The Mankato West team was dismayed to learn that their school throws away 750 Styrofoam lunch trays every day. They decided to tackle this problem and calculated the financial costs and environmental benefits of switching to reusable trays. They have been meeting with members of the food service, building and grounds, and administration in their school to make a switch to reusable trays possible. Brian Gersich, Principal of Mankato West High School remarked, “In the Mankato schools, we are assuring learning excellence and readiness for a changing world, and these students are working hard to embody this.”
The Lac qui Parle Valley YES! Team, now in its 5th year, has been busy again this season with several projects. The main focus of the team this year has been the start of a 20′ x 40′ outdoor solar greenhouse. The below ground portion was completed in September and the framing was well under way before the snow began to fall. They are waiting for the snow to melt so they can finish before the end of this school year. They hope to begin the 2013-2014 school year with fresh greens sprouting!
The Rocori team was introduced to a valuable resource at one of the YES! Winter Workshops: Doug Lien of Tri-County Solid Waste. Doug provided the team with several different types of recycling containers to try at their school and determine which works best. Through discussion with Doug, the team set up an action plan for using grant funds from the Southwest Initiative Foundation and YES! seed funds through the Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund to purchase containers for their building and signage for the containers they already had. Barb Omann, the Rocori YES! coach remarked, “We wouldn’t have this connection [to Doug Lien] if it weren’t for YES – so we can’t thank you enough! He’s an amazing resource!”.
See more of the exciting projects YES! teams are working on by clicking here.
