Cole Harbour WE Act Team Acting for Environmental Change

The WE Act Team at Cole Harbour District High is out to create the change that they want to see in the world. They noticed a trend of high amounts of lunchtime waste at their school and worked to organize a campaign that would engage the entire student body in being reminded they can make a difference with changes in their daily habits.

The week before and the week after March Break they launched their Litterless Lunch campaign, encouraging students to bring only food to school that would create absolutely no garbage. As food that comes in lots of packaging is often highly processed, this would also encourage the consumption of healthier snacks and lunches.

Students were reminded by posters throughout the hallways of the school to be conscious of their waste habits and to not “be trashy.” Check out the posters and the slogan in the included picture. The WE Act team further engaged with the student body over the school announcements, combining critical facts and information about waste and pollution with clever puns. Near the end of the campaign, students were actively listening to these announcements, in search of the pun but also hearing the important message.

The campaign didn’t stop there. The Thursday before Easter Weekend, the team ran activities at lunch time. This included a trivia game based on the facts given over the announcements. Students knowledge of recycling was also challenged with a sorting game reusing materials the WE Act team brought from home.  

The team’s desire to make a change continues into the surrounding community. They are organizing a bottle drive where they will be collecting bottles from homes in nearby neighbourhoods. This ensures these bottles are repurposed and don’t end up in the landfill or even worse, as litter. The money gained from returning these bottles will then be used to offset the cost of reusable water bottles the team is going to be selling at their school. By having reusable water bottles for sale at a discounted cost, students will be encouraged to carry a bottle that can be used over and over and move away from single-use plastic bottles. This is both cost-effective for the students and also encourages healthy habits with increasing water intake.

Thank you to the Cole Harbour District High WE Act Team for their dedication to making a difference in their school and local communities. They have created a culture of consciousness around the waste we create everyday. Green Schools is looking forward to continuing to work with all of the students at Cole Harbour District High.