Who Are We?

• A group of students who care about our environment and want to help at Nechako Valley Secondary School

• We are students in Gr. 8 and 12• We call ourselves the “Enviro-Vikes”

after our school mascot

1st step: Think, think, think

• We started in September with a planning meeting.

• Brainstormed about what our school needed, what we could do that would have an impact and be managed successfully

OUR GOALS:

• Focus on Waste Reduction• Increase Environmental Awareness

• Next question: HOW?

Our school already has a successful beverage recycling program

1 for the environment

We had a “Litterless Lunch” challenge

1 for the environment!

We set up a recycling station for cell phones and electronic accessories

1 for the environment

Paper = BIG ecological footprint @ NVSS!!!

-1 for the environment

PAPER-HAVE WE GOT PAPER!!

• Our school really needed a paper recycling system started

• We collected and labeled boxes for each class

• Classrooms send runners down to transfer paper in a central area.

•Enviro-Vikes collect from the library, office, computer lab and photocopier rooms.

•Next we transfer paper to community recycling storage bin

Average weekly collection is 5-6 large containers of paper and 2-3 bags

shredded paper

1 for the environment

Semester Locker Clean-up

• At the semester change, we had a school wide locker clean-up and put out boxes for paper recycling and reusable supplies

• We collected 29 boxes of paper from

the locker clean-up day

Locker Clean-up

Locker Clean-Up

Carly loved helping collect paper at the locker clean-up. She is also our paper-shredder girl!

Some of the paper collected during locker clean-up

We also recycled over 45 phone books

1 for the environment

Paper Recycling

• By the end of the school year, we will have recycled over a ton of paper. This helps divert it from the landfill, lessens energy demands and extends resource life

Paper Recycling

• We have recently collaborated with the community to have an employee help us transfer the paper to the community paper recycling bin

How do we increase environmental awareness?

• Display posters with environmental messages

• Share school survey results

• Working to produce a video about environmental issues to share at a school wide assembly

School NewspaperMonthly articles submitted by students

Classroom recycling surveys

Survey Focus:

• Student recycling practices & knowledge

• Global Environmental concerns

• Input & suggestions to help our school be more ecologically sustainable

Survey Data

Survey Data

Video Interviews

• Q: what can our school do to be more environmentally sustainable?

Video Interviews

• What environmental issues are you most concerned about?

Future projects

• Displaying posters with environmental messages (purchased & student made)

• Producing video about environmental issues to share at school assembly

Future Goals

• Increase environmental awareness and stewardship in our school

• Promote the idea of “reducing” waste, not just recycling it

Environmental Stewardship•Our planet is a precious place

•Decisions made today effect your tomorrows forever

•Responsibility belongs to all of us

The Earth is in our hands