April 22, 2010: Earth Day at Earl Beatty

Wednesday, April 22^nd marks the 20^th anniversary of Earth Day in Canada. Earl Beatty students will be participating in a variety of in-class and school-wide activities. The entire EcoTeam will be involved in a tree planting ceremony on the south side of our school. Two tulip trees will be planted in our community. The tulip tree, also known as the Yellow Poplar, is native to parts of Ontario and is known for its height, it being the second-tallest in North America (second only to the Giant Sequoia). Tulip trees can reach heights of 45 metres and can live up to 300 years so Earl Beatty can enjoy the shade and beauty of these trees for years to come!

Links:

Toronto.com: Celebrating Earth Day in Toronto

Ministry of Natural Resources: Ontario’s Plant a Tree Challenge: The Tulip Tree

The Tulip Tree: Info at Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry site

Earth Hour 2010: Earl Beatty plays a part in the global campaign to slow climate change

The Earl Beatty community was proud to participate in the World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour. The TDSB celebrated ‘cutting the power for just one hour’ on Friday, March 26th, from 2 – 3 pm. A number of energy-saving actions took place such as turning off classroom lights, unplugging TVs, data and overhead projectors, DVD players and VCRs, having computers on standby, and where possible, turning off hall and office lights.

The TDSB reports that as a result of energy-saving efforts in our schools and offices electricity consumption was down 23.09% during 2 and 3 pm. While this decrease in consumption didn’t reach the 2009 figure of 27.8%, this year’s energy-savings were still above 2008’s figure of 22%.

At Earl Beatty, we continue to spread the word about environmental stewardship and engage in actions that minimize our impact on the environment.

Links of Interest:

TDSB Report on Earth Hour: Energy Consumption Down

World Wildlife Fund Canada: Earth Hour

March 11, 2010: The Great Big Crunch at Earl Beatty

On March 11, 2010, the sound of crunching was heard through the halls as Earl Beatty joined students across Canada in The Great Big Crunch!

In its third year, The Great Big Crunch is a ‘day of apple education’ ending in a ‘Great Big’ synchronized “Crrrrrunch!” of students biting into their delicious AND nutritious apples. Organized by FoodShare as part of its Field to Table School Program, this event not only kicked off Nutrition Month in March but worked to encourage our students and teachers to learn and talk about healthy snacking, eating locally, composting, local and global food systems and more.

FoodShare reports that over 50,000 students from across Canada joined The Great Big Crunch – as well as students from Amsterdam and Morocco!

To find out more about FoodShare’s school and education initiatives, click here.

December 2009: Earl Beatty Introduces Litter Free Lunches

One of Earl Beatty’s goals this year is to become a Platinum certified EcoSchool. Becoming a Platinum certified school entails focusing student and staff efforts on minimizing Earl Beatty’s waste and energy consumption. With the goal of minimizing waste in mind, The ECO/Green Team came up with the idea of encouraging staff and students to bring litter free lunches and snacks to school. A litter free lunch is one in which nothing needs to be thrown away. Here are some tips for packing a litter free lunch:

What’s Hot!

Retro lunch kits/thermal lunch bags

Reusable plastic containers

Reusable drink bottles

Personal beverage mugs

Snacks in minimal wrapping

Recycling

What’s Not

Brown paper bags

Plastic sandwich bags

Disposable single servings

Polystyrene cups

Overpackaged, overpriced snacks

Making garbage

Did you know?

It takes a very long time for disposable products to decompose in our landfill sites. For example:

Disposable Materials: Years it takes to decompose

A paper napkin: 1 year

A milk carton or juice box: 5 years

A newspaper: 5 – 7 years

A grocery bag: 10 – 20 years

A tin can: 50 years

An aluminum can: 500 years

A water bottle: 700 years

A Styrofoam plate: 1 million years or longer

A glass bottle: 1 million years or longer

Please help Earl Beatty do all we can to help our environment and its natural resources. Make a commitment to reduce waste, reuse and recycle. Start today by packing a litter free lunch!

October 2009: Budding Botanists: More Planting at Earl Beatty

Through the Joan Grys Award* and a successful city of Toronto greening application**, Earl Beatty was the happy recipient of 1000 (that’s right! One thousand!) free bulbs to plant in the schoolyard. Once again, Earl Beatty students found themselves getting their hands dirty in the name of environmental stewardship. Good work everyone!

* The Joan Grys Award was received by Earl Beatty for work that was done by the school and several Parent Council Greening Team Eco Committee members. This work involved the planning and building of a butterfly garden from previous years located in the south-west area of the schoolyard and the newly designed outdoor classroom.

** The application was submitted by Parent Council Greening Team Eco Committee members to the City of Toronto Clean and Beautiful Fund.

May 2009: Planting Native Plants at Earl Beatty

Last spring, Earl Beatty students, staff and parents planted several native plants in the schoolyard as part of the ongoing schoolyard naturalization project. This initiative was financially assisted by Toyota Evergreen Learning Grounds, which supports local, sustainable greening projects in schoolyards, parks and communities across Canada. Much appreciation and admiration to everyone involved for their hard work that day.