Schools stepping up during earth week

With Earth Day April 22, and Earth Week happening at the same time, the environment has been on a lot of people's minds lately.

We all should be doing our part to reduce carbon emissions and be aware of daily habits at home and work. But have we considered what schools and local boards are doing for the environment?

Schools are beginning to step-up and make a good effort towards helping the environment, but some students seem like they need to make a bigger effort. Currently, the Environmental Club at Innisdale has only nine members. For a school of 1,800 students, I was a little disappointed. However, Kelsey Davis, a member of the club, says the number of students participating is actually exciting.

They're a small group of dedicated people who are efficient in their actions.

However, she does believe that with more members, the club could accomplish more. Currently, the club is hosting events such as a battery drive, providing safe disposal for used batteries. They also manage a green bulletin board for environmental information, promoting events such as Earth Hour and many other activities held during Earth Week.

According to Colin MacDougall, partial founder of the club, they have two simple goals; to raise awareness in the school about environmental issues, and change the general environmental friendliness of students. It's a small group making a big difference.

Schools are taking individual action, while the board continues working to expand their environmental solutions.

This year brought the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design board school, Midland's Mundy's Bay Elementary School.

"The school is performing below the planned model and is consuming the least amount of energy per square foot of all our schools," said Kayla Secord, the board's environmental systems coordinator.

The board is also continuing to install and upgrade building automation systems, which help to maintain control of lighting, fresh air and temperature in schools, resulting in a five to 10 per cent reduction of natural gas consumption.

Adjala Central and Mundy's Bay schools are also piloting the new County of Simcoe's new recycling and organics program. The amount of garbage they collected was reduced from 10 or 12 bags per week to one or two for their entire facilities.

"We are currently in discussion with the county to determine the feasibility of expanding this program to all of our schools," says Secord.

If every school in the county did that, just imagine the amount of garbage that would avoid landfill sites. Schools seem to be off to a great start, but there's always more work that individual residents can do.

What we do now affects future generations, meaning our kids, grandchildren, great grandchildren and beyond will be impacted.