Many of our local schools are dedicated to reducing their ecological footprint on the earth. Students and teachers have been working together on a number of sustainability initiatives including:

• participating in Boomerang lunches, where students and staff bring their lunches in reusable containers and take non-compostable garbage home with them for disposal or recycling
• participating in the Adopt-a-Park program and litter cleanup initiatives
• planting hardy native trees to shade buildings and pathways and provide habitat and food for birds and butterflies
• participating in environmental monitoring programs for water, groundwater, invasive species
• monitoring electricity consumption and waste generation; analyzing the results and then implementing programs to reduce
• encouraging walking to school
• collecting milk bags, which are crocheted into sleeping mats for people in impoverished nations
• devoting classroom time to the discussion of environmental issues
• creating outdoor classrooms

Congratulations to the following schools in Pickering, who as of 2016, were certified as Ontario Ecoschools:

* These schools have been certified for 5 or more years.
** This school has been certified for 10 or more years.

Your school can apply to become certified as an Ontario EcoSchool. The EcoSchool program promotes ecological literacy and environmental practices. It encourages school children to become environmentally responsible citizens and helps reduce the ecological footprint of our schools. A point system establishes Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze levels of performance.

For more information on the program see the Ontario EcoSchool Certification Guide.