Trash cans at La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, CA are emptier now that students, faculty and staff are switching to reusable water bottles.
And that is all because students with LCC's Social Justice Project came up with a plan that is succeeding beyond all expectations, according to students and Christopher Greenslate, the LCC Social Justice teacher who also teaches journalism and English at the school.
Students sent out emails and made posters on recyclable paper to educate fellow students on the hazards of plastic water bottles, which are disposed of at the rate of 60 billion per year-and is the leading source of plastic pollution in the United States. They also sold recyclable bottles, which student and faculty quickly bought.
When that supply sold out, reformed plastic bottle users found other off-campus sources. It is hoped that the ubiquitous plastic water bottle will be replaced with reusable ones that won't trash our planet so needlessly.
As a result of this successful effort, La Costa Canyon High School's video about their breakup with bottled water has been selected as a finalist in Quantum Shift's $50,000 contest for best environmental project.
Please, I beg you, visit this site and cast a vote for La Costa Canyon's Social Justice program.
Perhaps their efforts will spread to other area schools, colleges and workplaces. In addition to lessening environmental impact, there will be significant cost savings. Home filtered water put in glass bottles is not only healthier, but runs just 1/10 the cost of bottled water.
All of San Diego and the neighboring communities of Carlsbad, Encinitas, Olivenhain, Cardiff, and Rancho Santa Fe should be proud of La Costa Canyon High School and their very green project.
And perhaps it is a project that could be adopted by other schools as well!
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