2007 Events

Some activities include a Group Challenge, Daily Tips, Lunchroom Information Display, an Employee Declaration Poster for all to sign, and a "Litterless Lunch and Learn" on Vermicomposting.

Residents are encouraged to participate by collecting gently used, unwanted household items (e.g. books, housewares, sports equipment, clothing, etc.) together and outside their dwellings in an easily accessible location. These items are available free of charge to passerby. Residents identify what is up for grabs by displaying a "T2T" sign on or near the items.

During these events information is distributed as to how waste can be reduced and facilities that will accept recyclable materials all year round.

In addition to this we currently use Energy Star rated light bulbs, have a green kitchen, print on both sides of the paper, have a strong in-house recycling program, utilize hybrid vehicals for delivery, re-imburse staff who use the bus for the cost of bus passes and offer our clients easy suggestions on how to reduce their own enviromental impact. www.digitechlaser.com

THURSDAY - the Zero Waste team will be out and about the school during lunch promoting their new recycling bins. They will give students a candy deposit for returning their can, bottle or juice box to the recycling bin. Posters will be displayed promoting the new bins.

We will be appearing on the local TV station, CFJC TV7 (The Midday Show with Larry Read) on October 15. We will discuss the ways we can reduce our waste. The Station will also be doing a news feature for us on waste reduction, throughout the week.

We will also be talking on five local radio stations in the mornings with tips on how to minimize our waste.

- Household Hazardous Waste Drop-Off Event
Saturday October 20 and Sunday October 21 9am-3pm at the Operations Centre, 4700-224 St. Drop off all of your leftover paint cans, pesticides and other hazardous waste at our annual event. Drop-off is free for Township residents and there is no limit to how much hazardous waste you bring in. All types of hazardous wastes are accepted.

- Yorkson Creek Community Clean-up
Saturday October 20 10am-1pm (rain or shine). Join the Yorkson Watershed Stewardship Committee for a good old-fashioned clean-up. Meet at the race track on the west side of Walnut Grove Secondary School. Refreshments and supplies provided. Call Lisa at 604.532.3517 for more information.

- Public Workshops "Wake-up your Worm Bin"
Wednesday October 18 7-8pm LEPS Office, Ft. Langley 23172 96 Ave. Follow-up workshop for owners of Township of Langley worm composting bins. Have questions about your worm composting kit? Feel free to ask questions, troubleshoot, and pick up more worms, resources and supplies for your bin at this fun and exciting workshop.

In-Class Workshops:

- Demonstration Garden Tour & Workshop Gr. K-7 (1.5 hrs)
Explore the Township of Langley's Demonstration Garden and learn how to reduce waste. Brainstorm ways to reduce garbage and explore the composting process. Primary grades build a "5-star Worm Hotel". Intermediate grades "Harvest Compost" to plant fall flowers.

- It's a Worm's World Gr. K-3 (1.5 hours)
Discover how worm composting reduces the amount of garbage we throw out. Students build a "5-star Worm Hotel" and investigate the amazing details of worm anatomy.

- Sort it Out Gr. K-3 (1.5 hours)
What is recyclable and where does it go? Using the 3R's, students recognize recycling symbols and sort materials found in their home and classroom. Workshop is based on the Township of Langley's curbside recycling program.

There are a total of 8 in-class workshops and garden tour sessions available; limit 1 session per class: Monday-Thursday: 9:30am-11:00am OR 1:00pm-2:30pm. Facilitated by Langley Environmental Partners Society. Reserve a session at 604.532.3514.

- Free Instructor Resources Litterless Lunch Challenge:
Explore the endless options to make your lunch litterless so nothing is thrown away. Students and teachers plan and pack litterless lunches. Teachers receive a Litterless Lunch Pack which includes information about litterless lunches and letters to get parents involved. Submit designs complete with carrying instructions for great prizes.

- Counting Litter Out Teaching Guide Gr. 3-7 (2 hours)
Study litter around your school and explore what it reveals about your community. Conduct a litter survey and analyze the results. Your survey results contribute to real litter statistics for the Township. All survey supplies are provided, classes receive a certificate signed by the Mayor and each participant receives a gift.

Too Good to Waste School Kit:
- Use the wide range of organizing tips, facts and statistics to help you, your class and your school with your goals for Waste Reduction Week. Guides are prepared by Waste Reduction Week Canada. For instructor resources and information on Waste Reduction Week events, contact the Adopt-a-Street Coordinator at 604.532.7339 or email adopt@tol.bc.caThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Our committee has compiled an inventory of current initiatives and we are going to build on those. Our facilities management partner is preparing a list of 2008 initiatives and we will finalize those before the end of the year.

for Waste Reduction Week:
- before/after garbage measure
- lessons/tips on waste reduction

There will be a "lunch challenge" throughout the week, in which students and staff are encouraged to bring waste-free lunches and recycle.

There will also be an "energy challenge" day, focused on energy reduction and a "paper challenge" day, when we will aim to reduce paper consumption.

We may also incorporate a challenge by floor for our employess to reduce their waste in addition to a "Lunch and Learn" series of presentations and film documentaries.

I would like to promote the organization as a service for people to donate their old computers and other electronics and the fact that it encourages waste reduction.

ReVision – the Art of Recycling is a is two-day, juried show featuring recycled art (art made from anything reused, recycled, salvaged, scrounged or found - be it useful, beautiful, odd, playful, or thought-provoking).

The exhibition is being held on Granville Island in Vancouver in support of the Waste Reduction Week in Canada (Oct. 15-21, 2007). Sixteen artists from across British Columbia, will be represented, displaying over 40 works of art. For more information please visit our website at www.revision-theartofrecycling.com

I'm using pull-ups for my daughter while we potty train. Will buy some more underwear and try to reduce the amount of pull-ups so they don't go in the dump.

The line-up for this year's staff events is creative and ambitious! A sampling includes:
- Year-round low-impact office initiative.
- Waste audit: waste will be examined collectively at the end of the week.
- Vermicomposting presentation.
- Book fair.
- Waste displays in building lobby.
- "Garage sale" event.
- E-mail trivia contest.

