Soda Creek Elementary wins inaugural Zero Waste Lunchroom Challenge

MAY 18, 2015 BY ANDY

Steamboat is already great at Zero Waste and our schools are an amazing example of exactly how!

In April to celebrate Earth Day, students were invited to practice reducing meal waste and leftovers in the trash through the new Waste-Free Lunch Challenge. Students, parents and Green Teams as Soda Creek Elementary, Strawberry Park Elementary and Emerald Mountain School participated, and the winning school was Soda Creek with only 9.5 pounds of post-lunchtime trash throughout the four-day contest. That equates to only .004 pounds of trash per student per day.

Soda Creek will host the Zero Waste Throne, created by Green Team students in second grade teacher Cindy Gantick’s class, until next year’s Waste-Free Lunch Challenge.  All three schools did a terrific job reducing waste during the challenge by stepping up their reduction of food taken as well as recycling, upcycling and composting. Students packed lunches with reusable containers and avoided plastic bags, utensils and non-recyclable packaging. Students eating hot lunch were encouraged to help by signs that noted, “Take What You WANT. Eat What You TAKE.” Gantick wrote a catchy jingle for students to sing.

Heroes during the challenge that helped in Soda Creek’s success were:
Parents: Bebe Welch, Liza Graham, Anne Mudgett
Teachers: Cindy Gantick, Natalie Sattler, Shannon Forbes, Christy Spence

Students pictured in image: Aidan Keane, Luca Martorano, Olivia Golaszewski, Lillian Hammer, Gavin Murphy and parent Bebe Welch

Great job Soda Creek!