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The problem is not how to produce ecologically benign products for consumer society, but how to make decent communities of people who do not confuse what they have with who they are. - David W.Orr.
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The greenhouse gas emissions predicted to be offset by these two installations are 12.5 tons CO2 per year.
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Buy Back our Future campaign |  |
Raise awareness about Canada's climate change actions. Encourage friends and colleagues to follow the climate change talks in South Africa. Tell the Prime Minister how you feel--send him a letter along with your loose change. No postage required. Click on the link for details. If this campaign gets picked up at your school, please email erin.wood@tdsb.on.ca and let us know what's happening. We'll share the news!
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Coming December 9th...an EcoSchools Blog!
"What's the best way to communicate with everyone engaged in EcoSchools? and what do people most want to hear about?" we often wonder aloud in meetings. We know from the kick-offs that you definitely want and need more about teaching and learning practices that promote greater ecological literacy. The newsletter does this in a limited way. Now we plan to dedicate a blog to a conversation on the subject. We don't know how it will develop--that's exciting and scary--and also, we hope, something that will engage busy dedicated teachers. The first post is planned for Friday, December 9. EcoSchools staff who go regularly into schools will be on the look-out for best practices to feature on the blog--please don't be shy if you meet one of us and have something to share! Or put us in touch with a colleague whose ideas and teaching style you particularly admire. We need to hear from you!! -E.D.
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Want to be (re-)certified as an EcoSchool?
EcoSchools Section 1, Questions 1.1 and 1.2
Interested in becoming an EcoSchool? Want to
continue being certified? Please apply online by
Avoid that sinking feeling and mad scramble that hovers as the April 27th application deadline looms. Start your application now. Make it easier for your team and reap the satisfaction of seeing how much you're already doing by chipping away at the 6 EcoReviews! Remember, you don't need to complete the reviews in one sitting--just answer the questions that you have answers for, and the program will save your information until you return to add more. As little as 20 minutes a month should be all you need to update the self-assessment part of the 6 EcoReviews.
Check out the Early Bird audit option for adding further to your peace of mind!!
Questions? Contact Wendy Abbot at wendy.abbot@tdsb.on.ca. |
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Need a boost with implementing EcoSchools? Read on...
EcoScools Section 1, Question 1.1 and 1.4
EcoSchools Specialist Erin Wood has freed up some
time to meet with school teams wanting ideas for implementing the EcoSchools program. She'll have lots of examples to share from her work with many EcoSchools over the past two years.
Her visit will be no longer than an hour and a perfect opportunity to:
-go over any questions you may have about the EcoSchools program
-get ideas for initiatives/possible solutions to barriers
-learn about the EcoSchools resources available to support your work
-explore the online application
To sign up: Go to EcoSchools Academic Workspace and give Erin three possible dates (any day but Mondays). Tell her what you'd like the focus of the visit to be!
Act now--these visits will be popular!!!
Questions? Email erin.wood@tdsb.on.ca or call 416.697.1949.
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Got the EcoSchools blues? Ask Richard to visit!
EcoSchools Section 1, Question 1.1
Does your EcoSchools program need energizing? Do you feel your school staff would benefit from reviewing the program's potential for engaging students and community? Senior Manager Richard Christie is offering to visit to make a 30 minute staff presentation. He will illuminate details of the program and keep staff "in the know" about what is happening system-wide.
Bookings are limited. Arrange for a presentation by contacting Diana Suzuki at 416.395.2437 or diana.suzuki@tdsb.on.ca.
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Middle Schools Conference...deadline to register is December 16th
EcoSchools Section 1, Questions 1.4 and 1.6
Hurry--the deadline to register for these one-day conferences for grade 7 and 8 students and their teachers is fast approaching!!
When: Choose one day to attend: Jan 31, or Feb 1, 2, 3
Where: Evergreen Brick Works
To register:
1. From a TDSB computer click here to go to Key to Learn (search for EcoSchools Middle School Conference)
2. Sign up for one of the 4 dates.
Release funds: Supplied for 1 teacher
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Seeking students reps for the TDSB Transportation Working Group
 You could be the student voice on the TDSB Transportation Working Group!
We are looking for three pairs of dynamic student leaders to help shape our board's transportation policy and practice. If you want to join the team, grab a friend and send in an application.
Let us know how you would fix what is wrong with transportation where you live. You can send us a video, a written report, or any other kind of medium you like. Just be clear. Application deadline: January 9th.
For more information and to submit an application please visit:
Transportation Working Group | Environmental Advisory Committee |
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High Park Nature Centre--winter programs for elementary schools
EcoSchools Section 4, Questions 4.2 and 4.3
Winter is almost here and the High Park Nature Centre is once again offering a variety of active and engaging outdoor environmental education programs for students in Kindergarten to Grade 7.
The Nature Centre's curriculum-linked winter programs educate students about the ecology of High Park's extensive natural spaces, animal and plant adaptations for winter survival, and the wonders of outdoor exploration in the winter. Each two-hour program offers students the opportunity to participate in activities such as snowshoeing, animal tracking, tree identification, or bird-watching.
Registration: January to March (Monday to Friday)
HALF DAY: $7.50 per student (9:30am - 11:30am or 12:30 - 2:30pm)
FULL DAY: $13.00 per student (9:30am - 2:30pm)
(Maximum 30 students)
Sponsorships available for classes that qualify.
