REDUCE, REUSE,
RECYCLE! Everyone knows these three
words. They’ve been part of our eco
vocabulary for decades. Did you know
that these words are in a particular order for a reason? Reduce always comes first. At school and at home, our first priority is
to REDUCE. Reduce the garbage we
create. Reduce the paper we use. Reduce the food we waste. Reduce the use disposable containers. Reducing means making wise choices when we
are shopping for our families.
If reducing, for
one reason or another, is not an option, then our second mandate is to
REUSE. Reuse the other side of the
paper. Reuse a shopping bag. Reuse a water bottle. Pack a lunch with reusable food and drink
containers. Even Jackman staff are
encouraged to tote a reusable coffee cup to school. Reducing and reusing go hand in hand. We need to plan ahead and take action to
minimize waste.
Finally, if we are
unable to reduce and unable to reuse, then recycling is our last eco friendly
option. We need to RECYCLE as much as we
can. Recycle papers. Recycle plastic food and drink
containers. Recycle other types of
packaging. There's one problem however - Recycling can tricky. We have to educate ourselves about what can
and cannot be recycled.
Unfortunately, when
reducing, reusing and recycling don’t work, our waste goes to a landfill. There’s a familiar saying about garbage –
“just throw it away!” Truth be told,
our garbage doesn’t really go away - it just goes somewhere else. And for Toronto, that somewhere else is about
200km west, in a landfill near London, Ontario.
And here’s the thing - if Toronto continues creating garbage the way we
do right now, this landfill will be full in 10 years. Then what?
The city has a problem on its hands. Diverting our waste from landfill
is a high priority.
At Jackman, we
have been collecting school waste data for years and we use this information to
guide our waste reduction program. We
take waste reduction seriously. It’s our
responsibility. It’s everyone’s
responsibility. Together we can make a
difference. Please join us on this
journey towards greater waste reduction.
