Composting for a Cause

2021, West Kildonan Collegiate, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Woman and man posing in front of door smiling

Have you ever thought about how much food waste is produced by restaurants? Nicholas from West Kildonan Collegiate in Winnipeg, MB came up with an idea to get more restaurants to compost some of their waste to divert it from the landfill and have it turn into something useful! He partnered with a local company called Compost Winnipeg, and they were able to fund restaurants subscriptions with this composting company for a couple of months to get them started in hopes that they would continue recycling afterwards. They also held a successful community recycling event to educate local members of the community on the benefits of compost at home!

“As a community it is our obligation and responsibility to take care of our Watershed so our future descendants, and wildlife alike have a safe, healthy, and nurturing place to enjoy and to depend on for generations. My proposal works to reduce the amount of food waste produced by restaurants in our community, and to divert their food waste away from landfills.”

Man and woman posing in front of composting truck

Roughage Eatery logo
Compost Winnipeg logo
Wall Street Slice logo

It’s Bloody Brilliant!

2020, Warren, MB, CANADA
brilliant ways to improve watershed
Hannah Friesen from Warren, MB decided to tackle the issue of the impact that disposable menstrual products are having on our environment. How could she get people to change the products they use? It’s difficult to sway people from what they are used to, so she came up with the idea to add environmentally friendly period products into her school’s Health program. Cloth pads, leak-proof underwear, biodegradable tampons, and menstrual cups were added to a kit that teachers can use to educate their students on these eco-friendly options before they get used to the more harmful disposable ones.

“I want people to know that there are other options that would help our environment and keep our watershed and landfills free of the pollution from these products.”

Suck It Up, Sip Sensibly!

2020, Winnipeg, MB, CANADA
Sip
Tess from West Kildonan Collegiate in Winnipeg, MB was so passionate about reducing the use of plastic straws in our environment, that she distributed 1000 reusable straws to her classmates! She created educational presentations to deliver to classes at her school about negative effects of plastic straws, and had students post on social media with their new metal straws.

“Our entire planet is suffering, and it is time to stand up and do something about it. You can make a difference, you can be the change, you can use a metal straw.”

RUB-A-DUB-DUB PHOSPHATE FREE SOAP

2020, EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA

When a pair of middle-school students from Edmonton, Alberta learned about the troubles with water quality facing their local watershed, they knew now was the time to take charge. Anny Singh & Chrisle Petierre thoughtfully researched what steps they could take to help improve water quality, and stumbled upon some facts about the impacts of soap and detergents on water quality that just didn’t sit right with them.

After some research, Anny and Chrisle learned about alternative car washes that use phosphate free soaps to reduce their impact, and wondered how they could do the same. Instead of a car wash soap, the pair has opted to partner with Lakehouse Natural Soap Company to create a hand soap free of phosphates. Their project, titled Rub-a-Dub-Dub, took a unique and innovative approach to a challenging water quality problem.

In order to reduce the amount of phosphates entering the watershed the pair set out to create a product with a passionate message. Not only do these phosphate-free, locally made soaps smell and look great, but they are a great reminder to be mindful of what goes down the drain every time you suds up! This idea came at just the right time, when because of COVID-19 every one was washing their hands more often, this project got people thinking about what they could do to keep their wastewater clean and improve their watershed.

Reusable Containers

2019, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Ava and Allynah are students at École Leila North Community School in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They wanted to reduce the amount of disposable plastics ending up in our watershed, so they came up with a plan to distribute reusable sandwich containers to students at their school.

“Many people throw items away not thinking of the damage it can lead to. Because of that, there is more pollution and it is not only harming us, but animals as well. If you look around, you will always see garbage on the ground, no matter where you are.”

They did presentations to each class to educate their fellow students while handing out the containers. The school’s canteen partnered with the girls to help promote the use of their containers and to offer a discount on drinks if students brought their own bottles to fill.

Building a Compost Bench

2019, Sacramento, California, USA

As a student at The MET Sacramento High School, Shamar Russell spends part of his week at an internship in the community. Shamar interns at the Creative Connections Arts Academy (CCAA), where two needs he saw in the garden area sparked an idea for his Caring for Our Watersheds project.

