This page contains descriptions of environmental action projects presented at the Peel EcoFair. These descriptions are organized by year, beginning with the most recent EcoFair and going back to the 2003 inaugural year. Each listing includes either a brief description of the action project, or a more lengthy case study, which can be read by clicking on the appropriate links below.
2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004| 2003
2008
- Roberta Bondar Public School
Returning EcoFair participants, the ‘Passionate Earthlings’ are students from Roberta Bondar Public School that are dedicated to environmental issues and protection within their school, community, province and nation! This year the Earthlings decided to focus their efforts by providing awareness to their fellow students about the Semipalmated Sandpiper of New Brunswick. These shoreline birds are very dependent on few key stopover habitats during their migration. With the support of their school, the Earthlings put together monthly cafes, serving local organic food to raise awareness. Enough money was raised during these cafes to protect over four acres of land in the Johnson’s Mills area of New Brunswick – prime habitat for these small shorebirds! Their hard work and dedication gained the attention of the Nature Conservancy of Canada and as a result of their stewardship teachers from across the country have contacted their school for information on how to start their own projects to help protect the environment.
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The Green Revolution has begun! The environment club at Stephen Lewis Secondary School generates awareness at their school and involve the students, staff and community in implementing environmentally supportive actions. The Green Revolution has been engaged in many initiatives and over the past few years have developed a clear focus and implemented sustainable goals for the future. The students have initiated a waste-reduction program at their school by conducting school-wide clean-ups, waste audits and the implementation of a recycling program. Their conservation efforts include a diversity garden, which features their native habitat restoration project and is used as an educational tool for staff and students. This year students also hosted a Reptilia show that provided knowledge to students about local fauna and the importance of conserving their habitat. Some of the many other initiatives include: the collection of used ink cartridges, the participation in Earth Hour, hosted the EcoBuzz conference, tree planting and an open Mic/Poetry Slam fundraiser for their projects. ... top -
Following the hierarchy of the 3 R’s, “Who Gives a Scrap!?” is a new initiative at Erin Centre Middle School that focuses on reducing and re-using the scrap paper throughout the school, local businesses and the community. Students conducted an internal school study and found that they could save 2000 new pieces of paper each week if students and staff wrote on both sides of their paper. Their findings also indicate that they would be saving and salvaging at least 76,000 pieces of paper in one year! As a result, their “Who Gives a Scrap Contest” began and students were bringing in used paper from home, local businesses and were even re-using pages from their old notebooks. The scrap paper that has been collected is used throughout the school for assignments, note-taking and photocopying. ... top -
As a returning EcoFair participant and EcoSource Green School, Ruth Thompson Middle School continues to be involved in numerous environmental action initiatives. This year the environmental action project focussed on the preservation of O’Connor Pond and Cattail Marsh. O’Connor Pond and Cattail Marsh provide a local natural area where students get hands-on learning experiences that link important environmental concepts that provide the opportunity for students to create natural connections. This year marked the end of a five year plan between the students and staff in preserving the wetland environment by preventing the development of a sports field over the existing area. Students worked along with EcoSource, and the City of Mississauga to prevent the drainage of the area and initiate community ownership of the wetland. ... top -
Community Environment Alliance (CEA)
Funded by the Ministry of Energy’s Community Conservation Initiative, the Community Environment Alliance focuses on energy conservation and environmental stewardship within their local community. At the 2008 EcoFair, members of the Community Environment Alliance educated the EcoFair participants about how their individual actions can help us progress towards a sustainable community. The focus of the presentation was on products, including the compact fluorescent light bulbs, which use less electricity and promote conservation from the “grass roots”. ... top -
The “Battle of the Bottles” has begun. This action project addresses the growing debate behind the benefit and convenience of bottled water and their associated environmental impacts. After reading an article about the impacts of bottled water and plastics on our current environment, the students at Lisgar Middle School created an action plan to educate the students of their school and reduce the number of plastic water bottles brought in for lunches and after school programs. Their education campaign began with posters, surveys, and article writing to promote awareness. Instead of only celebrating Earth Day, the students at Lisgar Middle School promoted “April Environment Blitz” when all their hard work and research was presented to the entire school. The connections the students made to their everyday lives are inspirational and promoted the use of re-useable water bottles and municipal tap water! ... top -
In their first year as a Green Club, Calderstone Middle School focused on environmental education. Through “Wasteless Wednesdays” and Earth Week celebrations students have learned they can make a difference in enacting sustainable practices in their everyday lives. The Green Club made informative presentations to most of the classes in their school of 1200 students and challenged their classmates to reduce their waste. By raising awareness of more environmentally responsible choices, the Green Club decreased Calderstone’s ecological footprint in the Peel environment. Students also participate in Earth Week celebrations including assemblies, game show trivia and musical theatrics. The final project for the Green Club this year has been designing a butterfly garden in the park across from their school. By creating this garden, the students hope to replace some of the natural habitat lost when the new subdivisions were developed in the neighbourhood. ... top -
This is the fourth appearance of St.Edmund Elementary School at the Peel EcoFair. In 2004, students conducted home and school water audits, in 2005 they presented these findings at the EcoFair and in 2006, Peel Region’s Public Work’s Department sponsored the school replacement pilot project at their school. The program involved the replacement of 26 toilets, 3 with dual flush toilets and 23 flush valve combination toilets.
The water savings were definitely acknowledged and this year the St. Edmund Eco Kids focused on monitoring water consumption before and after the school retrofit and decreasing the amount of water wasted at drinking water fountains. Through their awareness campaigns and the strategic use of age-appropriate marketing techniques, the Eco Kids have made an impression at their school. Surveys have been conducted throughout the school to prove that their methods and education are working!
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