Rocky Mountain High School, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
In the United States, over 100 million plastic utensils are used and tossed every day and can take up to 1,000 years to fully decompose. If these plastic utensils get into the Cache La Poudre, they can break down into microplastics that can harm the organisms who consume them. This can result in an imbalance in the ecosystem, such as an overproduction of algae or other organisms, that can then affect the overall water quality of our watershed. To combat this issue, Rylan Nicholson from Rocky Mountain High School decided to donate biodegradable utensils to the Fort Collins Rescue Mission organization. The utensils were handed out with the meals in place of the nondegradable, plastic utensils. This solution addressed Targets 6.3 and 14.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals and will ensure that less non-recyclable utensils will find its way into our watershed and improve the water quality overall.
