Hazelwood West High School 2017-18 Green Schools Quest

March 11, 2018

The way that waste, or what is perceived to be waste, is handled at our schools is wholly unsustainable and shows little respect for the environment. There are over 2,000 students at our school; consequently, a lot of food is prepared and discarded each day. This preparation and circular discarding is expensive in regard to economic and environmental costs for the school and within the community. The project that we, BEE club, are proposing is a school-wide composting initiative. The compost initiative will reduce preventable food waste, lessen the economic strain upon our school with regard to purchasing fresh produce, and stimulate a more complete awareness of the impacts of our actions (as humans) upon the environment. As BEE club, we will make publications (posters, digital fliers, etc) spreading awareness of the environmental disturbances (such as emission of greenhouse gases, the energy lost to food production) and the ways that we can be more conscious consumers, etc in addition to holding assemblies to present the project, teach students how to sort food waste into different bins, and update them of our progress. BEE club will be in charge of composting the material, which will then be used in the garden that we are in the process of planting in our outdoor classroom. The food grown in the garden will be used for snacks at school clubs and/or as fresh fruits and vegetable made available to students at lunch, which will allow them to see the beauty that resulted from their mindfulness.

Intended impact of project

Reduced environmental impact
Increased environmental & sustainability literacy