Our Goals
 Throughout this whole project, we have set goals to achieve
zero waste. As more research was done, goals were developed on how to
increase waste reduction in our class, our community, and our
province.
A new waste management system will help us achieve our goals.
Currently, Toronto is only diverting 24% of our waste from the landfill.
This is not enough.
Task
Force 2010 sounds like a great idea, but we need to see it implemented
and receive more publicity - Education is the key (at least that's what
our teacher says when he keeps giving us more homework!) If
Nova
Scotia and Guelph
can create new waste management systems, why can't we?
 Our goals will be achieved if we can get companies to reduce
their wasteful packaging. In 1996, 2.6 million tonnes of packaging was
sent to the landfill. How crazy is that? It has decreased from 1988, but
that's still not good enough! More than 1/3 of the waste in our landfill
is made up of packaging.
We've been trying to get companies to create better packaging for their
products. We are suggesting they use recyclable materials, such as
cardboard or paper. No garbage needs to be created for packaging as long
as recyclable materials are used! We've sent letters to various companies
asking them to improve the packaging of their products.
Our last, but not least goal is to change people's mindsets about zero
waste. Stop accepting the status quo. Something as small as a plastic
straw wrapper in the garbage is huge if you multiply it by the number of
plastic straw wrappers that end up in the garbage every day for all of
Canada.
 We're not naïve. We know that we'll never go back to the days
of no packaging - that was the case once upon a time you know. Still, we
can change our buying habits and ask manufactures to change their
production habits.
A mind shift is also required to focus on reducing waste, and not just
recycling (go read our section on natural resources if you don't know what
this means.) We know that achieving zero waste is going to be hard work,
but it can be done, if we truly commit to it. It's like our slogan
says:
If we believe, we'll achieve so join us in the race to zero waste. | 
