At CAS Trips we always go on about reflections, so now it is our turn to reflect on the Waste Reduction Challenge. Yesterday, we had our final zoom call with a great turnaround and some inspirational student speakers, including Tanvi from Norway, Nora from Mauritius, and Alice from Mozambique.
First and foremost, we would like to thank the hundreds of awesome teachers and students around the world who participated in this project. We did not expect such a high level of engagement! In fact, we had over 100 participants try to enter our first Zoom call in the first 3 seconds – apologies again for those who were not able to login.
More than 500 teachers and students from all six continents participated on Zoom calls throughout the four weeks, and even more joined in via our social media live streams! Every week presented a new theme and was launched with an exceptional speaker including Sarah from Bye Bye Plastic Bags, Francesca from the World Food Programme, Laura from Salterbaxter and David from Fridays for Future.
As many of you know, CAS Trips normally work with schools to organize student travel around the world with a large focus on Sustainability and incorporating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
However, like so many schools, the global pandemic forced us out of our comfort zones and into a virtual creative space. This is how the Waste Reduction Challenge was born. We wanted to support teachers around the world by finding creative ways to explore sustainability, and CAS, from home.
The reaction from schools, students and families around the world has been incredible – we think we achieved our goal, together!
To conclude the Waste Reduction Challenge, we also wanted to shine a spotlight on our favorite submissions from the past 4 weeks. There were so many that it was hard to choose from, but these students went above and beyond and participated throughout the whole challenge.
Nora Luzia from Norway submitted some great challenges. Our favorite one was definitely the carrot project from the Food Waste Reduction week. Nora planted carrot seeds which further inspired her to look into other vegetables and fruits to grow – home garden all the way!
After listening to our Food Waste Reduction Zoom call, Olivia from Mexico decided to re-organize her fridge, ensuring that all foods were used before more groceries were purchased, eliminating unnecessary food waste.
Juan from Costa Rica was inspired by our Sustainable Fashion Challenge and took a deep dive into his closet. After evaluating his clothes he found that a lot of the clothes he had were not worn frequently. Clothes that are not worn frequently can act as great upcycling projects or be given up for donation.
Abhigya from India put her talent to the test and upcycled old clothes and fabrics to make sustainable shopping bags – such a great idea!
Who needs a pin cushion? Ria from Singapore inspired us all to create a simple pin cushion from old scraps of textiles. What an innovative way to upcycle.
Last but not least, we have Tanvi from Mauritius who submitted a do’s and don’ts for composting for her family, focusing on a longer term waste solution in her home!
We are also excited to announce that Alice from Mozambique is the winner of the monthly Waste Reduction Challenge and will be joining CAS Trips on a Global Student Conference 2021. Congratulations Alice, thank you for your commitment!
With so many successful submissions, we look forward to seeing what the Changemakers Challenge has in store for us. For a sneak preview, check out our new revamped website and stay tuned for a full explanation on our blog.
A big thank you to everyone who joined. If you did not have a chance to participate, don’t worry! Our Zoom recordings and all worksheets are still on the website for everyone to download.
