On the Road to Gold – d’Y becoming an Eco-School

During this school year a committee of teachers, students, and administrators have been brought together to develop an eco-schools program in St. Marguerite d’Youville.  The Eco-schools program is recognized throughout the province of Ontario. The program focuses on elementary and high schools so that they may become more environmentally friendly. Over the last few years d’Youville has been working hard to lower our ecological footprint and contribute to a healthier environment. With the implementation of the eco-school program, d’Youville is taking a big step to reach our goal of becoming an eco-school.

Since September 2010 the eco-schools committee has been working diligently to devise an action plan to educate students about the environment, to minimize waste, conserve energy, and how to make the school greener. The team has been meeting monthly and have come up with creative strategies to cover these four strands.  

We have been planning and have started to implement the following actions:

Energy Conservation

·         Reminders in each classroom to turn off lights, monitors, and televisions when not in use

·         Reminders to pull the window blinds down at the end of the school day

·         Install motion sensors to control lights in all change rooms

·         Replace older motion sensors

·         Install energy efficient light bulbs in various areas of the school

·         Reminders to turn lights off during DYTV episodes

·         Begin a weekly Earth Hour in February

Waste Management

·         Collect GOOS “Good On One Side” paper in each classroom

·         Continue with waste audits to educate recycling expectations

·         Recycle photocopier toner bottles

·         Initiate a “waste free” lunch

·         Increase electronic communication to parents and the community

Committee members will monitor the value of these steps by collecting data to ensure that our school in achieving significant improvement in working toward an eco-friendly environment. 

At the end of the school year, d’Youville will take part in an environmental audit. This audit is run by the School Board and our school will be assessed based on the creative action plan and the implementation of the plan throughout the school year. At the end of the audit the school can be given a bronze, silver, or gold certification based on our success. Although this year is d’Youville’s first year participating in this program, our goal is to achieve the gold certification.  The d’Youville community has always strived to be the best in all of its endeavours so it is no surprise that we are taking the initiative to go for GOLD! With the support of the school community, we are confident that this challenging task can be met.

After achieving our goal for gold we at d’Youville hope to continue earning the gold certification in up-coming years, in hopes of becoming a consistent gold certified eco-school. The d’Youville students are encouraged to listen for announcements and tune into DYTV to be informed about the new eco-school program. We will need plenty of commitment from everyone in our community so get ready and goodluck!

St. Marguerite d'Youville S.S.

....Go with the Green or the Green will go!!!!