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"Emptying Air": a story about garbage pick-up
How is "emptying air" connected to garbage pick-up? It's simpler than you'd think! Often many of our schools' bulk garbage bins are not full--sometimes, not even half full! What's the story here?
Two factors are at work. Schools have been working hard to reduce the waste they produce, so more goes into recycling and less into the garbage. As a result, many bins are only half-full when twice-a-week pick-up time rolls around. However, the cost for that pick-up is the same whether that bin's full of garbage, or half-full of garbage and half-full of air waiting to be "emptied." What a waste--of time and money as the trucks rumble off to landfill and produce more climate-changing CO2!
Frequency of pick-up is clearly the second factor. Twice-a-week garbage pick-up is needed less as schools reduce garbage and recycle more. Schools can now have their garbage picked up only once a week. (Indeed, some of our caretakers have been asking about once-a-week pick-up for quite a while!) This campaign exists to help spread that simple message.
The new Once-a-Week Pick-up Campaign challenges all schools to examine their garbage bins and any remaining wasteful ways, and see if you can switch to once-a-week pick-up. EcoSchools is sponsoring a friendly competition to stimulate quick action.
Register with your Family Team Leader for once-a-week pick-up by Earth Day, and you could be one of 10 schools to win 5 cases of 100% recycled paper!
Like all EcoSchools initiatives, the success of this campaign will require good teamwork and thoughtful communication among all the key players in schools and offices. It can't happen overnight, but we hope you can start today! To read more, click here.
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Register now to become certified...or re-certified! 
Do you plan to register or re-register to
become a certified EcoSchool? Mary Lovett eagerly checks for registrations every day. Why the rush? Mary says "I just want schools to get started so that teams have time to do a good job before the April 30th final deadline. Doing your EcoReviews now by reviewing the questions in each section of the online application is a great way to quickly get a sense of where your strengths and weaknesses are. And I notice that results are more satisfying for everyone once the team knows what needs improvement and there's time to involve more people."
The sooner we know how many schools will apply this year, the better we can plan our work! Email Mary with questions, or to ask her to visit your elementary school if you need help. Secondary schools should contact our Student Leadership Facilitator Maggie Ballantyne.
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Student planners...
two different environmental choices!
 Did you know that the two TDSB-approved suppliers of student planners have taken steps to lessen their impact on the environment?
Aupel Inc.'s planner contents are printed on 100% recycled paper--that means no trees have been cut to produce this paper. Aupel uses only vegetable-based inks and recycles all paper wastes and chemicals used in the printing process.
Premier Inc.'s Timetracker series planner contents are printed on sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Fibre Sourcing certified paper (no recycled content). THey use only vegetable based inks and ship in containers using recycled cardboard.
Making wise choices means looking closely at what we buy! Ordering details are available on the TDSBweb.
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Fundamentals workshop for whole ecoteam.. RESCHEDULED
The Fundamentals of Building a Strong EcoSchools Program
Monday February 23, 2009 4 to 7pm
Three short workshops and a general Q&A session will help
you to start or improve the Ecoschools program in your school. This is a great opportunity for team-building. Light dinner, time to share ideas, and get answers to those puzzling questions all included.
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Teaching in the Outdoor Classroom...for beginning teachers and their mentors
Friday February 13, 2009 8:45 am to 3:30 pm
Runnymede PS, Library
OISE art educator Hilary Inwood and outdoor educator Pamela Miller will lead new teachers in exploring how school grounds can become engaging 'learning grounds' in all seasons to integrate literacy, visual arts, and science studies. Join these dauntless Canadian educators as they tap the wonders of the winter school through outdoor art explorations.
Teacher release and lunch provided!
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Non-fiction writing, ecological literacy, and citizenship skills
With the exception of attendance, opportunities to develop skills and abilities in non-fiction writing is the number one factor associated with improved test scores.
- Reeves, 2002, Ontario Ministry of Education's Literacy Numeracy Secretariat Monograph, March 2008.
Tuesday March 3, 2009 8:45 am to 3 pm
1 Civic Centre Court
Environmental topics and issues almost always succeed in engaging students' interest. This workshop will suggest ways that you can channel that interest into broadening students' knowledge and developing their non-fiction writing skills. Background materials will be provided, but participants are also invited to bring their own topics to work on with colleagues!
Teacher release and lunch provided.
To register: go to Key to Learn, EcoSchools.
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Teaching on the school ground: think tank for teachers
This workshop starts with a short presentation on how to engage students and hold their interest while teaching outdoors. The rest of the time will be devoted to building the "think tank" as teachers share ideas about what works and what doesn't. All teachers are welcome--and there is no requirement to be an expert to attend! Dinner will be provided. For more information contact Samara Newman.
