An Eco Inspiration

Ok EcoTeam (and anyone else who may be reading this)... you've got to see this!   Two girls, Melati and Isabel, are making big changes in Bali, Indonesia.   Listen to the girls tell their inspiring eco story on TED Talk.   Here's the link...


       TED Talk - Bye Bye Plastic Bags

Why stop there?   A simple google search will help you learn more about these remarkable girls and their eco actions.   

Are you inspired?  We would love to hear from you!

Earth Rangers

On Thursday, Jackman hosted an Earth Ranger Assembly.   Earth Rangers is a kids conservation organization, working to educate and inspire kids to protect our world's animals.   Throughout the assembly, our hosts, Becca and V, introduced us to their animal friends... a Tegu Lizard, an American Kestrel, an Armadillo and a Harris Hawk.  These are some remarkable animals with some fascinating characteristics.

Our Earth Ranger hosts also helped us learn about some amazing things people are doing to protect wild animals, like, the Wildlife Corridor Project and the Save the Salmon Project.  We learned how habitat loss is the biggest threat to our world's animals.  We were inspired to take action to protect animals.  

"When we all work together, we can do some pretty amazing things for animals."



Earth Rangers is working hard to 'Bring Back the Wild."  This year, they are focused on saving these four animals... Peregrine Falcons, Little Brown Bats, Wolverines and Cold-Water Coral.   Check out the Earth Rangers website for more information and to see how you and your family can get involved.     

http://www.earthrangers.com

OREOs

I love OREOs!   Who doesn't?   Problem is... our beloved OREOs come in an all too familiar package.  So here's the question of the day... Can this be recycled?

Well, the answer is YES... and NO.   If you take a moment to take the packaging apart, you'll find a cardboard insert and a plastic tray inside.   Guess what?!?!  They can both be recycled!   Woo hoo!

Now, all your left with is the outside packaging.  Sadly, it goes in the garbage. Boo!

But at least we diverted 2/3 of it from the landfill.  That's something to smile about.

Find out more about what can and cannot be recycled with Toronto's Waste Wizard   

http://app.toronto.ca/wes/winfo/search.do

Introducing... Jackman's New Eco T-Shirt...

Introducing... Jackman's new eco t-shirt...

 And here's a close up of the slogan and design...

Being eco is très chic !   All the cool kids are wearing it. ;-)   Go Green Jackman!

What?  You didn't get one?   Don't worry.  It's not too late.   We've got some left.  Follow this link to order yours.

http://jackmanfundraising.bigcartel.com/category/jackman-gear

P.S.  Thanks to Sam for inspiring the t-shirt idea.    Thanks to Marcella for persevering through endless revisions to get the design just right.  Thanks to Michelle for helping make this t-shirt happen.  

Battery Blitz

Pop Quiz!!!   

           

How should you dispose of your stockpile of used batteries?

a)  in the garbage can, with the rest of your trash?

b)  in the recycling bin, with cans, bottles & papers?

c)   just stash them away in some deep, dark corner of your home?

d)  drop them off at Jackman?

The correct answer is...  d).  Drop off your used batteries at Jackman for two  whole weeks (Thursday, January 21, 2016 until Thursday, February 4).  We are participating in a ‘Battery Blitz’ contest with other GTA schools.  The school who collects the most batteries (by weight) will win a whole school pizza party!  You can do it Jackman!   

We have joined forces with local organizations, Earth Rangers and Call2Recycle.  We want to remind everyone that batteries should not be trashed.   They should be recycled!   Problem is, they cannot be recycled in the regular city recycling program   They need to be saved and dropped off for special recycling.   Let's all do our part to keep batteries out of our landfills.  

For more information about what can and cannot be recycled, go online and check out Toronto’s Waste Wizard.

http://app.toronto.ca/wes/winfo/search.do

Waste Audit

Jackman's Waste Audit

Waste minimization is on everyone's mind.   As citizens of a fragile world, we need to constantly ask ourselves, "What can we do to reduce the waste that we create?"  

At Jackman, it all begins with a waste audit.  We save a whole day's garbage for an thorough investigation.  

Bag by bag, we sort through the trash to find out what's really there.   It's a messy job, but someone's got to do it.  

We sort the trash into these 5 categories: 

•  What should have been recycled,
•  What should have been reused,
•  Food waste (what should have been eaten, or composted),
•  Paper Towel,
•  Real Garbage (a.k.a Landfill)

So here's the moment we've all been waiting for... the most recent waste audit results.  The good news... we have less garbage than ever!   Just 21.2 kg!    That's down from 31.36 kg last year.    Way to go Jackman!  Impressive reductions!   But wait, that doesn't mean we're off the hook.   There's still more reductions to be made.   Jackman's Eco Team will use this data to create waste reduction projects.   Here's a peek at the 'nitty-gritty' of this year's waste audit.

Recyclable (2.47 kg - actually, more than last year)

• various papers (these are so easy to recycle - there’s no excuse)
• 1 Coke can and 2 Iced Tea cans (yikes... how did that happen?  no excuse)
• 15 juice boxes! (straws go in the garbage and empty juice boxes recycled - it's not hard)
• various food containers (plastic and styrofoam) and some plastic cups too
• various bags (these can now be recycled in Toronto - guessing everyone hasn’t read the memo)
• dead markers (we collect these and take them to Staples for recycling)
• 1 Pringles can  (yes, even it can be recycled)

Food Waste (5.3 kg, - that a lot less than last year)

• many unopened snacks & candy (how did they end up in the garbage?)
• some bread, crackers, chips, half eaten sandwiches
• fruit - carrots, grapes, apples, pears (these should have been eaten or composted.)
• fruit scraps - banana peels, orange peels, apple cores (these should have been composted)
• some uneaten lunch, and not just kid lunches

Paper Towels (including tissues & other soiled papers)  (5.52kg)

• LOTS of paper towels... and I mean LOTS
• and the ‘paper towel of shame’ - almost 7 m long!  - yikes!   that’s got to be the longest paper towel ever wasted in the history of Jackman school

Real Garbage - a.k.a. LANDFILL (7.42kg )

• LOTS of snack wrappers... and I mean LOTS (seems like more than last year)
• 12 coffee cups (hmmm, this is more than last year too)
• gum (apparently, Jackman kids are obsessed with gum)
• other non-recyclable packaging
• Riso photocopy carbons
• many latex gloves

Reusables (0.46kg)

• lots of plastic spoons and forks (should have been washed and reused)
• pencils, erasers, markers, glue sticks (likely left on the floor at the end of the day and swept up)
• plastic food containers (should have been washed and reused)
• small toys, a mitten, a bracelet, a whistle

And surprisingly...

No Underwear this year... just one stinky diaper

Eco Posters

Jackman's Eco Team (a.k.a. the JETs) have created Eco Messages on posters.  They are proudly hanging in the 1st floor hallway at school.   Here's a sneak peek at a few of their posters.  

Thank you JETs for the Eco Encouragement.