, and eventually our beautiful Lake Winnipeg.”
With a donation from Nutrien, the trio was able to purchase various brands and types of plates to experiment with. This is a great first step in their journey to a greener cafeteria!