Programs are also offered in French. For more information click here. |
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Think Green, Take Action
by Daniel A. Kriesberg (ISBN 978-1-59884-378-1)
For grades 3-8
EcoSchools Section 4, Questions 4.3, 4.5, and 4.6 
EcoSchools Instructional Leader Pam Miller recommends this well-laid-out book that helps teachers with the "how" of teaching environmental issues and the "what" of taking action in the local community. An annotated bibliography of age-appropriate literature and activities as well as an index make this environmental education resource especially valuable and easy to use. |
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WWF: change the way you think about everything!
EcoSchools Section 4, Questions 4.3, 4.4, and 4.5
Do you think you know the true human and environmental cost of your morning coffee or laptop? If you're feeling brave, view these short videos from the WWF-US. They are a strong argument for giving it all up and living in a cave OR a strong incentive to cherish and nurture human innovation and the desire to do the right thing!
  
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Leave your leaves...on the school ground
EcoSchools Section 3, Question 3.2
When the leaves start to fall, Bowmore PS's Head Caretaker Randy Langlois uses his riding tractor to take care of them. The riding tractor is fitted with a mulching kit that allows him to blow the leaves off the sidewalk onto the lawn. Then he rides the tractor over them. Simple!
Randy says "it is much easier to mulch the leaves than bag them." And it doesn't stop there! The school's immediate neighbours are saying thank-you to Randy for keeping the leaves off their property. And as Bruce Day reminds us, "the leaves are a natural, no-cost mulch right on the school grounds. In keeping them there, our caretakers become part of Nature's grand recycling scheme."
 | | Mulched leaves = great food! |
Mulching season is over. But we wanted to say "thanks" to everyone who has taken the time to switch to mulching leaves rather than bagging them.
Thanks also to Randy for Bowmore's story and to our School Ground Design Consultant Gail Bornstein, for this photo. |
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New bulk bins part of our action on climate change!
Across the city Facility Services (FS) staff have begun the second phase of reviewing sites for the installation of new bulk bins for recycling pick-ups. Over the summer approximately 60 bins were installed across the City. Using bulk bins for recycling disposal instead of toters has many advantages:
-easier to get recyclables to the pick-up point-- no need to haul heavy toters out to the curb over snow in the middle of winter
-bulk bins can't be tipped or blown over and cause a mess in the neighbourhood
-bins can be locked and are stored out of sight
-doesn't require changes to the recycling program in the school
A review of bulk bin sizes and school locations is underway. As part of the review, FS is hoping to reduce both pick-up frequency and solid waste bin size. The goal is to have more schools moving to once-a-week pick-up, in support of the Go Green: Climate Change Action Plan's goal to reduce GHG emissions.
FS Budget Coordinator Melanie Stoughton tells us that in a few locations, old bins remain at schools until a new final location is found--and reminds us that "less moving of the bins from place to place means fewer GHG emissions"!! (Keep these old unused bins locked to avoid misuse.)
Questions about removal of solid waste or recycling at your school? See the Head Caretaker. If he/she can't help, talk to your Family Team Leader. |
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TDSB tapping into solar thermal energy
The TDSB's first solar thermal heating system is up and running at West Hill CI. Solar collector panels on the school's roof capture heat energy from the sun's rays and then transfer this heat to the school's swimming pool water. This source of clean, renewable energy
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West Hill CI rooftop solar thermal
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supplements the heat that
would normally be supplied by the school's gas-fired pool boiler. Reduced boiler operation results in a lower gas utility bill and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Everybody wins!
At Port Royal PS, a similar solar thermal system is used to supplement the energy required to heat the hot water used in the school's faucets and showers. Again, the goal is to burn less fossil fuel to heat hot water and instead harness the abundant supply of clean energy from the sun.
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Generating our own electricity with photovoltaic (PV) cells
In the area of renewable energy, most TDSB projects are roof-mounted
 | Cassandra PS rooftop solar PV
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solar photovoltaic (PV) cells used to generate electricity and feed it to the grid. Ministry-funded solar PV panels are currently being installed in 9 of our schools. The capital cost will be
$3.95M, and the revenue generated from the FIT program over 20 years will
be $3.6M.
Money earned is paid to the Board and deposited in the Environmental Legacy Fund. The first payment of $6,997.94 for energy produced by Hillcrest PS's solar panels was just received on November 16. Untold hours of negotiations and work by many staff have brought us to this exciting new stage. Here is another example of how the Go Green Climate Change policy has helped us mobilize and focus actions to lighten the TDSB's footprint on the Earth. Our congratulations to the staff at Strategic Building and Renewal whose teamwork has moved us further down the road to a sustainable future! |
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From the editors' desk
ON MAKING CHANGE...AND BEING BRAVE
Making change is hard. It requires us to be brave. Bringing EcoSchools to life over the past ten years, in central departments and in schools, has required many of you to step forward, even if you were scared or felt alone. And the challenges never stop. Currently members of the Students of Toronto for Environmental Progress (STEP) are promoting the Canadian Youth Delegation's Buy Back Our Future campaign launched at the climate change talks in South Africa. It recalled a gem we put in the first issue of a 2002 EcoSchools newsletter worth repeating here:
I learned something really important from Northwest Environment Watch's beginnings: boldness has its own power. When somebody says, "this is what I'm going to do," people rally to the cause. When you commit to do something, even if you don't know how to go about it, that commitment attracts brains, money, technology, and good will. There's a tremendous amount of goodwill in the world. It goes untapped for lack of folks willing to stick their necks out." Alan Thein Durning
Thank you for helping one another--and us in central departments--by sticking your neck out when it counts!
Best wishes for the holiday season,
The EcoSchools Communications Team
Eleanor Dudar, Jenn Vetter and Diana Suzuki
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