The Department is partnering with the Recycling Council of Alberta to offer Triple StaRs, a waste challenge to grade 4 classrooms; Picture It! for communities to share their recycling efforts; and for three lucky businesses, a free assessment of their energy and water use and waste created. www.recycle.ab.ca/wrw

For Waste Reduction Week we are going to make a quiz and a recycle sculpture.

We will also be holding our annual "Get Caught Recycling" contest this week! You could get CAUGHT RECYCLING at any of Aquatera's recycling depots in the City and win! Just visit the recycling depots between October 15 - 19 and watch for the Aquatera van. Each day a lucky recycler will win great prizes - it really does pay to recycle.

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Units on Waste and our World and how we affect the world around us.

Programs of CCA include: Waste Wise Calgary, Materials Exchange School Education, EcoStore.

The Calgary Materials Exchange (CMEX) program helps companies divert waste from landfill by providing recommendations, referrals and support. CMEX also provides education through the "Waste at Work" presentation.

So book your presentation for Waste Reduction Week. Look for Bold Signs in Calgary's SE during WRW, and stayed tuned for information on a fluorescent bulb recycling workshop later in October.

For more information go to www.cmex.ca and www.cleancalgary.org

My goal is to develop a more comprehensive recycling program including cardboard, aluminum cans and glass and a composting program for our garden.

They have spoken to all the classes about recycling, turning off lights when leaving a room empty and reusing/recycling paper.

We plan to visit the Waste Management plant in Edmonton.

Over 600 Grande Prairie Grade 2 students will be participating in National Waste Reduction Week.

A group of Grade 4 students have made up radio ads and will be voicing these ads on our local radio stations.

This week we are taking litterless lunches to work and school and setting up our first compost bin!

The whole school will eliminate all waste leaving the school. None will be allowed on the playground! They will have to recycle any snack wrappers before leaving the school.

At the BBQ, we will give out information regarding where to recycle and how people can contribute to a healthier environment. All week, people are encouraged to choose one activity that is explained in the community newsletter and commit to making a change.

Call 266-1012 in Calgary for more information.

Their challenge for Waste Reduction Week will be to bring waste-free lunches and have no more than half-a-bag of non-recyclable garbage for the entire week. They will document their work through pictures, graphs, and videos.

This first-of-its-kind facility in Alberta will contribute to a dramatic reduction in the University's waste footprint and contribute to a greener future for all Albertans.

We will also be cleaning up our playground throughout this week and looking at the garbage that people throw away (litterbugs).

As well, our Comprehensive Health Committee has begun a bottle/can/drink box recycling program and our lunchroom is continuing to promote trashless lunches.

I am a member of a local group called Freecycle, on which I place all my old items to be given away, rather than thrown out. You can recycle anything on Freecycle, recently I posted over 30 cardboard boxes (that I used for moving) on the website and they were picked up the next day.

I also recently purchased a second recycling bin, and I manage to fill them both every week. It not only saves me money on garbage bags, I feel good doing it.

Another way I plan on reducing waste this year is to start composting. I recently signed up for a free "learn to compost" class at my local library to get me started.

We are also starting a home renovation project and are working with the contractor to develop a deconstruction/building materials recycling component of the project.

The grade 3 students are the school's Green Team and will be going to each class to do presentations on recycling and waste reduction. They will be playing recycling games, presenting using the waste reduction slide show to the older kids, and we will be signing a pledge to our globe to reduce our waste and recycle.

We will also use technology and visit recycling game sites on line. Example of one is www.funbrain.com/recycle.

We will have available sites for the drop-off of metal (stoves, washers, dryers, etc) and electronic equipment (computers, printers, cellphones, etc) which will go for recycle rather than into landfill.

CDC will be offering prizes. Dump tipping fees will be waived on the clean-up day. Our council will proclaim March 19th Neighbourhood Clean-Up Day and the week of October 15th to 21st Waste Reduction Week. We will track the number of loads taken to the Waste Disposal Grounds and to the Recycle Centers.

We are also using one car now for work, instead of two.

The special needs student does the collection from each classroom. The student council does the rest of the collection: juice and milk containers, cardboard, glass and plastic.

The school also collects empty print cartridges.

Middle School students are presenting an assembly to the school to explain this initiative and promote good choices. We will incorporate this "Too Good to Waste" in our assembly.

We focus on the 3 R's, the importance of recycling, the effects on the planet. The children are also encouraged to identify their goals for the future.

We also just undertook a large renovation on our house and either reused or recycled almost all our demolished items, ie. toilet, tub and sinks we donated to the Habitat For Humanity refit store and we recycled lots of wood and gave lots away for fire wood if it could be used for that purpose.

We are proud to say we are down to about 3/4 of a large garbage bag of waste every week and looking to reduce it even more.

In fact, we, as a student-based youth group, are now running a environmental N.E.E.D.S. (New Era of Environmental Dining Style) campaign across Toronto region, in which we encourage everyone to bring their own RE-USABLE utensils, containers, and cups for take-out food or beverages. NEEDS campaign will be an on-going project for our group.

We will also be doing public service announcements with tips on how to reduce waste in our lives at school and at home.

The environment club members will be making announcements each day to inform the other students of the importance of reducing waste in our community and how we can help.

We are implementing mandatory clear garbage bags for household garbage starting in January 2008. In partnership with local businesses, we will continue to educate, promote and advertise the upcoming change through a clear bag give-away promotion at our landfill sites.

If my students find bags including non-recyclable materials, the bags are returned to the class, shared with the students as to inform them of their mistakes. We also award a certificate of congratulations to the classes who make an effort to recycle.

We are also in the process of building three composting bins (happening as I write this); once completed, we will have a composting program in place (especially useful for us, since we have a Food School program that generates a lot of organic waste).

We have also started a Transportation Challenge amongst members of the staff to promote alternative and ecologically friendly ways of getting to work (such as carpooling, busing, biking, jogging, etc.).

Yard cleanup initiatives. Various classes 'sponsoring' areas of the school grounds and cleaning up any garbage in that area in order to raise consciousness on waste in our environment.

