A pilot project that focuses on zero waste in secondary and elementary schools has received a little extra time and money.
Three schools from School District 69 (Qualicum) and six from School District 68 (Nanaimo-Ladysmith) were involved in the project, part of the Regional District of Nanaimo’s solid waste management plan to achieve 90 per cent waste diversion from its landfill.
Through its plan, the RDN allocated $70,000 to the initiative that aims to educate staff and students as well as come up with action plans to reduce the amount of waste coming from schools. The funding was to be used for teacher inquiry focus sessions, teacher collaboration time, resources, student leadership opportunities and field trips.
The school project started in January this year and was scheduled to end this June. But it was disrupted when schools were forced to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NLPS requested the RDN extend the project over the 2020-2021 school year, for an additional $10,000.
READ MORE: Regional District of Nanaimo’s waste diversion plan endorsed by province
Learning co-ordinator, environmental stewardship, Shelly Gvojich, who heads the project, said even with schools re-opening, there’s not enough to time to complete the initiative and achieve its intended objectives.
Ballenas Secondary, Arrowview and Errington Elementary schools in School District 69 and their SD68 counterparts conducted a waste audit in the first three months. Some schools were on the verge of creating detailed plans that include:
• Teaching students about creating less waste by teaching them how to create reusable products. For example, purchasing sewing machines and supplies for making beeswax wraps;
• Purchasing a school set of plates and cutlery so that less single-use plastic or compostable cutlery would be required;
• Find ways to sort the materials that were coming to the school in a more efficient way and remove all garbage cans from all classrooms;
• Release staff to go around to classrooms to teach students about source separation and how wasteful unnecessary packaging is;
• Provide lunch passes to students willing to take week-long shifts to sit at the source separation bins and monitor students as they put away the remnants of their lunch (to ensure that source separation is occurring properly).
Gvojich indicated that extending the project would allow participating schools to complete their identified inquiry plan and report on them at the end of June 2021.
There is $63,314 left in the project’s funding, which Gvojich said was intended to be used for the initiatives schools came up with after the spring break last March.
The RDN’s solid waste management select committee agreed to extend the project and the request for the $10,000. It will next be presented to RDN board for final approval.