This year we worked hard to increase environmental awareness around the school. We participated in the Ontario Waste-Free Lunch Challenge sponsored by the Ministry of the Environment, the Recycling Council of Ontario, and Ontario Ecoschools. From Monday, April 23 to Friday, April 27 we asked students to pack a waste-free lunch. We encouraged students to use only reusable containers, no drinking boxes or Ziploc bags were allowed. Although they can be recycled and reused, they can often end up in our landfills!

We also participated in the IWalk Program sponsored by Active and Safe Routes to School and the Green Communities Initiative. We challenged students to walk to school for their health and the Earth´s. To promote the program we sent home newsletters and made announcements with information and tips. We also tracked our progress on a large graph that we kept at the school.

We feel that waste is a very important environmental concern. Not only did we tackle the issue through our litterless lunch challenge, but we also participated in a paper shopping bag initiative in partnership with Zehrs Stanley Park. Each student decorated a paper shopping bag with an environmental message and picture. Our goal was to reach customers with our environmental messages so that they would become aware of the problems that plastic bags create. Zehrs now makes paper bags available and are also encouraging their customers to use "green" bins and cloth bags instead of plastic ones.

Dianne Rath