AECL operates the Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) in Chalk River, Ontario. With 2400 employees on site, we have a waste minimization plan in place to reduce the amount of general office waste being generated. However, as a nuclear facility, there are some special requirements to how we handle what is referred to as "low-level waste". These wastes consist of everyday items - paper towels, glassware, and equipment - that may have come in contact with radioactive materials. Before any material leaves the site for disposal or recycling, it is thoroughly examined to ensure it is free of contamination.

The Chalk River Laboratories safely store low-level waste from AECL's research activities. In addition, CRL safely stores low-level waste generated elsewhere in Canada through the industrial, scientific and medicinal applications of nuclear technology. Improved waste minimization practices on site are beneficial in both cases by reducing the amount of general office waste we generate, and by reducing the potential generation of low-level waste at the same time.

AECL's employees are committed to improving the low impact of our operations on the environment through ongoing waste reduction initiatives. We will participate in WRW in Canada for the first time this year. We are planning our WRW activities around these theme days:

1. Prevent Day: No printing, and no disposable water cups. We are able to measure printer activity before and after WRW.
2. Reduce Day - Waste Audit Day: Employees and our "Green Team" can perform audits to determine how much waste we leave behind, and how many recyclables are found in garbage. Person who correctly guesses how many disposable coffee cups are in the trash can at our site entrance wins a refillable coffee mug.
3. Reuse Day: Ask cafeteria caterer to allow employees to fill their own reusable coffee cups instead of disposable take-out cups. Discourage using Styrofoam cups for catered meetings. Encourage reusing mugs. Promote office supplies exchange.
4. Recycle Day: Guest speaker from Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery Centre, and display of recyclable items and what these items are turned into. "Get Caught Recycling" by Blue Box Betty (character mascot). Give away AECL Waste Minimization mugs. Battery recycling awareness and promotion.
5. Dispose Day - Waste and the Environment: Tours and Talks by Waste Management staff and Environmental Protection staff. Give away Earth Machine Composter(s). Activities for the Whole Week.
6. Ask employees to suggest ideas, submit their own waste minimization success stories to a website.
7. Park an empty radioactive waste container with a sign as a visual reminder of how much it costs to store radioactive waste.
8. Park a truck as a visual demonstration to capture our clean bagged waste before being sent to landfill. Each day employees see the pile growing. Also serves as a cost comparison between clean waste and radioactive waste.
9. Each day we count bags of recyclables and bags of waste and reports the amounts for publishing on a website.
10. Waste Minimization staff will be visiting workplaces, answering questions, etc.
11. Try recycling in our controlled area this week.
12. Have a photographer capture activities this week.

New this year: collection of old towels to make bathing suit cover-up ponchos and wrap-around skirts, possibly a collection of old silk ties to make girls' wrap-around skirts and boys' vests.

Also we plan to install recycling bins in the cafeteria to encourage students to recycle and keep our school clean.

The students, who are in Grades 1 and 2 also are taught that if they see any litter on the school ground to place it in the appropriate place. They are learning that one small person can begin to help make an impact on their environment.

Our Recycling and Composting team members will continue with their daily routines to move classroom compost and recyclables. We will also continue with our Litterless Lunch contest.

The energy spent on harvesting the trees, producing the paper, printing the flyers, distributing the flyers, collecting the flyers and recycling the flyers can be eliminated if merchants post their flyers on CitySales.ca instead of printing them on paper. We're just local to Ottawa at the moment, but we'll be expanding.

Waste Reduction Week:
- waste-free lunches
- organic collection

Continue with waste free lunches throughout the year.

The grade 2/3 class wrote 2 songs about waste reduction. We already compost daily and have recently made a vermicomposter.

Doing Our Part To Help Our Planet

Club de recyclage: les élèves du cycle moyen ramassent les boîtes de recyclage (3 groupes de 2 élèves) les mercredis et vendredis, soit 12 élèves pour une durée de 3-4 semaines, puis les groupes changent.

Club environnement: - Initiative de réduction des déchets appelée "mission possible". Plus de déchets dans les boîtes à dîner, seulement des contenants réutilisables. Les déchets recyclables doivent être lavés et déposés dans les bacs de recyclage.

Projet: compostage pour les déchets biodégradables. Nous avons déjà une boîte de compostage. Nous voulons en acheter plus, le comité de parents s'en charge.

Initiatives: La mission possible a été portée à la connaissance des parents dans notre bulletin informatif mensuel (l'informe-hibou), dans chaque classe (sur la porte) il y a une affiche de Mission possible représentant une boîte à dîner idéale, le défi Mission possible est rappelé aux élèves une fois par semaine pendant le programme de télé-scolaire, nous allons de rendre visite aux classes dans le but d'un concours de la classe qui aura le plus de boîtes à dîner propres, les dates prévues sont les jeudis 18 octobre, 25 octobre, 1er novembre et une date supplémentaire en décembre. à chaque fois, la classe qui aura le plus grand pourcentage de boîtes sans déchet gagnera une récompense.

Activités: nous allons utiliser les activités proposées sur votre site, les jeux aussi.

De plus, nous allons préparer une série d'annonces qui seront présentées durant cette semaine afin de sensibiliser et de motiver la population étudiante.

Finalement, nous planifions organiser soit une activité interactive à l'heure du dîner ou un dîner "vidéo" afin de diffuser un film portant sur un sujet écologique de l'heure.

EMC waste programs include recycling and reuse of cardboard, glass-plastic-aluminum beverage containers, scrap metals, wood packaging, cafeteria organics and grease, coolants, oils, diesel fuel, fluorescent light bulbs, computers and metal & plastic drums.

For example, our wood program includes recycling of wood packaging (crates, skids, boxes) throughout our manufacturing facility which is then turned into mulch materials by our wood recycler. This material is offered to our employees at our Annual Spring Free Mulch and Compost Event.

A number of our waste initiatives include assistance from our ISO 14001 GREEN Team members and employees at EMC.

