Holy Name of Mary Ecoschool Project

Waste is a big environmental issue at our school. We find wasted food, unnecessary food wrapping and recyclable material in our waste bins. In an effort to reduce the amount of waste that is thrown out at the end of the day, our ecoteam wishes to educate and equip our students and parents in order to reduce waste that is brought to and left at school.

We are applying for funding for our ecoteam to purchase and distribute re-useable lunch kits and water bottles to students. Plastic bags, wrappers and disposable packaging accounts for the bulk of the waste at our school, by supplying families with reusable containers for lunches, snacks and drinks we hope to nearly eliminate this type of waste.

Kits will be distributed to families based on need. Families who are able to do so will be asked to make a donation to the ecoteam in order to fund future environmental awareness initiatives.

Money that is left over or recovered from donations will then be used to develop and implement a “school yard green-up” project. Landscaping to increase shade areas, practical/functional compost bins for reducing food waste, wind breaks to reduce damaging effects from high winds, and native vegetation gardens to increase the beauty of the school grounds are examples of areas where funding can be continue to be applied.

The ideas mentioned above are supported by our principal, staff, students, parents and the community of Mississippi Mills.

Update (July 25, 2011)

Our timeline in the spring did not go quite as expected. It was exceedingly difficult to find a wholesaler or reusable lunch kits with a reasonable cost. We are now negotiating with FENIGO.com, a Kitchener, ON based company to purchase two styles of reusable lunch kits. These styles are the Original Goodbyn Lunchbox for primary students and the Laptop Lunch Bento Set 2.0 (both of these products and their descriptions can be viewed at www.fenigo.com