How Two Teens in Ontario Helped Reduce Food Waste

Two teens, Dyanne and Myra in Ontario, helped reduce food waste at their school by more than half. Their actions are simple, practical but effective. 

To tackle the food waste issue, they took several steps to create change at their school. 

Those steps — which you can try, too — included: 

• Going around to classrooms and giving presentations about why food waste is a problem.
• Giving students tips for reducing food waste, including taking smaller portions when trying new foods.
• Setting goals for cutting waste around the school.
• Asking volunteers called “compost coaches” to encourage students to waste less.
• Working with teachers to train kitchen staff to serve smaller portions.

Every time the students met a monthly goal for food waste, Dyanne and other organizers would hand out ice cream sandwiches in the cafeteria to reward students. Thanks to their efforts, food waste from their school was cut by 57 per cent in just one year, which meant 360 kilograms less waste. Dyanne and other students who are involved in the project have also begun working with two other schools in their area to help them implement a similar program.

If you also want to help reduce food waste, you can take actions as soon as possible, starting from your own communities.

Reference:

https://www.cbc.ca/kidsnews/post/teens-cut-food-waste-at-their-school-in-half-heres-how-other-kids-can-too