Initiatives include reusing welding wire cardboard metal drums by donation to London Habitat for Humanity and Youth Opportunities Unlimited. We have worked with the welding wire manufacture to develop an all-cardboard package which will allow us to now recycle them.

We donate used grinding disks to London Habitat for Humanity and Technology Department at Fanshawe College. We also routinely donate scrap metal to a London Technical High School for their welding classes.

During last year's annual United Way Fund-raising Event, EMC held an employee silent audit that included 210 pieces of used furniture and equipment (office desks, tables); 51 engine plastic tarps and 173 gallons of paints. These items were all reused by EMC employees and their families rather then taking up valuable landfill space.

Computers and monitors were donated through the Ontario Computers to Schools Program.

A recent air emission reduction initiative includes working with City of London Transportation Department to promote employee carpooling throughout the city. Employees can register through a free on-line carpooling service where they can reduce their fuel consumption and emissions.

To celebrate this year's Waste Reduction Week, EMC will be promoting our many environmental programs on communication boards throughout the facility and challenge the employees to reduce, reuse and recycle. Employees that demonstrate the 3R's will be rewarded with an Electro-Motive Canada Co. GREEN reusable cooler lunch bag.

With the green bins having been introduced I have noticed a dramatic depletion of actual garbage per week. This initiative combined with recycling really reduces our household garbage to about one plastic grocery bag a week, which is definitely an improvement from previous years.

If we could all allot some more effort and thought before we just conveniently trash things, it would really improve our disposal problems.

We will be doing crafts with re-useable items throughout the year and have just signed up with "thinkrecycle" to collect ink cartridges and cell phones.

Considering... School Wide initiative for The Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup @ Claireville Reservoir.

To reduce the amount of garbage, our Green Ambassador environmental club will propose a challenge to all classes at Finch. Students will be asked to bring a litterless lunch daily and the amount of garbage produced by each class will be measured by our students. The class that produces the least amount of garbage will win the competition and will be rewarded.

Also, as the school is not yet participating in the green bin program, one of our staff members has been collecting the organic waste in the staffroom, which she takes home to add to her organic waste.

GDLS-C also hosts seasonal recycling programs for its employees. These programs provide an easy opportunity for employees to recycle Christmas trees, fall leaves and pumpkins. Over the past two years 16 tonnes of yard waste was recycled. During the spring, employees are able to take advantage of their fall recycling efforts when GDLS-C, in conjunction with their recycler, holds an annual employee compost event. During the compost event employees are able to receive free premium compost and mulch from the material they had recycled the previous fall.

In addition GDLS-C offers employees a scrap wood program. Employees have the opportunity to pick-up scrap wood, generated at GDLS-C, from the recycler for use at home. So far in the past two years employees have picked up 48 tonnes of wood for use at home.

While Environmental Stewardship is important to GDLS-C giving back to the community in which employees live is also very important. GDLS-C has implemented many initiatives that are environmentally friendly while at the same time giving back to the community. These include:

1.) GDLS-C donates its grinding, sanding disc and office furniture to Habitat for Humanity. This not only reduces the solid waste GDLS-C generates but it generates funds for a local charity;
2.) Pop can donations: While pop can recycling is not a new initiative at GDLS-C donating aluminum pop cans to London's local Shriners. The money raised from aluminum recycling goes to various Children's charities and hospitals;
3.) Donation of computers: Approximately 12 tonnes of computers were donated to the "Computers for Schools" and "reBOOT" programs that help Canadians obtain the skills required to succeed in a technology motivated economy.
4.) Copper tip and aluminum recycling: The funds generated from these metals are donated to the United Way, which supports many local programs and services.
5.) Toner cartridges and cell phone recycling: Donations of funds from participating in the THINKGREEN cartridge-recycling program go to the Upper Thames Conservation Authority.
6.) "Welding at its Best" donation: Some of GDLS-C scrap metal is donated to "Welding At Its Best", a private career college which specializes in training welders. The training provided at this private career college is focused on the workplace environment, which prepares the students to succeed in a high demand skilled trade.

In June of 2007 GDLS-C held a facility wide Clean Sweep, this was a day dedicated for employees to clean up their desks and department areas. GLDS-C generated the following:
- 44 boxes of supplies donated to Habitat for Humanity (771 Kg)
- 40 boxes of binders donated to area schools and camps
- 50 bins of paper shredded (7167 Kg) and recycled
- 6 boxes of obsolete toner cartridges were recycled
- 2 boxes of obsolete phones were recycled

This year GDLS-C plans to enhance the current organics recycling program by implementing a comprehensive organics recycling program throught the facility. The implementation of this new programs is set for the fall.

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From the beginning of November through to February, we will be making presentation in elementary schools on the importance of getting in the loop. Pamphlets will be given to take home, general ecycling info page will be distributed at large, and a website for community awareness will be linked to the city.

Heartwood House is a strong and innovative grassroots initiative gathering sixteen charitable organizations under one roof, to share ideas, to share resources and to provide more efficient services to the Ottawa community. RD Long Computers Ltd is a leading electronics salvage company.

The way it works is that Heartwood House collects donations of computer equipment from the community, and RD Long Computers compensates Heartwood for its efforts. Items are inspected for usability and returned to service whenever possible or recycled in an environmentally friendly manner.

Money raised by Heartwood supports the vital community work of its sixteen charitable member groups. The Ottawa community wins by ensuring that used electronic material does not harm the environment by ending up in landfill. Everybody truly does win! Heartwood House

We are also presenting to the classes waste reduction methods and recyclable materials.

The Earth Angels Club students will be doing daily announcements to encourage students and staff to use scrap paper and other initiatives, and if possible, for paper-less one day.

We have also started to raise awareness about recycling, with a poster campaign. We hope to implement year-round the initiatives discussed at the Celebration and on the websites mentioned.

Holy Trinity recognizes the importance of the saving of our planet and will increase the involvement of the school community for this effort with great enthusiasm.

We will promote a litterless lunch day to try and produce no waste for one day.

WRW activities:
- litterless lunches all week
- presentations in classes

We have established an EcoSchools committee to address waste minimization,energy conservation, school ground greening and ecological literacy.

