Hi, my name is Maura Campione. I’m a sixth grader at Great Falls Elementary and part of the Climate Conservation Club. I wanted to come here today to talk about reducing cafeteria waste in schools. I believe this cause is very important because landfills are piling up with waste, in particular plastics.
Fairfax County schools use plastic utensils which kids use every day. In my school, Great Falls Elementary, the cafeteria offers plastic forks, spoons and knives along with plastic trays which are used one time and then thrown away.
There are 199 schools and centers in Fairfax County, and if half of the students use a plastic fork, spoon and knife, in the landfill, that plastic would weigh more than the weight of two Statue of Liberties in one year alone.
But we don’t need to have two Statue of Liberties of plastic in landfills, there is a better way. Us kids can use reusable utensils and trays, but we just need Fairfax County to purchase them. And we could also be a part of cleaning them. But at the end of the day, this is going to be our problem when we grow up and the generations after us.
The Climate Conservation Club circulated a petition calling on schools in Fairfax County to make a difference by reducing waste created by cafeterias. We walked around our neighborhoods to persuade people into acknowledging that this is an important cause. Our hope was to get over a hundred signatures together and we succeeded in doing that.
This decision that could be made, will help generations of kids all over Fairfax County. The Climate Conservation Club would also help along with any other students who want to participate.