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School vies for 'eco' status

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Following in the footsteps of the town’s high school, Delhi Public School is hoping to become a certified Ontario EcoSchool.

Certification is achieved by meeting standards on waste diversion, energy conservation, school ground greening and ecological literacy. Depending on the level of success, the schools are awarded gold, silver or bronze status.

“We’re aiming to see how high we can get,” said Sam Mann, the Eco School Club’s staff adviser. “We always strive to do the best we can.”

Delhi District Secondary School has a silver certification, as does nearby Teeterville Public School.

“Up to this year, we always did recycle but we weren’t conscientious of the protocols,” said vice principal Tom Holmes. “Our practice was not perfect.”

The school discovered in order to properly recycle items such as pudding and yogurt containers they must be rinsed out.

They have since put buckets into classrooms to collect the recyclable items to clean them out first. A group of students from the school’s Eco School Club collects the buckets each week and rinses the items in the washroom’s sinks.

“We are doing a lot better now,” said Kyra Huggins, a Grade 7.

The school is also collecting Kool Aid Jammer packets. They receive two cents for each packet they recycle.

“It’s kind of nice to collect garbage and get money for your school at the same time,” said Mann.

They have also collected more than 4,000 batteries.

Reminders have been posted on all of the school’s monitors to turn them off when the computer is not in use to save on electricity consumption and will do the same on all of the school’s light switches.

“We’re trying to think of new things to help the school,” said Huggins.

In order to receive an Ontario EcoSchool certification, Delhi must pass an inspection in the spring.

Sarah Doktor

519-426-3528 ext. 112

sarah.doktor@sunmedia.ca

twitter.com/sarahreformer

 

 

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