Students in grades 7 and 8 held a giant garage sale to reuse old items that might have been thrown out. A kindergarten class is looking at composting with Red Wiggler Worms. We are holding a school wide recycling education program.

At the end of the week, student monitors will measure the amount of waste produced by each class, which will then be graphed and posted on our EcoSchool Bulletin board. Incentives will be provided throughout our challenge encouraging classes to produce the least amount of waste.

We are also launching new recycling boxes for cans and bottles and piloting a composting program. Students will be creating a display about waste-reduction and recycling.

We have changed all our incandescent light bulbs to CFs, but are concerned about the mercury in them. We buy in bulk, but are still distressed by the huge amount of plastic & cardboard that accumulates.

They will be spot-checking and giving out prizes throughout the year for Litterless Lunches.

We continue to recycle milk cartons and packaging from food sold at the school.

We are in the process of brainstorming our ideas and approach. We definitely want to conduct a waste audit of the school.

During the week of the 15th we will be having prizes drawn for students who bring their lunch in recyclable containers.

We will be making announcements and sharing some resources with teachers for individual class activities including sharing the waste reduction website.

LaserWorks Canada is committed to preserving our environment through our mandate to reduce, reuse and recycle. Our manufacturing of OEM compatible cartridges, our Cartridge Return Program, our participation in HP Planet Partners recycling program, and our membership with the RCO are all part of our plan to protect our environment.

For Waste Reduction Week, our team is launching a city-wide initiave where LaserWorks Canada will pick up free-of-charge empty printer toner cartridges to any city residences/businesses/schools and industries, from which they will be sorted/recycled and most importantly, avoid polluting our landfills. Our City-Wide Collection is our way of giving back to not ony the community we live in, but to the environment we are all responsible to preserve. www.laserworks-canada.com

We are having a Litterless Lunch Day on Wednesday the 17th and we have decorated a bulletin board showing ways to recycle and compost at our school. Daily announcements with Eco facts are ongoing for this week and next week.

We promote litterless lunches on an ongoing basis.

We recycle laser ink cartridges and cellphones at various times in the school year.

We have litterless lunches and award prizes to students who do it on a regular basis.

We host a website that contains information on packing a healthy litterless lunch. We work in conjunction with the London Middlesex Health Unit to provide healthy eating tips and during our Meet the Teacher Event the Health unit held a draw with Litterless Lunches Kits as the prizes.

Il y aura par la suite, plusieurs autres activités pertinentes.

The importance of recycling is an ongoing lesson, as well as the choices we make at the grocery store regarding over packaging of goods. Manufacturers should bring changes to the packaging practices, using only recyclable material.

My peers and myself will dedicate our time on waste management and recycling. We feel that if we take care of our personal actions, many of todays issues will slowly disappear. I really hope everyone who registers on this site has similar feelings and intentions. Thank you all.

Students will be assigned to be responsible for looking after your classes recycling. There are several jobs that can be assigned to one or more students: sorting bins (green for paper and blue for plastics/glass), washing out the bins. House colour points will be awarded for good recycling habits.

Outline of the week:
Monday - trivia contest
Tuesday - wash out your recycling bins
Wednesday - improve recycling at home
Thursday - Garbage-Free Lunch
Friday - check for proper sorting of recycling

As volunteers we have created a website www.wastefreeworld.org that currently includes a great deal of information on plastic bags and the actions individuals can take to reduce their use of plastic bags.

We also have held education awareness sessions for the public on the hazards of plastic in the natural environment. These activities are continuing with the intent of reducing plastic bag usage in the city of London.

Also students will be challenging each other to reduce waste in various other ways throughout the week, with incentives to do so.

During Waste Reduction Week school caretakers will be collecting waste and diversion data to enter into a special on-line program that determines each school's waste diversion rate. Our target across the Board is 60% waste diversion.

We plan to explore litterless lunches during Waste Reduction Week and begin asking our municipality why we can't recycle tetrapaks.

Each day of the week we will focus on a theme eg.:
Monday = Energy Reduction Day, Tuesday = Water Reduction Day, Wednesday = Zero Garbage Day, and the club will go and remove all of the garbage cans in every classroom and leave a small bag in which garbage can be put for that day.

Our school is the pilot school for composting (a combined effort with the Town of Orangeville and the Board of Education) so we will continue with our efforts to reduce garbage by composting. Most of the grades are trained and participating except the intermediate division and we hope to bring them on board very soon.

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To use posters as a form of media literacy and to provide a general understanding of waste reduction (the 3 R's).

We also started up a roadside recycling program, which are plastics that are not recycled by the School board but by the city. These plastics are taken to the side of the road once a week. We would recycle the gable end products but do not have the facilities to dispose of unused milk etc.

I will be starting up a note pad club which will make note pads from recycled paper and disperse them amongst the school. We have not decided what activities we will be doing during Waste reduction week but I read a few suggestions and would like to give some of them a try. One year I held a draw, to have your name put into it you had to donate a brown yard waste bag.

We have also posted the provided posters in our building for our employees to enjoy.

Beginning this week, we are now recycling all paper, plastics, metal and glass. We educated kids about the appropriate containers to recycle, and the benefits to our environment of sending less trash to the landfill.

In addition the Green club collects compost and recyling diverting it from the garbage. Eventually the compost goes into our garden.

Within the Town facilities:
- Recycling receptacles for batteries, printer cartridges, mixed paper, cardboard, cans, tetra-paks and wine corks are available and promoted throughout the year. This year CFL lightbulbs and eyeglasses will be collected as well.
- Computers for Schools receive computer components from Town facilities plus all retired computer components are sent for proper recycling.
- Printer cartridges are refilled by manufacturer made available for reuse.
- Reuseable one-sided paper is sent from Town facilities to Public Libraries for reuse.
- Posted beside all copiers and printers is a reminder of the duplex printing capabilities. All purchases are made with duplex features enabled.
- Staff are provided desktop recycling containers to increase convenience.
- Travel mugs and reusable water bottles will be sold in the staff cafeteria to limit the use of styrofoam in Town Hall.
- The option of using biodegradable take-out containers or bringing your own dishware for lunches, in conjunction with a week long litterless lunch.
- All-in-one machines are being implemented as old machines fail to limit the energy and manufacturing costs associated with business equipment.
- to run the Local Cooling Application on all desktops within Town Hall to deliver measureables on energy conservation.

