From the beginning of the school year, Earl Haig’s Eco Council has been working hard to raise school-wide consciousness about waste and the enviroment. Kicking the 2011/2012 year off with Waste Reduction Week, activities such as litterless lunches, cafeteria blitzes and games helped Haig students to get in touch with mother nature.
The Waste Reduction campaign has been ongoing since the mid-1980s, when many recycling councils and environmental organizations began holding eco-friendly weeks and events. These events were so successful that in 2001, Waste Reduction Week became a national event in Canada.
Earl Haig’s Eco Council has been trying to tap into this nation-wide enthusiasm. Mark Kachuk, co-president of the council explained, “Haig’s goal is to achieve “platinum status” in a way that educates the student body. We won’t do it without getting all 2200 students on board. It’s a lot, but it has to be done.”
Currently, Haig is ranked as a gold school within the TDSB’s eco-school certification program. Although platinum is just one rank higher, acquiring this status is easier said than done: “Getting platinum involves doing everything our very best. We need to improve our recycling habits, turn off lights, eliminate plastics, get into the habit of being eco-friendly. We need everyone in the school. Fortunately, our caretakers are amazing, as well as administration, but we as students need to be even more amazing,” Kachuck says.
One way that he hopes to encourage students to think about their eco choices is by hosting “Beat the Peak,” an activity where an Eco School waste expert will come to Earl Haig and audit the school’s waste by examining the contents of the garbage and recycling bins. Kachuck says that in past years, their findings have been rather shocking. “Whole food items such as apples in the recycling!”
Mark, and the rest of Eco Council, certainly aren’t afraid of hard work. In April, Eco Council will be rallying once again, as they run Haig’s annual Earth Week. Additionally, a new initiative called the “Pledge Campaign,” will be going on throughout the year, and students will have the opportunity to make known to the council their eco-friendly goals and promises. Hopefully, the 2200 pledges Kachuk hopes to get will raise the student body’s awareness about their ecological footprints, and what they can do to reduce them.
Although changing students’ living habits may be an onerous task, Eco Council will continue to strive for lifestyle-changing results. Starting with small projects like Waste Reduction Week, which aim to “[make] reducing waste second nature,” they are hoping to undertake even bigger projects in the future. Want to help Eco Council out? Turn out those lights, get a reusable water bottle and don’t forget to recycle this newspaper when you’re done!
