​Based on a simple and effective model using four basic machines, we have the power to turn much of the plastic currently sent to landfills in our community into valuable new items.

Plastic is one of the most common materials used in modern times, from Keurig cups to plastic bags and cutlery. Consequently, its one of the most pervasive items among our waste. Plastic production and eventual waste contributes to many of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time including consumption of oil and other natural resources, ocean pollution, loss of biodiversity, and climate change. 

​ The reality however, is that plastic is one of the easiest and most versatile materials to recycle. By setting up a plastic recycling workspace at our secondary school (Rutland Senior) and making it completely student volunteer run, we tap into a wealth of opportunity to explore innovation, exercise creativity, and most importantly, educate and engage youth to make a meaningful impact on the growing issue of waste. 

​Our goal is to create unique products that hold utility, creativity, and meaning. We will feature four main products as we begin our journey of creating impact in schools: phone cases, pendant jewelry, pots & vases, and decorative tiles & coasters. We will market them towards older adolescents and young adults connected to school communities to begin with. We hope to sell through engagement at the Kelowna Farmers’ & Crafters’ Market as well as online through an online shop hosted by the Precious Plastic organization.

Although recycling will make an impact in the amount of waste that ends up in our landfills and polluting our land and oceans, this effort is largely reactive. A proactive approach must be paired with this to create true, effective change in the sustainability of our communities. We accomplish this task two ways: through AWARENESS and COLLABORATION.

​Awareness
By performing a yearly environmental impact assessment and annual events and campaigns, we ensure our efforts are being maximized.

Plastic has become incredibly prevalent in our present society, and as such has become a disposable commodity. This disposability mindset has created a disconnect between our actions and the far-reaching consequences our wasteful habits have created. The misconceptions about what plastic really is and the negative consequences of its waste must be addressed. Our proposed yearly environmental impact assessment survey will not only evaluate the amount of waste being produced within our school community, but check in on the attitudes around recycling and other environmental issues within our students and staff. 
We can use our results to guide and concentrate our efforts, ensuring that we are creating effective change within our school community. By additionally planning events and campaigns around the effects of plastic waste, we ensure that we are not only reducing the amount of plastic our school sends to landfills, but the amount of plastic we use in the first place. 

​Collaboration
Waste is a universal issue that requires more than one solution. By creating a network to allow other communities to easily establish their own Take Two workspaces, we exponentially multiply our impact.

We hope that within one year of production, we will be able to generate enough profit to fund a recycling workshop in another school community. If each new workshop goes on to fund one workshop a year, our efforts multiply exponentially and we create a network of youth taking action in their communities that could spread throughout the Okanagan, and with positive networking, throughout all of British Columbia and beyond. Through this collaborative effort, we create a true impact in the way we perceive waste and power a network of empowered and sustainable communities.​

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