External Initiatives:
- Oakville participates in the 20-Minute Makeover annually and picks up litter in the area.
- Encourages school participation through the suggestion of litterless lunches and recycling clubs.
- Brings portable recycling containers to all festivals to encourage and promote sustainable behaviour.

Waste Reduction activities carried out in 2006:

Employee awareness campaign
- information provided on initiatives already underway such as battery and computer component reuse and recycling programs through cafeteria display, posters and internal e-newsletter
- the selling of travel mugs in the cafeteria to reduce the amount of styrofoam used at Town Hall
- revamping of all recycling stations within departments at Town Hall with new signs posted to clearly define acceptable materials
- creation of the Green Squad who sent reminders to all staff regarding powering down all computer components at the end of each day and while away on lunch and at meetings.
- utilizing real glassware for meetings instead of using the styrofoam cups that are usually provided.
- ensuring that all duplex printers are enabled and that staff are aware.

Participation in the Bag-A-Cork program which collects and recycles wine corks with all proceed going to the Girl Guides of Ontario.

The collection of one sided non-confidential paper to be reused at the Public Library for book reservations.

Give Away Day in Ottawa would allow City residents to place their unwanted household goods at the curb for other City residents to pick up for free. The intent of the program is to help residents reuse household items that otherwise might end up in local landfills.

We will be sending the schools a "Walking Lightly on the Environment Contest" package asking classes to submit colourings and drawings (JK/SK – Gr. 5), to compose an environmental radio announcement (Gr. 6-9) or design a mural (Gr. 10- 12). The winning colourings and drawings will be displayed in an Environmental Calendar for 2008, the winning radio advertisement will run on 2 local radio stations featuring the student(s) who composed it and the winning mural design will be displayed on one of the walls at the OVWRC.

For the residents we will be holding a "Get Caught Recycling" event where OVWRC Staff will be out during WRW conducting random curbside inspections. If the resident is recycling and doing it correctly they will receive an "Environmental Gift Pack". Residents who take their recycling to a Transfer Station will also have a chance to receive an "Environmental Gift Pack" if they "Get Caught Recycling" by one of the Transfer Station Attendants.

The focus of this week is to challenge and educate residents on the value of reducing waste in our community using the 3Rs - reducing, reusing and recycling. Waste Reduction Week is an excellent opportunity to communicate our waste management programs, services and successes.

Litter-less Lunch Day scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 17:
Staff encouraged to bring lunch in reusable containers, recycle and take organics home to green bin.

Corporate Waste Challenge against Town of Ajax scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 17:
Municipality whose City Hall and Recreation Complex produce the least amount of waste wins and gets to fly their municipal flag at the other municipality's City Hall.

Education Significant expansion to the Waste Management section of City of Pickering website to include information about Waste Reduction Week in general as well as numerous beneficial tips and links to help people reduce their consumption and improve waste diversion at "Home", "Travel", "Work" and "School" throughout the year.

Articles placed in e-bullitins, newspapers and newsletters. Various techniques used to market Waste Reduction Week to City of Pickering staff and the community.

Donors are encouraged to drop off their equipment between 9:30 am and 1:30 pm on October 18th to be tested and refurbished for delivery to schools, libraries and local charities.

RCT's focus on "reusing first" not only has social and economic benefits, it also has great environmental impacts such as saving Greenhouse Gas Emissions, energy and natural resources. **Maximum 5 skids accepted for this event**

Equipment that cannot be re-used will be recycled using environmentally sound processes that ensure worker safety, human health and environmental protection.

Please contact our Donations Coordinator by October 15th at 905.795.2931 or nqureshi@rcto.caThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to schedule your drop-off. Charity # 875058828RR0001

Nous suggèrons également au parents d'envoyer les repas du diner dans des contenants réutilisable au lieu de sac jetables.

We are continually trying to promote reducing first, then reusing and recycling.

Investing in a school set of reusable cups and plates for use during events which involve food, to help abolish water bottle and juice containers as well as any throw-away plates.

Lundi:
- Activité en salle de classe sur la matière recyclable. Enseignants-élèves répondent aux questionnaires et discutent de l'importance de la semaine.
- Les enseignantes et les enseignants distribuent des rubans verts que les élèves peuvent porter soulignant l'importance d'une école verte!
- Distribution des bacs de recyclage dans les salles de classe, l'entrée principale et la cafétéria
- Afficher les messages de sensibilisation au recyclage dans l'école.

Mardi:
- Un dîner écolo sans déchets!
- Les élèves et leur enseignante ou enseignant pourront dîner ensemble: le but est de créer le moins de déchets possibles.
- Ma classe planifie un dîner écolo, chaque élève a le droit d'inviter un maximum de 2 amis. Une photo sera prise de l'événement et des déchets générés. On espère que ce soit un succès.

Mercredi:
- Recyclage des piles
- Deux boîtes fabriquées de bois recyclé seront mises en place à deux endroits dans l'école afin de commencer le recyclage des piles dans l'école.

Jeudi:
- Le futur de notre planète est dans nos mains!
- Les élèves sont encouragés à signer ou laisser un message sur une bannière, pour le bien de la Terre. Signer ou laisser un message pour la Terre, c'est aussi s'engager à recycler et être plus écolo!
- L'activité se déroulera pendant les deux dîners, elle sera organisée par les élèves de science 10 appliquée sous ma supervision.

Vendredi:
- Nous allons plantés un arbre devant l'école, pendant le cours de SNC2P.
- L'arbre symbolise le début d'un message qui continuera à grandir à Samuel-Genest.

I was disappointed to discover that the city of Windsor will provide a complimentary red and blue box for residences but not for a business so I am in search of the best way to get this going at minimal cost.

