EarthCARE in the Classroom
Stittsville Public School teacher John Todd and principal
Connie Watson
Recycling at Home an Update
By Judy Turriff, Project Coordinator,
OCDSB
In September 2004, one of the Grade 5 classes at Stittsville Public
School had almost no metal or plastic in their garbage or recycling
bins by day's end. This fall the students from grades 1 to 5, about
500 in all, will participate in the 'Recycling at Home' program. This
means that in every classroom while students are eating or drinking
beside their open lunch bag, everything but 'drainables' goes back
into the lunch bag to be recycled, composted or disposed of at home.
'Drainables' are first drained into the sink and then even those
containers go home.
John Todd, a teacher at Stittsville, is proud of the program
and is very pleased that an initiative that began in his classroom
has now been adopted by the school. When I met with him and
his Principal in late September the school had just launched
the program. Presentations had been made to the students, staff
and School Council. John had conducted a lunch time garbage
audit and was able to demonstrate the necessity of such a program.
The school is committed to the program because 'Recycling at
Home' gives these benefits:
- At home, without the rush for recess, the children can learn to make more effective recycling choices a habit.
- Less material goes
to to the landfill because recycling can be done better at home and
some families compost.
- The cost to the School Board to handle and truck away garbage and recyclable material is reduced.
- Parents can see what has not been eaten.
- Milk and juice no longer drip from garbage bags at school.
This is another great example of people working together to
make a difference. For more information on the program you can
contact John at John_Todd@ocdsb.ca
