EarthCARE A Success Throughout the HPEDSB

By Marina Osmond
February 18, 2008

The Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board and EarthCARE reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 35 per cent for Belleville schools this past year. With the help of EarthCARE's program, schools in the Quinte, Belleville and Hastings areas went above and beyond the Kyoto Protocols target of 20 per cent.

Schools would only support the program if it promised three things: the program must be tied into the curriculum; the program should not be an add-on to the already busy day and workload; and the program should have no additional costs. EarthCARE did this and they did it well.

Harry J. Clarke Public School morals revolve strongly around respect, caring and hard work. Vice-principal of Harry J. Clarke Public School, William Launderville, spoke about how EarthCARE benefits schools. This is Launderville's first year becoming involved with the EarthCARE program and he has been planning and supporting it ever since. "The EarthCare program has helped to make more students, teachers and families aware of energy efficiency, water issues, and especially recycling and waste reduction," he said. "Many teachers use current events and thematic units based on the EarthCARE themes in various areas such as Drama, Visual Arts and especially Language Arts," Launderville said.

The school started to power down their computers and lights when they were not in use. Simple things people should do. Launderville genuinely believes that his students' involvement in the EarthCARE program can have an impact not only in his school but on a larger scale. "All the students lead and in fact the team approach is what makes it so successful. When a student is absent, another student picks up that role."

Launderville promotes the three core values as often as he can to get EarthCARE's basic message across, reduce, reuse and recycle. "Last year there were assemblies, poster contests, and recess activities related to the three core values," he said. "This year we continue to work on recycling and most recently worked in conjunction with Project Porch Light. Students were handing out energy efficient light bulbs to parents waiting to pick up their children at the end of the day. With each light bulb there was a fact related to the impact that can be had if each Canadian changed one light bulb," Launderville said.

Rose-Marie Batley, Executive Director of EarthCARE, spoke about the EarthCARE program. "EarthCARE was developed in 2003 as an occupant behaviour solution for Ameresco Canada's "Better Schools partnership" (BSp) energy management model. Ameresco is an energy management solution company that helps conserve energy, stabilize energy costs, and improve the environment.

"BSp has a partnership with the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board to coordinate an energy management solution with them; EarthCARE is a component of that program. The energy management projects have a finite timeline and dollar amount," Batley said. Batley manages the EC program for two boards, Hastings and Prince Edward DSB (HPEDSB) and the Ottawa-Carleton DSB (OCDSB). Veronica Ford is in her third years as the Project Coordinator for the HPEDSB. With Veronica, Batley manages the design and delivery of the customized EC program for HPEDSB. They work together to create a team of hard working environmental stewards.

"I have met several actively involved students. I try to attend and participate in as many of the in-service sessions in both districts as possible," says Batley. "Over the five years that EC has been in operation, I have met hundreds of involved students. Their candour and enthusiasm are contagious and refreshing."

According to the Hastings and Prince Edward School Board's homepage, the board has saved over C$1.3 million on utility costs in 2007. They reduced greenhouse gas emissions up to 8,050 tonnes or 35 per cent. The massive reduction is the equivalent to taking 1,342 cars of the road or planting 877, 450 trees.

"We have wonderful Team Leaders in the schools. They help their students make something happen, take on challenges and problem-solve to make their environment a better place," says Batley. "Many schools and students have participated in activities to make a difference beyond their school communities at the local, national, and international levels."

EarthCARE will continue to educate students about renewal and conservation. "The components and delivery of the EC program are reviewed annually and changes are made to fit the values, needs, and priorities of the board for the following year," says Batley.

150 schools in the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and 55 sites in the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board are involved in the EarthCARE program this year. EarthCARE is the perfect program for these students who lead this program with great involvement and realize how important our environment is.

"As educators we continue to work to help students become self-directed lifelong learners. As we continue to work with the EarthCARE program we help to make students aware of how they can act locally but have an impact globally," says Launderville. "Students then realize how they can make a difference and that's what we want all our students to do ... have an impact and make a difference."