#UGLearnGreen – It’s time to make your Eco Resolution for the New Year
Throughout the school year, the Upper Grand District School Board shares tips and resources that help UGDSB students and staff celebrate our planet. Additional information on environmental initiatives in the UGDSB can be found on the board website.
It will soon be a brand new year, which is the perfect time to make an eco resolution for the environment. This January, the UGDSB is holding a contest for all staff and students, asking everyone to identify an environmental issue that concerns them and action steps they can take to help address the problem.
There are lots of ways we can each contribute to making a difference for the environment. Keep reading for tips on addressing the issue of plastic pollution.
Let’s work together to reduce single use plastics
The Earth Day Network is calling to end plastic pollution. Imagine a future free from harmful plastic garbage. Single-use plastics are especially wasteful and many plastics are also not properly recycled and take up precious landfill space or pollute our oceans, killing marine life and washing up on pristine beaches. According to National Geographic, plastic garbage ‘islands’ are appearing in seas and oceans all over the world. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/
Let’s look at some tips on how to reduce single-use plastics:
- Extend your use of cloth shopping bags beyond the grocery store. Use them at all other retail stores too.
- Avoid buying over-packaged food. Do you need to buy the carrots that are shrink wrapped on a Styrofoam tray?
- Let the restaurants you frequent know that you would like them to join the growing movement to ban the use of straws. Many have implemented a ‘serve-straws-upon-request’ policy.
- Tap water is best. Bottled water can deplete our precious groundwater resources and produce unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions through the production and transport of plastic bottles. Carry a reusable water bottle instead.
- Lug a travel mug to your local coffee shop. Did you know that the plastic lining makes coffee cups unrecyclable, and they all end up in the garbage and in our overflowing landfills?
- Write letters to the government asking them to fix a problem that you are concerned about such as: mandating the reduction of plastic packaging, banning Styrofoam, or promoting research for recyclable coffee cups or coffee pods, etc.
What eco resolutions are you going to make in 2020? Tweet us @ugdsb using #UGLearnGreen.
See how UGDSB students and staff are making a difference for the environment: #UGLearnGreen
Categories: News Tags: UGLearnGreen