These in-their-own-words pieces are told to Patricia Lane and co-edited with input from the interviewee for the purpose of brevity.

Dyanne Jiang is making food waste abnormal. The 16-year-old, Grade 12 student at Appleby College in Oakville, Ont., conceived, co-founded and runs the school’s WasteZero program, empowering students to cut food waste in half over the school year. She is a Starfish Canada 2024 Top 25 Environmentalists Under 25 Award Winner. Her project won the 2023 Generation Green competition and the 2024 Pythons' Pit Pitch. 

Tell us about your project.

My co-founder Myra Datta and I weigh the food waste at the beginning of each school year and set monthly reduction goals. At school assemblies, we talk about why it matters, announce the goals and report progress. We persuaded the cafeteria food provider to give smaller portions and allow students to return for more if they are........

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