2024 Green Grants Award #4: Saint Patrick Catholic School

Congratulations to Saint Patrick Catholic School in Norfolk, for being awarded a $1,000 Green Grant for their Recycling and Waste Reduction application!

Saint Patrick Catholic School takes steps throughout the school year to be good stewards of the Earth, such as holding a large Earth Day event on campus each year, collecting plastics for Trex to recycle into benches, and host oyster bags off a local pier. They care for a Little Sprouts Garden, compost, and use a rain barrel as a water source, and they use the vegetables grown by our youngest students in the dining hall.

They also have a committee of teachers, parents, and students that meets monthly to plan activities and design programs that teach the students better habits and empower them to speak out about environmental concerns.

The students were concerned about the school’s use of Styrofoam in the dining hall, as they’ve become more aware of the negative impact that Styrofoam has on wildlife, our health, and the environment. On most lunch days, meals are served on washable, reusable plates. But when there is a special event or a student needs to take their lunch “to-go,” it’s placed in a Styrofoam container. Students also take their lunch “to-go” when they meet with the Learning Resource Teachers during lunch.  Knowing that it would be a better environmental practice to purchase and use biodegradable plates or boxes, the students wanted to provide sustainable alternatives.

Green Grants funds will be used to purchase Green Plates that will serve the student body, teachers, and staff at five special events during the school year, and compostable clamshell containers that will serve all the students who take their meals “to go” during the school year.  This Recycling and Waste Reduction effort will be an example to everyone on campus of the sustainable changes that can be made.  It will also teach the students that using their voices and speaking up when they see a need for change works.  It will teach them a powerful lesson — that their voices can make a difference.

Congratulations students!  Thank you for caring about the natural and scenic environment of Virginia, and making a positive impact at your school!