Recycling... Get it Right!

I came home from school yesterday and found a letter in the mail from the City of Toronto.   I momentarily panicked thinking it was a notice about increased taxes, an unpaid parking tickets or another issue.

Instead, I read a plea to the residents of this city to recycle properly.  Apparently, there's too much contamination in Toronto's recycling system.   Too many people recycling the wrong things.  And it's costing the city millions of dollars.  The letter explained the problem thoroughly and made several suggestions to help Toronto residents get it right.   

Oddly enough, Jackman's eco team conducted a waste audit today.  And after we sorted through the garbage, we took a close look at 1 day's worth of recycling at Jackman.  And guess what we found?!?!   Lots of papers, lots of plastics and... very little contamination!  Just one apple core, a couple snack wrappers, two pieces of black plastic, 1 Dixie cup, and 2 unrinsed containers. Not much contamination at all.  Just a few adjustments away from becoming recycling experts.

Keep up the good work, Jackman!

Gearing Up for Another Waste Audit

Jackman's eco goal is simple... MAKE LESS GARBAGE!   It takes a little thought, a little planning, a little extra effort. But it's worth it.  We hope everyone will join us as we strive to make less garbage. 

And soon, we will put our garbage to the test.  We will conduct another waste audit.  We save a whole day's worth of Jackman's garbage.  The eco team will conduct a thorough investigation to see exactly what is in there.   

It's a messy job, but someone's got to do it.  :-)

We will sort it, discuss it, count it, measure it and document it.  Then we use this data to make plans for further waste reduction.  Look at our data from the last few years...

2013 -total waste 36 kg 

2014 -total waste 32 kg 

2015 -total waste 22 kg

2016 -total waste 24 kg

As you can see, we are making less garbage overall.  What will 2017 bring?  Are we making less garbage at Jackman?  We hope so.   And soon we'll know exactly how much.  

Granola Bars

You've got to try this... our homemade granola bar recipe.   They're actually pretty easy to make.   And best of all... wrappers-free.   No garbage.    

We also love this recipe because you can easily modify it to add your favourite ingredients.   

The recipe was recently posted on our 'waste-free jackman' blog.   Check it out and give this recipe a try.  You'll be glad you did.

waste free jackman blog - homemade granola bars

Working to make Jackman a waste-reduced school.  Got another waste-free snack or lunch idea?  Please share it with us so we can share it with others. 

Leaves

Jackman's got lots of trees and you know what that means... tons of fall leaves.  So, many classes got right to work.  We raked up those fallen leaves.  We put some leaves in our school's garden compost.  We put some leaves directly in the school gardens.   And we bagged the rest.  20+ bags!  The city will pick up these bags on Wednesday and turn them into nutrient-rich compost.  Perfect!

Check out these pics...

Bear Paw Cookie Challenge

Jackman's Eco Team knows that the key to waste reduction is making more homemade snacks instead of store-bought, packaged snacks.  And that got us thinking... What's the big deal with packaged snacks anyway?  Do they taste better?   We decided to put our question to the test.   We called it... the Bear Paw Cookie Challenge.  

At recess, all week long, we gave Jackman kids an opportunity to taste a Bear Paw cookie and a homemade cookie (courtesy of Mr. Cressman).  We asked, "Which cookie did you prefer?"  

Here are the results from last week’s Bear Paw Cookie Challenge.  In total, there were 345 kids were tested.   69 kids chose bear paws as their favourite cookie.   And an incredible 276 chose homemade cookies!   Wow… that’s 80% of Jackman kids choosing homemade cookies.  That means 8 out of 10 kids prefer homemade cookies.  

We think Jackman families should consider baking cookies more often.   We know it takes more time, but we think it's worth the effort.  Homemade cookies are very tasty!   And totally waste free!   Not to mention, they’re so much fun to make.   Why not make it a family baking experience?  Everyone can participate.  

And to encourage more home baking, Mr. Cressman has shared his delicious cookie recipe with Jackman families.  You’ll find his recipe on our new eco blog, wastefreejackman.blogspot.ca  -  Mr. Cressman's Cookie Recipe  This eco blog will have lots of recipes and ideas for waste free lunches and snacks.    

More baking, less garbage!   :-)

wastefreejackman.blogspot.ca

Announcing, our brand new eco blog... 

wastefreejackman.blogspot.ca

At Jackman, we strive to do whatever we can to 'make less garbage'.  We reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible.   We're big fans of composting too.   

So, we have created a new eco blog to help kids and families discover some exciting new waste-free lunch and snack ideas.

We will also share some easy, delicious, homemade recipes with you.  We believe that homemade food is tasty, fun to make, healthy and best of all... waste-free!

Bookmark this blog and check it regularly.  Better yet, subscribe to the blog so you can get an email every time we post something new.  

Let's work together to reduce waste at Jackman.

Fall Colours

Have you noticed the Jackman Schoolyard lately?  It's changing!   The fall colours are coming out.    Check out these pics (or better yet, come for a visit to see for yourself).