Small Personal Actions Create Big Shifts
The Eco-School Network had completed a Waste Fellowship, funded by Metro, that reduced waste in 49 elementary schools in four districts: Portland, Beaverton, West Linn and Clackamas. Fellows recorded an average reduction of 54% per school in weight of landfilled cafeteria waste, with two schools reporting a reduction of over 90%. At least 315,973 gallons of waste were diverted from landfills (or 72 school buses full of waste) through prevention, reuse, and recycling. Here are some of the results:
• 15 schools began cafeteria food waste separation, reducing landfilled waste by 127,075 lbs. this year
• 18 schools replaced disposable utensils with metal avoiding 734,230 plastic forks/spoons.
• 17 schools launched durable party packs or low-waste events, reducing landfilled waste by 9,152 gallons. Emerson School's auction created one handful of landfilled trash.
• 8 swaps were held for clothing, shoes, books, bikes, and costumes. Bridlemile swapped 7,500 books!
• 12 schools hosted non-curbside recycling programs (home appliances, batteries, car seats, playpens, holiday lights, lightbulbs, Styrofoam, dental hygiene products, cosmetics, Brita filters, chip bags, and wrappers). Eight schools recycled 4,221 lbs of plastic bags/film.
A sample of the article written to express the measured results in story form follows. Parents and volunteers were interviewed for the article and recent grant award report was provided as well.
It was published in the Green Living Journal summer 2020.
*** Across Portland thousands of elementary school kids pile into large cafeterias at lunch time filling the space with their boisterous appetites. They’ll sit long enough to scarf their favorite bits and rush from their seats dumping milk cartons, plastic utensils, lunch trays and leftovers in the trash bins unaware of the massive contribution food waste is making in the landfills.
Parents have offered their time rising to the occasion to inspire a shift in student’s lunch habits and influence a reduction of food waste in cafeterias. Fellows have been motivated by the supportive trainings and opportunities to become empowered influencers in their children’s school communities acting as waste reduction advocates.
With strategic interventions like replacing disposable trays with washable trays, one school prevented 45,500 trays from piling up in the landfill. The awareness of this simple step has proved to be an effective initiative in building confidence in parents to become active agents for change. They reported feeling pushed outside of their comfort zone negotiating this cause with administrators, but fiercely dedicated to doing more. Parents demonstrated a desire to increase their skill set and seek further training. They stated a feeling of pride and amazement that “small personal actions make such big differences!”
Camaraderie and new friendships have developed from this project and insight has continued to build momentum. Fellows shared feeling more capable of taking bigger actions and reaching for a new level of leadership in their school communities. Students have also participated and are learning to become advocates themselves to reduce waste, recycle materials and restore environmental balance.***