New Environmental Initiatives at Greenwood

With the holidays rapidly approaching, Greenwood’s Environmental Committee is proud to present a few initiatives that can help you consume more consciously, starting with our new Green Gift Guide! This handy guide was created to help you and your loved ones shop sustainably throughout the holiday season by giving low-waste, eco-friendly, locally sourced gift suggestions along with some shops you can visit to find them. The guide also includes tips on how to make your wrapping and decorating more sustainable, such as by using reusable cloth wraps or bags and DIY-ing homemade decorations.

Another Environmental Committee project that has been spruced up just in time for the holidays is our Meatless Monday Holiday Recipe Collection, which has several new festive dinner and dessert ideas. Try some new vegan and vegetarian twists on holiday classics that can be made the low-waste way!

In addition to our holiday initiatives, the Environmental Committee is excited to announce that Greenwood will work towards achieving an EcoSchools certification this year! EcoSchools provides a framework for students, staff and parents/guardians to become conscious of how their actions impact the environment, and provides ways to positively impact the world around them. The certification is awarded to schools who participate in a number of school-wide actions and events to reduce their environmental footprint. Not only is this beneficial for the earth but it is an opportunity for students to work together with teacher support, further connecting the Greenwood community. Because Greenwood already works hard to reduce its environmental impact by having Meatless Mondays in the cafe, celebrating Earth Day, planting a pollinator garden, and more, we hope to achieve the Gold certification by the end of the year. After each event takes place at the school the Green Initiatives Committee will input that completed action onto the EcoSchools website under the Greenwood College School page where points will be awarded and then tallied at the end of the year. 

Another initiative we’ll introduce in January is the opportunity for the Greenwood community to properly recycle black plastic containers through a CASE box located at the school. Black plastic is not recyclable in Toronto, which unfortunately results in large amounts of black plastic ending up in landfills. With the CASE box, the Greenwood community will be able to reduce our environmental footprint by recycling black plastics. Parents and guardians are encouraged to help their kids collect and clean black plastics to bring to school for the CASE box. 

The Environmental Committee looks forward to Greenwood’s involvement in these initiatives that will encourage sustainable living both inside and outside of school so we can collectively reduce our community’s environmental impact!