Celebrating Earth Week 2020

Greenwood’s Environmental Committee was excited to run the school’s fourth annual Earth Week this year! Despite the challenges of the global COVID-19 pandemic, we managed to successfully run Greenwood’s first (and hopefully last) virtual Earth Week from April 20-24!

The week kicked off with a virtual assembly featuring renowned environmental lawyer Dianne Saxe. Her presentation focused on carbon emissions and the ways in which individuals and industries can work to reduce their ecological footprints. Staff and students also posed some amazing, thought-provoking questions and ideas during an open Q&A session with Diane, which was hosted Tuesday morning. 

Members of the Greenwood community participated in a number of activities to win House points throughout the week. These included a ‘Meatless Monday’ meal selfie submission, a scavenger hunt to see how many ‘sustainable swaps’ people could find in their own homes, and a Kahoot to quiz participants’ knowledge of the global climate crisis. During Earth Week’s ‘Thoughtful Thursday,’ students and staff were also encouraged to take a moment to calculate their individual ecological footprints and contribute to a Padlet suggesting one way they are going to reduce their footprint. In the end, West House was able to rack up the most House points and earned the title Greenest House @ Greenwood for Earth Week 2020! 

To continue the momentum of virtual Earth Week 2020, the Environmental Committee is in the process of adding resources to the Green Initiatives ON resources page. Recently added were some ways to keep busy during self-isolation while learning to protect the planet as well as some book and documentary film recommendations. If you’re looking to lessen your environmental impact by picking plant-based recipes, keep an eye out for a collection of tested and trusted Meatless Monday recipes from committee members. We hope this will keep all members of the Greenwood community engaged with Green initiatives while staying safe at home!