Waste Wise Environmental Project

Over the course of five sessions, a group of Year 12 students have been taking part in a Waste Wise Environmental Project which aims to create awareness of how we can have a sustainable approach to consuming and producing food which will help climate change and our health. 

Firstly, we looked at what is climate change and how our daily food intake contributes to carbon emissions. Then we investigated how we individually can reduce emissions in our everyday life like eating seasonally and growing our own food. We looked at growing our own food and were given the opportunity to sow seeds and study their growth at home so we could then use what we had grown in our own recipes. The next part of the project was learning what is food waste and what we can do to avoid food waste. As a part of this session, we were able to pick from a range of recipes to make that aimed to reduce food waste and understand the benefits of a plant-based diet. Lastly, at the end of the project we were shown, as young people, what we can do to be an activist for climate change and teach others about what we have learnt. 

Within our group, we created four videos highlighting key areas of the project  that interested us that would be shared on social media so others can understand  how to have healthy nutritious food whilst being environmentally aware. Our videos looked at what is a plant-based diet, recipes to avoid food waste and the  effects the food system has on the environment. Personally, I have really enjoyed the project and loved making a homemade alternative to baked beans and I have grown my own pea shoots which I have been able to use in salads. The project  has been facilitated by an external local company BreadnButter - https://breadnbutter.org.uk/ 

We have really enjoyed being able to take part in this opportunity and look forward to sharing our completed videos once they have been finalised.