EcoSchools
This little green guy
on the left is Mr. RRRbit, the Greater Essex County District
School Board’s EcoSchools amphibian
ambassador. He reminds us that all living things as well
as our quality of life on this planet depend on how we
take care of it.
The Greater Essex County District School
Board is committed through policy and practice, to being
conscientious stewards of the environment. We joined the
EcoSchools Environmental Stewardship program in 2006 and
we were the first school board in the province to make
it a required part of every school’s daily activity.
This is a long-tem project, not merely an initiative to
cut costs during a period of high energy prices.
EcoTeams are established annually in each
school, made up of at least one administrator, teacher,
student and custodian. It is this group’s responsibility
to guide their school community in an effort to reduce,
reuse and recycle.
Try our
EcoCalculator
(requires Flash Player)
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The program
requires EcoTeams to focus on 2 specific goals:
Focus # 1 is on reducing energy consumption.
EcoTeams conduct audits of energy usage in their
building and formulate action plans to reduce the
amount of water and electricity being used. In many
cases just turning off lights and computers when
not in use can have a dramatic impact.
The second focus is recycling, with
many school EcoTeams setting up and maintaining programs
to collect paper, plastic and metal, to keep it out
of the garbage collection and, ultimately, the landfill.
We invite you to try our EcoCalculator to
learn how recycling saves all kinds of resources.
During Earth Month (April) 2008 EcoTeams
were introduced to School Grounds Greening. Their
task is to develop a plan, using our state-of-the-art
mapping system, for the greening of their school
grounds. This plan will then be used by present and
future students to plant shade trees, grow a garden
of indigenous plants and grasses, or create an outdoor
classroom. |
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