| Certification
deadline is April 30th...act now! |
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Earth Hour!
"Preparation for Earth Hour" Friday March 27, 2-3 pm...is your school or office taking part?
TDSB schools and offices performed amazingly last year for our first "Preparation for Earth Hour," reducing electricity use for 22%! Can we do it again?
Earth Hour acts as a simple reminder of how much we rely on electricity. And it gives us a chance to look at where we can cut back. Every kilowatt of electricity saved means fewer climate-changing greenhouse gases produced!
Last year's Earth Hour stories showed our schools in their very best (natural) light. Read them at www.ecoschools.ca
Check with the principal and register your school at http://schools.wwf.ca. For details, click here. | |
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EcoSchools and Character Education
On March 5 EcoSchools again had a table at the Board's Character Education conference. As last year, a wealth of resources from Board departments and outside organizations was accompanied by inspiring school presentations. But for EcoSchools recognition, what a difference in one short year! Many students and teachers stopped by to chat about how EcoSchools is part of character education. The crowning moment came when a grade 8 girl stopped by to describe the program in her school. She reported that "recycling and 'lights off' are working well, and beginning to create a culture of conservation in my school." Grade 8!
Conserving resources is becoming a keystone of character education in our times. This issue is filled with reports on how it is happening and where the opportunities lie in our schools.
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Exemplary practice...(2) Reducing the Impact of Paper Use at Harbord CI
The value of trees to our ecosystems, our cities, 
and the health of people and the planet is immeasurable. Harbord students were surprised to learn about the specific impact of paper use on forests. Using a TDSB-designed paper calculator simplified from an online calculator (see notes at end), they learned that $1000 worth of paper made entirely from trees (no recycled content) requires about 12 mature trees with trunks 6-8 inches in diameter and 40 feet high. Spending that $1000 on 100% recycled paper instead is as powerful an act of conservation as tree planting itself!
Change sometimes happens quickly. A year ago, Harbord Collegiate Institute purchased only Earth Choice paper (which has no recycled content, but what a reassuring title!). Today it buys only Cascades 100% post-consumer paper for its supply of white copy paper.
This story leads to the question of how and where we invest our limited resources for maximum environmental gain.
How did they do it?
Student EcoTeam leader Veronica makes it seem so simple, it defies the imagination--her answer: "We asked our Principal, and he said okay."
And it is simple, if you have students like Veronica and the Harbord EcoTeam and a principal like Rodrigo Fuentes who responds to the mood--and need--for change. Veronica says it started with the desire to make Harbord an EcoSchool. Looking around for what needed improving, and taken aback by how much paper was being used, the students began a thoughtful campaign to reduce paper use and eventually switch to 100% recycled stock.
Veronica learned from the principal that the school used 1 million pieces of paper in a year. That stunning figure was a wake-up call for everyone. Fuentes asked the staff to monitor their paper use closely. The following September he went ahead and ordered Cascade 100% recycled paper, and then told the staff that they would have to reduce paper use to pay the 20% premium it cost. And they did!
Staff now makes a concerted effort to re-use 'good-one-side' paper, to photocopy on both sides, to sometimes use the overhead projector instead of handing out sheets of paper. Principal Fuentes remarks that "even though our enrolment has gone up, and even though we are paying more for Cascades 100% post-consumer paper, to date, Harbord has spent less on paper this year compared to last year." To read about how students learned about how to make the case for switching, and the dramatic difference in impacts of different papers, and the nuts and bolts of "getting down to business," click here.
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 Once-a-week Garbage Pick-up Campaign
Needed: 100 schools to sign up by Earth Day April 22! Can your school be one of them?
As we go to cyberspace, 41 schools have agreed to once-a-week pick-up. Discussions about adding extra pick-ups in June are underway. We'll keep you posted.
When you are ready to make the switch, contact your family team leader. Then let Fran Raymond know and you'll be eligible for a prize of 5 cases of 100% recycled paper.
It can't happen overnight, but we hope you can start today! For more information, click here.
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Essential Tools for Green Schools
 The EcoSchools Certification Toolkit is packed with tools to help schools fulfill EcoSchools expectations. We will feature a few each month.- Monitoring posters: 3 posters give students a system for checking and recording classroom recycling and energy conservation throughout the year. An excellent way to gather primary data for classroom work. They are: Keep the Heat In/Let the Sunlight In/Save Our Resources.
To order: fill out and fax in the Order Form.- Used appliances and scrap metal: This tool outlines the two ways that schools can divest themselves of worn out appliances. Details about scrap metal collection are also listed.
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Taking leadership on your school ground: for secondary students
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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Ideas for a Green Tomorrow
 By examining our choices in transportation, looking at what we consume, and exploring where our energy comes from, we can all become better-informed global citizens.
This seminar exposes students to some of the most pressing environmental issues they face in their daily lives. Local experts will discuss and model ways in which behavioural changes can make a difference. Students will be encouraged to think of themselves as agents of social and environmental change with the power to influence their future.
