Students lead Earth Day initiatives in schools

Vancouver, B.C. – (April 21, 2009) – Students from across the Vancouver school district will join the world in celebrating Earth Day 2009 on Wednesday, April 22.

In addition to the assemblies and other events planned, students at two downtown Vancouver schools have found solutions to lessen their impact on earth’s valuable resources.

At Lord Roberts Elementary School, a Grade 6/7 class, concerned with lessening its carbon footprint, conducted a study of the daily water usage of school toilets by recording the number of flushes in three typical school washrooms.

The young researchers stood outside the stalls in the three washrooms and made notes about every flush. They calculated that on a typical school day, the toilets used 5,408 litres of water with a traditional, 13-litre-per-flush toilet. In comparison, they found that if new dual-flush toilets were installed (using a four-litre flush for liquids and a six-litre flush for solid waste), the school would use half the amount of water at only 2,314 litres per day. With those figures students calculated that replacing 12 toilets in three bathrooms would save at least 3,095 litres of water per day, and more than 588,000 litres during the school year.

Armed with this information, community school team teacher Esther Moreno and the students in Zohreen Dilgir’s Grade 6/7 middle years international baccalaureate program class rallied the support of Principal Val Coopersmith, and VSB administration to provide the funds needed to install 12 dual-flush toilets at the school by mid-May.

At neighbouring King George Secondary School, students will be taking part in Best Buy’s Tech It Away electronics recycling program on April 22. The public is invited to drop off unwanted computers and other electronics at King George, as well as Lord Byng and Sir Winston Churchill secondary schools. Electronics for recycling can be dropped off free of charge 7a.m.-7 p.m. Best Buy will recycle the old equipment, and will donate money to the schools for the purchase of new equipment. For information on this event visit: www.bestbuy.ca/EarthDayVancouver.

King George has also developed a number of susstainable initiatives, including installing solar panels to heat hot water and water-saving dual-flush toilets in some student washrooms. Many students have also trained to be part of their school’s Pick-it-Up Team that will collect and sort tin, glass and plastics for recycling. The new recycling initiative will launch soon at King George, Lord Roberts and Elsie Roy Elementary School and is expected to spread through the district as schools are trained in the program.

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For more information, contact:
Angelique Crowther, VSB communications specialist – 604-713-5075