Students at St. Clement Catholic School are learning from an early age the importance of going “green” with this week’s Waste-Free Lunch Challenge.
Part of a province-wide initiative through the Recycling Council of Ontario, students were encouraged to use reusable containers and recycle items like milk and juice boxes from Oct. 19-23.
The Eco Club at the school conducted a lunch waste audit last Thursday, sorting it into garbage, recyclables, and compost before weighing the three categories. They had 0.6 kg of garbage, 0.6 kg of recyclables, and 1.2 kg of compost.
They’ll compare those numbers to their second waste audit being done this Thursday.
Lisa Gheorghe, one of the Eco Club organizers, said their goal for this Thursday is to see no garbage, indicating that all students packed a waste-free lunch with reusable containers and snacks with their own biodegradable packaging, like fruits and vegetables.
“Our ultimate goal is to become a school that engages in waste-free or boomerang lunches as part of our standard everyday practice in an effort to reduce the amount of garbage in the landfill. This would include a continued focus on our composting and recycling programs. Our hope is to develop mindful students who recognize the importance of separating their waste appropriately before it ends up in the landfill,” Gheorghe said.
She said since they started their composting program they noticed compost has become their heaviest amount of waste, a welcome change from when garbage was the largest waste source at the school.
![St. Clement Catholic School students joined together this week for the Waste-Free Lunch Challenge, aiming to reduce their waste by bringing lunch in reusable containers and snacks like fruit that don’t require plastic wrappers.[Submitted]](https://www.observerxtra.com/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/post_news_lunches.jpg)
“Students in the Eco Club are really the leaders of it and they’re very aware of how much waste there is in the school. They brainstorm ways we can reduce it and ways we can promote it. So they lead the school in doing these initiatives and seeing them through. It’s one of the Eco School events they’ve chosen to do,” Gheorghe said.
Some of the other eco events they do are the composting program, ECO Swap!, Seed Planting Party, Lights off Lunch Week, Hour without Power, and Walk to School Day.
The students have been receptive to the idea since they started promoting it a few years ago. She says the majority of students bring waste-free lunch for the week and some continue the whole way through the school year.
Throughout the week students will be updated on how much waste they’ve cut down. Students who bring waste-free lunches have their pictures taken and are recognized for their efforts.
“It’s important because they can really be leaders in terms of bringing that information back to their family and encouraging their families to make green choices at home, as well as being the next generation they can continue to make those choices themselves,” Gheorghe said.