This workshop is open to all secondary students and their teachers, with a limit of 5 students and 1 teacher per school.
Thursday April 2, 2009
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New Ontario Environmental Education Policy Framework and TDSB EcoSchools
 Environmental education has come of age! At its
Environmental Education symposium on February 25th The Ontario Ministry of Education released its environmental education policy framework, Acting Today, Shaping Tomorrow. Its three big goals are organized around the themes of teaching and learning; student engagement and community connections; and environmental leadership.
The framework's connection to TDSB EcoSchools is an intimate one. What a wonderful thing to be able to read this framework report and to be able to say, over and over again, "we're already doing that!" If you are the Director of the TDSB, an executive superintendent, senior manager, or supportive principal, office staff, caretaker, or teacher, parent, or student member of an EcoTeam in one of our certified EcoSchools, you will be able to do just that. Without leadership from all levels and many departments, we couldn't make this claim. Without your participation at the grassroots, we'd be nowhere. EcoSchools is all about teamwork that is happening across our entire system. Well done everyone!
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Spring clean-up
The City of Toronto 20-Minute Makeover takes place Friday April 24. To get a copy of the EcoSchools Clean City Community Clean-up Guide (2005) for timeless tools and tips contact Fran Raymond. For details about other clean-up possibilities see the TEL conference. For more information and how to get gloves, contact Mieke Foster.
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The  EcoSchools TEL Conference
What is the EcoSchools Conference on TEL?
Here's a place for teachers to raise questions, discuss issues, and share resources.
Put the conference link on your desk top for easy access.
More.
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Wendy's pick!
Wendy Abbot is the EcoSchools Conservation Specialist. When she's not doing school energy reports, she takes time out to read to her grandchildren. Here's a story she's sharing with us.
EcoSchools auditor Jenn Vetter reports that last year Humber Valley Village Jr. MS used the message of The Lorax as the theme for their Earth Week activities. Read moreThe Lorax
by Dr. Seuss
New York: Random House, 1971
ISBN 0394823370
The Lorax, one of the earliest and most enduringly popular environmental stories, was written by Dr. Seuss in 1971. Even though this is a children's book it is a must-read for people of all ages. I found this book to be a powerful and simple way to describe the environmental crisis that threatens our well-being.
The Lorax is a fable about our industrial society. Seuss creates the "Once-ler" (who we never see) to personify industry, while the Lorax represents 'the environment,' the whole living world that is threatened by industry's ceaseless demand for resources.
In flashback mode, a boy comes to a desolate corner of town to visit the Once-ler in hopes of finding out about the Lorax. The Once-ler recalls his story about discovering this spot that was once a beautiful forest of woolly Truffula Trees where a huge number of fantastical creatures resided.
The Once-ler sees in the forest a remarkable business opportunity. He chops down the trees and uses its foliage to knit "Thneed," an odd looking yet versatile garment that the Once-ler insists everyone needs. The Lorax emerges from a stump to protest the cutting down of the Trufulla Trees, only to be repeatedly ignored. To find out what happened to the Lorax and read about Humber Valley Village Earth Week 2008 activities, click here.
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Catherine's pick!
Catherine Little, Outdoor Education Program Coordinator, recently tantalized EcoSchools staff with two children's books about American naturalist Henry David Thoreau. And here she's agreed to tell our readers too! Henry Builds a Cabin by D.B. JohnsonBoston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002.ISBN 0-618-13201-5Henry David's Houseby Henry David Thoreau, ed. Steven Schnur Watertown, MA.: Charlesbridge, 2002.ISBN 0-88106-116-6Both these books are stories about Thoreau building his cabin in the woods, where he would write Walden, one of the classics of conservation literature. Henry Builds A Cabin is a fictional account of "Henry," a friendly bear who takes us through the simple steps of assembling materials and constructing his small dwelling. Henry David's House is a beautifully illustrated book featuring selected passages from Walden. The language is unfamiliar, but the illustrations help the reader to infer what Thoreau's message is.
This pairing gives students abundant opportunities to compare the power of "fact" vs "fiction," and the different ways in which each account engages the reader's interest. Even the two books' illustrations, both strikingly done, will become fodder for a rich comparative activity. Although Henry David's House is suggested for an older (junior and up) audience, the grade one boys I read both books to were able to pick out several similarities between the two. EcoSchools wishes to thank Alex and Simon for the drawings they did after listening to the stories. To see their drawings, read the rest of the review, and great ideas for student learning from a short teacher's guide, click here.
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TDSB's special Earth Hour observance was a highlight last year. This year, coming on the Friday of the week right after March Break adds to the challenge. We look forward to hearing your stories. To share them Talk to us.
Best Regards,
Eleanor Dudar
EcoSchools Specialist
Toronto District School Board |
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