Waste Reduction Week in Oxford County

Wednesday, 23 October 2019 at 05:48

The County of Oxford is asking parents and kids to participate in Waste Reduction Week, asking them to reduce the waste in their lunches for the next two weeks.

OXFORD COUNTY - The County of Oxford is celebrating waste reduction week, by asking parents and kids to reduce the waste in their lunches.

Every year a single student’s disposable lunch creates 18-30 kg of waste per year. Last week, students were asked to do an audit on their lunches to see how much garbage they were producing.

Waste Management Supervisor Dave Vermeeren says they are asking kids to go waste free for the next two weeks.

"We are asking them to pack waste free lunches, so bring in their food in reusable containers, reusable water bottles and all that, to see how much they can reduce the waste they are producing."

Vermeeren says the hope is that the kids will continue to use less waste in their lunches after the program. He notes the project falls in line with Oxford County's Zero Waste strategy.

"Oxford County is committed to going zero waste, so this falls into the part of basically, the best way to reduce the amount of waste going into the landfill, is to not produce the waste in the first place. That is the number one goal, if we can reduce waste, that is the best way to meet our goal is by not producing less garbage in the first place. Achieving zero waste in Oxford is one of the key goals of the Future Oxford Community Sustainability Plan and also supports Oxford County’s Zero Waste initiative. Together as a community we can lead the way by encouraging and participating in initiatives the Waste-Free Lunch Challenge that will allow us to achieve 'zero waste' together."

A little prep work can create less waste, save your money and help the environment. According to wastefreelunches.org, disposable lunches cost an average of $5.33 a day, while a waste-free lunch would cost an average of $3.51 a day.

Classes at schools across Oxford County will be tracking their waste as part of a contest to win a green cone digester for their school. The class that reduces its garbage and recycling the most, based on weight before and after the challenge, wins.

The class with the lowest amount of waste and recycling overall during the challenge period will also receive the prize. Winners will be announced on Nov. 8.