Environmental Learning and Actions help Haiti move forward one step at a time
Mazo de la Roche's Environment Club (MEC) in York Region launched school-wide "Running Shoes for Haiti" and "Crutches & Canes for Haiti" campaigns this spring as a way to reuse outgrown, gently used running shoes, crutches and canes for a good cause. Spring is the time of year when many parents are putting away winter boots and finding out that the running shoes they put away from the previous fall no longer fit.

MEC has collected 89 pairs of running shoes that will be sent to Haiti by not-for-profits Running Free Runners for Haiti and Soles4Souls. Caring Crutches will be sending the crutches and canes to Haiti.

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Certification and Site Visit Info
Our assessors are busy across the province, assessing all the wonderful certification applications that have been submitted. Site visits are beginning in May for newly certified schools and schools that did not receive a visit last year. In order to get the most out of your visit, please click on the info sheet here.

Final standings will be released to the board representatives before the end of June.

More Inspiring EcoSchools Initiatives Shared
You have accomplished a lot this year! We are seeing some very inspiring ideas in this year's applications and can't wait to highlight some of these initiatives in next year's newsletter and best practices gallery. In the meantime, here are some more of the ideas shared by teachers in this spring's EcoSchools PD workshops:

• Classrooms that leave their lights on get the UGLY TROPHY! They then have to find another class who also left their lights on to rid themselves of the trophy. Other schools have a similar trophy in the form of a piggy bank called an "ENERGY HOG". Various
• Grades sixes and sevens do a quadrant study, survival and orienteering with curriculum connections at an outdoor centre. St. Matthew, DCDSB
• Classes carry water in buckets to understand the importance of various water issues (source contamination, conservation, access). They also raised money for clean water in African communities. OCSB

Going Green (bin) at Redstone!
The staff at Redstone Public School in Richmond Hill (YRDSB) is leading by example in their efforts to support green initiatives. The school has implemented a litterless lunch campaign, encouraging staff and students to bring their lunches to school in re-useable containers and take home all compostable items and packaging. To date, Redstone has realized a reduction of waste generated in their school of approximately 50% over last year. 

The school completed a waste audit with the support of caretaking staff, teachers, parents and student members of the Eco-Team. The school's caretakers have announced that they have reduced their 'wet garbage waste' to one pick up each week, down from twice weekly. 

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