For the November 2008 think tank discussion, go to the "Teaching in the Outdoor Classroom" conference on TEL.
To register: TDSB staff go to Key to Learn, EcoSchools.
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Taking leadership on your school ground: for secondary students
Wednesday March 25, 2009
9 am to 3 pm
Martingrove CI
Learn first-hand about the steps needed to launch and sustain a successful school greening project. Come as a team to learn about the many helpful Board resources available. A special feature will be a secondary EcoTeam's presentation describing its approach to planning its project.
This workshop is open to all secondary students and their teachers, with a limit of 5 students and 1 teacher per school.
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What can we recycle? The complete list!
Waste Management Specialist Mieke Foster has adapted an updated City of Toronto list of recyclables for schools and offices. While the "We recycle" posters and labels include the items most commonly recycled in schools, to look for more exotic details, go to ecoschools.ca.
An abundance of "We recycle" posters and labels for boxes, toters, and bulletin boards are still available. To order, download and fill in the order form at ecoschools.ca and fax to Fran Raymond at 416.394.7364.
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Seasonal advice 
What should an EcoSchool do to reduce its impact all year round as much as possible?
Wendy Abbot, EcoSchools Conservation Specialist, brings us a wealth of experience from her Facility Services background. Wendy's special assignment
is to investigate energy conservation practices, and she sees lots of simple things our schools can do in the dead of winter.
Wendy's tips:
· Turn out the lights when you leave the room and use natural light whenever possible.
· Open the drapes during the day and close the blinds and drapes when you leave for the day.
· If your room is too cold, DON'T use portable heaters as a permanent solution--let the caretaker know.
· If your room is too hot, open the windows ONLY as a temporary solution--let the caretaker know.
· DON'T prop open outside doors when you go out for recess--have someone monitor the doors and close them to keep the cold air out and the warm air in!
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Exemplary practices...(1) Wedgewood PS's Butterfly Garden
This addition to the newsletter will allow us to feature some of the wonderful work happening in our schools, and provide a simple way to share best practices across such a big organization. Over time we will touch on the many areas where EcoSchools are showcasing new ways to make our schools, inside and out, places that inspire teaching and learning in, about, and for the environment.
This month's case study, "Learning Grounds for Ecological Literacy: The Wedgewood PS Butterfly Garden," is based on a teacher resource written by parent Janet Cass. You'll learn how each element in the garden is part of its ecology, the specific plants that are grown (Latin names included!), how the school community is involved, and what teachers say about its value for children's learning. And don't miss "Getting down to business" at the end, where there's a helpful list of suppliers and other information to make it easier to learn from this school's experience! To read further, click here.
Wedgewood butterfly garden map by parent Marco Vejar
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Maggie's pick!
Maggie Ballantyne is the EcoSchools/Evergreen Student Leadership Facilitator
The Omnivore's Dilemma:
A Natural History of Four MealsNew York: Penguin, 2006.by Michael PollanEveryone who eats should read this book! Food affects our lives, our culture, our traditions, our economy, our politics, our health, and our values, and of course the earth itself. Our dilemma, as omnivores, is that we can eat just about anything nature has to offer. That wide range of choice stirs anxiety, anthropologists have argued, especially when some of the food available could make us sick, or even kill us. While this sounds like a description of the fate of our ancient forebears, Pollan sees the concept of the omnivore's dilemma as "a particularly sharp tool for examining our present predicaments surrounding food," such as new kinds of food poisoning and contamination, as well as possible links to learning and behaviour problems. Each section of the book culminates in a chapter titled "The Meal" that epitomizes the end point of the food chain Pollan has followed from its beginning. The meals that the book begin and end with describe the scope of his inquiry. He opens with a dinner from McDonald's, consumed in 10 minutes while travelling at 60 miles an hour. His last meal is "personally hunted, gathered, and ground," takes him several days to assemble and prepare, featuring as its centerpiece wild California boar. The writing is disarming in its modesty and for the deeply personal voice in which he describes his encounters within the each food chain and web.
This book is a veritable training ground for the ecological imagination, brimming to overflowing with stunning examples of the impact of industrialization on the complex interconnections of human, plant, animal, soil, air, water, and planetary health and well-being (or its opposite).
To read more about why Maggie finds this book so essential and such a pleasure to read, click here.
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Here's my only chance to mention "TDSB's Preparation for Earth Hour," Friday, March 27 from 2 to 3pm. If your school is planning something, click here to let us know and we'll set up a file to share your ideas!
Best regards,
Eleanor Dudar
EcoSchools Specialist
Toronto District School Board |
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