We are told that at school, the priority is pedagogy. Okay. Precisely, isn’t the management of residual materials a pedagogical approach? It would seem not, according to what is observed in many schools on the North Shore, while the presence of a brown bin is rare. The small bin is lonely, unused in the schoolyard, or simply absent. In some establishments, motivated teachers, having environmental education at heart, have integrated the collection of organic matter into their routine, but this collection depends on the goodwill of individuals and is based on a battered and failing structure.
Let’s start with a fact: 45 to 55% of waste generated in schools is organic. Isn’t there nonsense in not forcing schools to participate intelligently in the proper sorting of materials, including organic residues? This rate is monstrous, given the large proportion that ends up in the landfill.
Remember: a putrescible material that ends up in the dump will ferment, because it will be deprived of the oxygen it needs to decompose. It will generate methane, a gas that has a warming potential 34 times greater than that of carbon dioxide (CO2) over a 100-year horizon. Sending organic waste to landfill contributes to the climate crisis, in addition to leading to water and soil contamination. If it had gone to the composting center, this material would have decomposed, which would certainly have generated CO2, but also a material with added value: compost. It should be noted that in 2017, the residual materials sector alone generated 5.8% of total GHG emissions in Quebec (MELCC, 2019), which moreover increased by 1.5% in 2019 compared to 2018. , when they should have decreased significantly to allow us to be consistent with our commitments (MELCC, 2021).
Although the proportion of organic materials generated by schools is substantial, no guidance is offered to them to properly manage their residual materials. They are provided with waste and recycling containers automatically (and rarely compost!), without instructions or help to know where each material goes. Sometimes, for new constructions, a container is provided, or, in certain municipalities, a semi-buried container reserved for organic matter. However, no effort is made to legislate their use, nor to train people to use them, and, above all, sometimes the compost collection service is not offered by municipal services, which means that even if the school participates in the collection of organic waste, its materials will not be collected. It’s laughable and appalling.
While the Quebec Strategy for the Management of Organic Matter plans to manage organic matter in 100% of industries, businesses and institutions by 2025, actions are lagging behind. The machine starts very slowly. People are given the option to choose. Nobody gets wet, neither the government nor the service centers, except sometimes timidly the schools. […]
Managing your residual materials should be natural; a gesture learned in preschool, in early school. We are told to want to initiate a green transition, to want to build a resilient society, but I ask you this question: how is this possible without education in this sense? Without teaching the basics, including knowing how to manage your waste? Another element that makes you cringe: most of the time, environmental initiatives are carried out in extracurricular activities. However, the environment is not incidental and, in fact, it would do well to be considered as an integral part of the development of children. Given that the teaching staff is already under pressure, adding the environmental task to their already full schedule, without remunerating their involvement, is nonsense.
In the aftermath of COP26, which concluded bluntly that action must be taken now to avoid the worst, we are reaching a critical point. The conclusion is unanimous: global warming must be limited to 2.4°C above pre-industrial levels. And again, this figure is not the most conservative. The Paris Agreement provided for maintaining the trajectory at best at 1.5°C, but given the inefficiency of the countries in respecting their commitments, this temperature obviously had to be revised upwards.
Schools, unlike countries, can start the march more quickly and equip young people adequately. Among the commitments made at COP26, there is that of integrating climate notions into lessons and investing in this direction, since the leaders recognize (finally!) the essential role played by education. It only remains to see if the boots will follow the chops. Trash is the last to leave a party. If we want the party to continue, it might be time to consider treating them intelligently.