Having received national recognition and the award for the "Most Outstanding Youth Initiative of the Year" the green team is committed to bring environmental awareness amongst muslim communities across the country.

The efforts begin by targeting Toronto and the surrounding GTA. The pilot has begun at a well known mosque, The International Muslims Organization (IMO) located in the heart of Etobicoke during the busy month of Ramadhan (Sept 12th 2007 - Oct 12 2007).

The mosque provides Iftaar (Break Fast) and Dinner/Dessert to members of the community every day of the month. The mosque feeds approximately 500 people on Fridays and 800 people on Saturday and Sunday as well as a number of others during the week. The mosque is actively recycling up to 12 bags of recycled food, forks, spoons, bottles, cardboard, etc... every day of the month.

The IMO stands as a pioneer to successfully implement consistent recycling within a Toronto Mosque to date during the month of Ramadhan and going forward. The Green Team continues to help the community to recycle and will ensure this is an ongoing pattern at this mosque as well as a number of other major mosques across the GTA.

Our latest recyling activity is collection of empty pop cans to help with waste reduction and to help Habitat for Humanity.

Students will be encouraged to reduce even more by attempting a waste-free lunch during the week of October 15/07.

from Laura Hardychuk: My grade 8 students will make announcements during the week prior to the Waste Reduction Week in Canada and during the week of. They will create posters to promote the week.

They will use reusable containers for their lunches and snacks and will use recycled goods for a class mascot to promote the week and continuous waste reduction.

They will also initiate Waste Reduction We at home with their families through informing their parents of the importance of this movement.

Reusable Art Fair (REUSE)
- children will collect recycled material all week and create a piece of art. Art will be show-cased in an art fair.

Recycling Challenge (RECYCLE)
- Contest to determine the class who can collect the most milk/juice boxes in their recycle bins.

Members of the Eco Club are preparing a bulletin board display, as well as making laminated posters to display throughout the school in order to encourage and educate students to reduce waste and conserve our resources.

The Eco Club members are also planning on having a 5 minute presentation (classroom visits) in each classroom to educate students about the 3Rs (i.e. how to recycle properly - what goes where - ways to reduce paper use).

In addition, the Eco Club members are preparing an environmental quiz that will be presented on the PA system in the school.

Finally, the members have performed a waste audit in the school to see how the school is doing prior to the above initiative.

We are going to try and reduce the amount of paper being used at the school this year and turn off lights when on lunch or recess.

The Monster Market involves students bringing in used toys that are no longer of interest to the child for resale. These toys are resold at the Monster Market for a marvelously low price. All monies collected from the Monster Market will be donated to Unicef Canada.

The class with the least amount of garbage each day will win an award.

We hope to reduce as much waste as possible for this week.

All students and staff help the over 100 member Eco Team to minimize waste through recylcing at school, boomerang lunches are always encouraged, buying products with minimal packages, using reusable containers, use paper from the GOOS Bin (good on one side paper), all communication is on FirstClass (Internet) and our newsletters are posted on the Web (we minimize hard copies this way). We successfully minimize/reduce waste in many ways.

We also concentrate on Energy Conservation, Eco Literacy and Greening. As Stewards of the Earth, we carry the Green Eco spirit in all our activities all year round.

We will introduce the waste-free lunch and pick several Fridays throughout the year to designate as garbage-free lunch day. Our goal is to increase the number of garbage-free lunches each year.

Requesting recycled items for classroom use - arts and crafts. The student council will be running this program - announcements will be made, posters will be up and spirit day prizes will be handed out randomly upon observation of waste reduction activities.

second submission:
We will sort our garbage on the Monday of Waste Reduction Waste and see how much recyclable waste was in our trash. Then later on in the week, we will do the same test to see if we reduced the recyclable waste in the trash. We will also promote a 'waste free' lunch day.

Daily announcements such as green tips to help create awareness, and to provide suggestions for waste reduction.

Some of our initiates include:

- using less paper (photocopying on both sides of the paper),
- ensure all classrooms have a box for scrap paper,
- ensure all classroom teachers incorporate envirnomental topics in some of their lessons,
- educate students and staff about recycling, waste reduction, etc. through morning announcements.

second submission
- Encourage continuation of our litterless lunch initiative.
- Encourage use of reusable containers.
- Encourage use of fresh/not packaged foods.
- Encourage staff and students to compost appropriate items.
- Encourage reduction in paper consumption by photo copying on both sides.

Friday October 12 we will be having a school assembly to kick-off the WRW beginning next week in order to have all classes take part in the event.

The Environmental Committee will be working together throughout the entire year and each month we will focus on a different aspect of how the school and community can help the environment.

We would like to run a Waste-Free Lunch Challenge at our school and look forward to challenging St. Theresa's students and families to reduce waste!

I would like info on composting within a school setting. We have a great neighbour who will take all the compost we can give him but I am leery of getting into a project that can get out of control.

I am proud how well the children have started the recycling program this year, my fourth here, without prodding. First day of school we filled one totter with water bottles and tetra packs etc.

For this week I have submitted 21 easy ways for the children to reduce their waste at home and at school for the morning announcements.

During Waste Reduction Week, the City of Greater Sudbruy will provide tips to other schools on how to help reduce the amount of waste going to our landfills. i.e. presentations, tours, litterless lunches, vermicomposting, etc.

TerraCycle's organic plant food is processed from all-natural worm poop. Every 24 hours, armies of worms consume their body weight in organic waste material, turning trash into worm poop. This is then brewed into an extremely effective, easy-to-use fertilizer.

TerraCycle takes used pop bottles to package its product. Many of these are collected by over 3,000 schools, churches and other community groups across North America. Through the TerraCycle Bottle Brigade Program over 1.2 million bottles have been rescued from going to landfill, helping to "close the loop" on consumption. Charities earn five cents per bottle collected.

The innovative product and production methods have enabled the company to be the first ever consumer product to be given certification from Zerofootprint™, a non-profit organization that tracks carbon and energy use, (www.zerofootprint.net) and be labeled "The World's Most Eco-Friendly Product".

