Fern EcoSchools Initiatives for 2012-2013
First off, congratulations to FERN for achieving PLATINUM status for the third year in a row! What an amazing feat! The ECO Club at Fern is helmed by a tireless and passionate Fern parent, Joanne Somers, and the recently retired teacher, Bev Ellis. The team is made up of parents, teachers, students, administration, caretaking and support staff, all of whom have made Fern such a wonderful eco-friendly school, helping our environment and the future with initiatives to reduce waste and to live green. We proudly do what we can to educate the staff and students at Fern about how doing little things to help the environment can make a big difference in our school and our world.
Boomerang or waste-free lunches:
If you really want to know what not to pack in your child's lunch, visit the school's cafeteria to see the evidence – it's often in the garbage cans!
Waste audits consistently demonstrate that a significant amount of school garbage is made up of unopened packaged foods, untouched fruit and juice boxes.
School lunches are a major source of waste – the average student's lunch generates 30 kilograms of garbage per year, or 8,500 kilograms per school, according to the Recycling Council of Ontario.
Some school boards in Ontario are on a campaign to reduce that waste by sending those uneaten lunches home and trying to educate parents on what kinds of lunches work best.
Parents, send what you want for your child's lunch, but if he/she doesn't finish it, the food goes back home.
Fern would like to take part of the Ontario EcoSchools Waste-Free Lunch Challenge, which encourages students to bring waste-free or "boomerang'' lunches.
A waste-free lunch contains no throwaway packaging and produces no waste. Food is packed in reusable containers and drinks in refillable bottles. A boomerang lunch means any uneaten food or waste material is returned home.
Parents, students and staff, please do your part to reduce the amount of waste and compost at Fern. Your help is crucial and appreciated.
Recycling Program:
Every classroom will be taking their recycling bins down to the main floor every Monday. We are encouraging older grades (grades 3 and up) to help out with classes from K-2 by buddying up and helping to bring down the bins for them. Ms. Eyre's Grade 4 students will take on the leadership role of monitoring the large recycling bins to ensure that all recycling actually goes into the large bins. Thank you to Ms. Eyre and her Grade 4 students!
Lights Off Tuesdays:
An announcement will be made every Tuesday to remind teachers to turn off their classroom lights from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (or later if it's a particularly sunny day), in order to conserve energy.
School Garden:
Parents in our community have kindly and generously offered to plant, care and harvest our school garden for the year, demonstrating to our students the importance of living green and appreciating the healthy fruits and vegetables we can grow and eat. The Primary classes at Fern will be harvesting the plants they grew last year in the next couple of weeks! Thank you very much to all the parent volunteers!
ECO Literacy:
Many teachers throughout the years have been cognizant of teaching our students about caring and preserving our environment: at school, at home and all around us. There have been a number of incredible ECO projects at Fern and teachers are mindful of continuing to encourage students to be kind and respectful to their environment.
Stay tuned for upcoming ECO assemblies for staff and students, especially for those who are new to the school.
EcoSchools Kick-off:
The ECO Team are excited to be attending the EcoSchools Kick-off at Howard P.S. on October 24. We will be sharing great ideas and planning for amazing things for the year ahead of us.
Thank you to all for your support,
Tina Tse
Teacher and co-chair for Fern's ECO Club
Boomerang or waste-free lunches:
If you really want to know what not to pack in your child's lunch, visit the school's cafeteria to see the evidence – it's often in the garbage cans!
Waste audits consistently demonstrate that a significant amount of school garbage is made up of unopened packaged foods, untouched fruit and juice boxes.
School lunches are a major source of waste – the average student's lunch generates 30 kilograms of garbage per year, or 8,500 kilograms per school, according to the Recycling Council of Ontario.
Some school boards in Ontario are on a campaign to reduce that waste by sending those uneaten lunches home and trying to educate parents on what kinds of lunches work best.
Parents, send what you want for your child's lunch, but if he/she doesn't finish it, the food goes back home.
Fern would like to take part of the Ontario EcoSchools Waste-Free Lunch Challenge, which encourages students to bring waste-free or "boomerang'' lunches.
A waste-free lunch contains no throwaway packaging and produces no waste. Food is packed in reusable containers and drinks in refillable bottles. A boomerang lunch means any uneaten food or waste material is returned home.
Parents, students and staff, please do your part to reduce the amount of waste and compost at Fern. Your help is crucial and appreciated.
Recycling Program:
Every classroom will be taking their recycling bins down to the main floor every Monday. We are encouraging older grades (grades 3 and up) to help out with classes from K-2 by buddying up and helping to bring down the bins for them. Ms. Eyre's Grade 4 students will take on the leadership role of monitoring the large recycling bins to ensure that all recycling actually goes into the large bins. Thank you to Ms. Eyre and her Grade 4 students!
Lights Off Tuesdays:
An announcement will be made every Tuesday to remind teachers to turn off their classroom lights from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (or later if it's a particularly sunny day), in order to conserve energy.
School Garden:
Parents in our community have kindly and generously offered to plant, care and harvest our school garden for the year, demonstrating to our students the importance of living green and appreciating the healthy fruits and vegetables we can grow and eat. The Primary classes at Fern will be harvesting the plants they grew last year in the next couple of weeks! Thank you very much to all the parent volunteers!
ECO Literacy:
Many teachers throughout the years have been cognizant of teaching our students about caring and preserving our environment: at school, at home and all around us. There have been a number of incredible ECO projects at Fern and teachers are mindful of continuing to encourage students to be kind and respectful to their environment.
Stay tuned for upcoming ECO assemblies for staff and students, especially for those who are new to the school.
EcoSchools Kick-off:
The ECO Team are excited to be attending the EcoSchools Kick-off at Howard P.S. on October 24. We will be sharing great ideas and planning for amazing things for the year ahead of us.
Thank you to all for your support,
Tina Tse
Teacher and co-chair for Fern's ECO Club