Shamar wanted to teach the children of CCAA about composting, but there was not a good space to build a 3-section compost bin. There was also a need for seating for a teaching space in the garden area.

compost bench

Shamar decided on a project that would fulfill both needs: a compost bench! While the bench has a smaller capacity for composting garden waste, it still can be used as a focal point to teach about composting to the students. It also serves as a place where students can sit for a lesson in the garden or where students and teachers can rest after planting, weeding, or harvesting.

The current design allows for a potential worm bin, or the bottom can be removed if ground contact is desired for more traditional composting. Signage will be included to point out this unique new feature of the garden space at CCAA. Caring for Our Watersheds funding helped Shamar purchase lumber and hardware to build the bench.

Vermicomposting

2019, Sacramento, California, USA

Kevin Alvarez-Vazquez, a student at the MET Sacramento, was concerned about the amount of food waste from his school that ends up in landfills. Food waste that decomposes in landfills releases methane, a greenhouse gas that is more potent than carbon dioxide. Kevin knew that traditional outdoor composting can convert food waste into nutrient rich soil, but he wanted to demonstrate an alternative that can be done indoors or outdoors, vermicomposting.

Kevin built a worm bin with special adjustments for indoor use, as he did not want extremities of weather to cause worms to die and needed maintenance to be an easy, regular part of the school day.

Kevin plans to educate advisory groups at his school and to create a flyer, with a “how to” diagram and materials list on one side and information about the benefits of vermicomposting on the other. Caring for Our Watersheds funding helped purchase materials and worms for the bin.

Engaging Students in Recycling Through Art

2019, Sacramento, California, USA

When MET Sacramento student Naam-Thaan (Angel) Ketphanh noticed that trash cans in each of her classes were filled with both trash and many recyclable items such as plastic bottles and aluminum cans, she realized her school did not have an effective recycling program. Angel was determined to make a change and came up with a plan to improve recycling at school.

Angel first purchased blue recycling bins for each advisory classroom. Knowing that just placing the bin in class would not necessarily increase awareness and improve recycling habits, Angel decided to engage students with an art contest. Students from each advisory would decorate bins using colored sharpie pens and the winning advisory would get a pizza party. Her contest would bring awareness to the new bins and Angel could encourage use through reminding students what they could and should recycle. Angel also plans on collecting money for the recyclable items at a recycling center, which would supplement advisory budgets for special student events.

Water Filtration on Campus

2019, Sacramento, California, USA

Alayne Voss and Rachel Lipetti, students at George Washington Carver School of Arts and Sciences, were concerned about the amount of plastic waste on campus, especially that of single- use plastic water bottles. Their original proposal called for a hydration station to be installed in the lobby by the office at school.

When they were unable to get approval from the district for that location, they proposed a new plan so students could have access to filtered water to fill their reusable water bottles. Alayne and Rachel installed filters on faucets in each of the science classes at school, which are equipped with sinks. Even though they hit a roadblock with their original plan, during the implementation of their project, they realized that having several locations would actually serve the student body better. Funding from Caring for Our Watersheds helped to purchase the filtration systems and replacement filters for the units

Reducing Plastic Waste at School

2019, Sacramento, California, USA

Rachel Freidberg and Barcelona Boyd, students of George Washington Carver High School, knew they wanted to focus on reducing single-use plastic waste for their Caring for Our Watersheds project. Besides the ubiquitous plastic water bottles, another source of plastic waste was coming from the school cafeteria: the spork packet. When looking closer at spork packet use, they found that many of students that took a spork packet did so only because they needed the napkin inside! Thus, there was plastic waste created without it even being used! They knew there was a better way.

Rachel and Barcelona wanted to replace the plastic utensils with reusable silverware and make separate napkins available to students. A main challenge to their proposed project was the fact that the school did not have a dishwasher to sanitize the silverware. However, they did not let this stop them! They developed a pilot project, using Dept. of Health standards and guidelines and rotating student volunteers to wash and sanitize the silverware generated at lunchtime at their relatively small school. Rachel and Barcelona’s well-planned project and their persistence in making a difference even within the limits of school’s infrastructure and equipment helped them take fifth in the Caring for Our Watersheds Finals.