Teaching the three Rs
Kids are great teachers when it comes to the eco philosophy of reduce, reuse and recycle.
Students at Carleton Village Public School are organizing a toy trade. At Pope Paul VI Catholic School children discuss environmental news and commit to social action they can take at their school. And St. Rita Catholic School has thrown seed bombs and is planning litterless lunches.
These are just a few of the ideas that children presented at youth eco summit hosted by the non-profit group Green Here.
“We are working on a trading post in our school where kids trade toys they don’t play with anymore and they choose a new toy,” one
elementary student from Carleton Village told about 40 people at the event.
Teacher Gary Bieler tells me this idea of reusing old toys came from his students in grades 4 and 5.
“My students have a lot of toys and stuff they don’t use,” he said. “One a week or twice a month they’d bring in a toy in excellent condition and then trade it in for something there.”
The toy trading post will open as soon as enough inventory has been built up.
I love this idea as it’s a wonderful way for a toy to get some new life rather than stay in the cupboard or be thrown in the trash. And it’s great for families who can’t afford to buy new items as they can exchange a used toy for something their child will play with.
I have seen similar concepts of toy sharing in local parks where the neighbourhood families pitch in by bringing in toy dump trucks, pails, shovels and tricyles that stay at the playground for all children to enjoy.
Carleton Village students also have a public park behind the school, which is enjoyed by students and the whole community. But not everyone is diligent in cleaning up the green space, so students are pitching in.
“We use it and clean it every Friday in spring and summer and that’s successful,” teacher Bieler explains.
Students notice the difference immediately after they’ve picked up all the litter.
“It goes from a dirty playground to spotless,” he said.
At St. Rita Catholic School, students talk excitedly about throwing a mud packed seed bomb that will later sprout flowers when the seeds take root. Kids also want to implement litterless lunches two or three times a week when students bring reusable food containers and mugs and take any lunch waste back home.
Pope Paul VI students meet with teacher George Galego every Wednesday armed with news articles on environmental action and books with tales of ways to be green. Students discuss what changes they’d like to see at their school.
“I wanted to get students involved,” Galego said in an interview. “The best way is for them to bring in articles that they read and share with the group.
“They will see the real consequence of their actions. It makes learning come alive,” he said.
One young student, Carmine, has come with the idea of reducing plastic water bottle use at the Catholic school by having students bring in mugs and drink tap water, there’s battery collections, an eco team patrolling the school to ensure computers and lights are turned off when no one is using classrooms.
It’s great to see the next generation taking such great responsibility for making the environment around them cleaner, more energy efficient and leaving behind less waste.