We are extremely interested in the Waste Reduction Week, and although we have already reduced our excess waste, and the waste of others, drastically, we will strive to promote an eco-friendly, footprint-reduced lifestyle.

You can find TerraCycle Plant Food at Wal-Mart and Home Depot. For more information please check out: www.terracycle.net or give me a call: Jennifer Wilkie 416-661-WORM (9676)

Garbage cans are smaller, limited to use for hygenic items and pencil shavings, and kept under teacher's desks. Garbage audits are done on a regular basis.

Waste Reduction week is a great opportunity to start this group, while drawing even more attention to the week itself. Class graphs, contests for the most reduced waste record etc., and links to our language programs (i.e. reading environmental books as a read aloud) will all be a part of our Waste Reduction week....so far!

Potential Activities for Waste Reduction Week:
- Stuff Swap in University Centre where students can drop off unwanted items and pick up desired items - all for free! (Bi-monthly campus event).
- Distribution of posters and other promotional material bringing attention to waste reduction and reduction in consumption.
- Re-used clothing fashion show.
- Workshop on reuse and ethical purchasing.
- Discounts for bringing reusable dishes and containers to cafeterias and serveries on campus.

During morning announcements we will talk about Waste Reduction Week asking each class to be aware of how much paper we can reuse in a day.

Classes will be using their literacy block to study the poster and find the main idea, the supporting details and write a paragraph about the meanng of the poster.

Chris Van Allsburg's book, "Just a Dream" will be a focus of read alouds to make connections to self, other texts and the world.

Tentative: compost the garbage from cafeteria lunches, daily announcements regarding ways to reduce garbage at home, school, etc.

By this time we will also be finished giving all our municipal Parks and Recreational facilities a Green Facelift, allowing them to lead as a model in environmental initiatives and waste diversion in our community. WRW can act as a recap into what we've done and an intro into what else we plan on doing.

We also have litterless lunches and Walrus Club members check the lunches and award points and we hold draws to encourage litterless lunches.

As most of our school population live in apartments, where recycling is not encouraged, we feel even more strongly that we model recycling and waste reduction on a daily basis.

To reduce our energy consumption we began our year with a "Walk to School" program and an anti-idling program to encourage buses and parents waiting for students to turn their engines off while they wait.

We do our best through out the year to keep litter off our playground and school property. To celebrate Earth Day we planned a week long schedule of activities aimed at improving our knowledge about a variety of environmental issues that the entire school body participate in.

We will continue to work towards increasing our understanding of what is going on in the world around us and how we can each do our part to reduce the amounts of resources, energy and water we use each day.

The MUN Sustainability Office and student volunteers will be conducting a Lug A Mug campaign near several campus coffee shop locations. Students will be rewarding those who bring their own reuseable mug when purchasing coffee with a coupon for their next coffee free. Those who are using disposable cups will be invited to enter to win a reuseable mug, and therefore to cut down on the amount of solid waste they produce on campus.

Zero Waste Lunch Wednesday, October 17th 12-2pm MUNSU Boardroom (UC2001) MUN Project Green and the MUN Sustainability Office are inviting students, faculty and staff to take part in a Zero Waste Lunch by bringing your lunch from home in reuseable containers and using reuseable cutlery and napkins.

Those participating in the Zero Waste Lunch are invited to eat together in the MUNSU Boardroom (UC2001) where a discussion regarding applying for funding for future projects of MUN Project Green will occur.

A newsletter has gone out to the Residents of Placentia West informing them of Waste Reduction Week and the number of ways that they could reduce:
- There are composters in the communities, which people use.
- Asking persons to donate items to the Salvation Army, Goodwill, second-hand stores etc.
- Encourage persons to keep fleece items and polyester/cotton for the hooked and poked mats producers in our area.
- Cut back on the energy burned by buying energy efficient appliances.
- Adopt a green spot.

The recycling of beverage containers has gone over well in our area, as a number of organizations, individuals and the School have been at this for a number of years and more persons are coming on side.

All waste material produced by our toy store, warehouse, and administrative offices are sorted into recycle bins to minimize garbage sent to the landfill. Hot Toads! Toys minimizes the use of incandescent lighting in the store where possible by using LED-powered accent lighting and use low-power fluorescent overhead lighting. All new electronics purchased must also have a power saving Energy Star mode. www.hottoads.com

Compost from the staff-room is used for a local garden. Flower bulbs are sold as a fundraiser.

Parents and staff donate items such as paint to the art room, notepads are made from previously used paper, recycling bins are everywhere.

Mobile HHW Drop-off, Lawrencetown Fire Station. Saturday October 20th, 9 am to 4 pm.

Businesses can contact our Eduction Hotline (490-2865 or wasteless@halifax.caThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) to arrange lunch & learn sessions or waste audits with one of our Education Officers.

See www.halifax.ca/wrms for details of the above-listed events.

Our family tries to reduce and eliminate food packaging waste as much as possible.

The objective of the challenge is to determine which unit can reduce the most amount of waste from the previous week. The winner will be determined by comparing waste numbers from the previous week, for Stadacona, the Dockyard, Shearwater, Windsor and Willow Park, and DRDC. The unit with the greatest reduction in waste will be awarded the Waste Reduction Trophy.

Each day, during Waste Reduction Week, a Travelling Display Booth will be set up at various locations throughout MARLANT. Be sure to check the schedule and stop by to pick up some great information on reducing waste. At each location we will be collecting clothing, toys, books and baby items for donation to Bryony House for abused women and children.

Information sessions will be provided to requesting units to inform them about MARLANT's waste management program and address any questions they might have concerning waste reduction.

We have participated in the clean-up program in conjunction with ACAP Cape Breton of our local beaches each year. We also clean and gather waste from the road leading to our school on a regular basis.

Last year we applied for a grant through our Local Union to set up an improved recyling program in our school which would have put blue bins in each class. It would also assist with the cost incurred by providing blue bags, gloves, cleaning materials etc. and this would make our student's job easier. We were unsuccessful in obtaining the grant but will apply again this year.

We use money raised from the recycling to purchase our supplies and to afford necessities for the students.