Canteen

I strongly believe that the removal of soft plastics from our school canteen would make our school have a more healthy and eco-friendly environment.

Content

Cutlery and Crockery
Providing Our Own Food
Beverage Bottles

Cutlery and Crockery

Our canteen sells single use, plastic spoons, cups and forks. Many people do not know what bin to put the plastic cutlery or crockery so it alwys goes to landfill. I belive the most suitable material to replace plastic cutlery and crockery in our canteen would be bamboo. Bamboo is compostable and it comes in an infinite supply. It is easy to grow and can be recycled too.

Providing Our Own Food Nearly every thing imported into our canteen comes wrapped in plastic..... pasta, drinks, bread, burgers and more. To lessen our environmetnal impact, I propose we grow our own crops to sell at our canteen. To reduce the amount of waste imported into our canteen, I propose we grow our own food and collect eggs from chickens. We can then make food to sell in the canteen, like omelettes, fritters and others. I suggest we grow the crops in the open space at the back of the school. We can also grow smaller things like strawberries and herbs in vertical gardens. Vertical gardens are gardens that grow on the side of a wall, as if little pots, carrying plants, were attached to it. The good thing about vertical gardens is that they are easy to water and take up barely any space as they are grown vertically. They can be made on the side of any classroom but can only grow thing small enough to grow inside the pots.

I suggest we grow the crops in the open space at the back of the school. We can also grow smaller things like strawberries and herbs in vertical gardens. Vertical gardens are gardens that grow on the side of a wall, as if little pots, carrying plants, were attached to it. The good thing about vertical gardens is that they are easy to water and take up barely any space as they are grown vertically. They can be made on the side of any classroom but can only grow thing small enough to grow inside the pots.

Many people would think the best solution to reduce the amount of plastic imported into our cateen would be to buy from local bulk food shops like the Source. Though bulk food shops try their best to reduc the amount of plastic sent into the world, its impossible to buy products 100% plastic free. They definitely reduce the amount of plastic produced, but I still think that we can acomplich the goal of making Byron Bay high School's canteen plastic free.

Beverage Bottles

To lessen our environmental impact, I propose we use another resource other than plastic to reduce the amount of plastic put into the environment.

This year, in December, the Local Government will welcome the Container Deposit Scheme (CDS). The CDS means that for every empty beverage bottle returned, a ten cents refund is provided. I think that the canteen should stop using plastic and instead switch to glass. It would reduce the amount of litter floating around our school and I believe the ten cents refund will encourage other students to put their glass bottles in the bin.

The only problem with glass is that it could break. I propose that we use hard glass that is stronger and is harder to break. I believe that people old enough to be in high school will be responsible and mature enough to not go around smashing bottles.

Though many believe biodegradable plastic would be a good resource to replace plastic with, I disagree. Biodegradable plastic does not break sown faster than normal plastic, in fact, it only breaks down into smaller pieces and it is said to cause more harm to the environment because of that reason.