EcoKids Blog

Do you ever wonder where all of our glass, plastic and paper go after we sort them for recycling? Here’s a simple breakdown of how each material is processed and reused.

Glass
Glass bottles and jars are taken to a glass recycling depot where they are crushed into little bits, mixed with sand and other materials, and melted in a really hot furnace. Molten glass looks a lot like lava from a volcano. It is then poured into molds and shaped into new objects.

Plastic
Plastic bottles are ground up and shaped into small pellets. These pellets can be melted and made into all sorts of things, including new containers, drainpipes and car bumpers. Shredded pop bottles can even be used as fluffy filling for pillows, sleeping bags, quilts and jackets!

Paper
Newspaper is cleaned and reshaped into egg cartons, boxboard and ceiling insulation. Regular printer paper is cleaned, mixed with new wood pulp and rolled into paper. Other products that can be made from recycled paper include bathroom tissue, cardboard tubes and boxes.

Victoria, EcoKids Intern

Source: http://www.cityofkingston.ca/residents/waste/recycling/process.asp

Photo credit: Courtesy of flickr user Timothy Takemoto

There are many farms and orchards across the country that let you pick your own fruit and buy them at very reasonable prices. Buying from local farms is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint and ensure that the food you’re eating is the freshest possible.

The types of fruit available for picking depend on the season. You can usually find strawberries and cherries starting in late June and all sorts of other fruit in late summer.

Some of my favourite things to do with freshly picked fruit include making jams, baking pies and other goodies and eating them as they are! Apples are probably the most versatile fruit because they are available throughout summer and fall.

Here’s an easy recipe for Apple Crisp that you can try at home. You can make it with almost any fruit–peaches, plums and strawberries with rhubarb work really well too.

Apple Crisp

What you need

6 medium-sized apples
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup regular uncooked oats
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
½ teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
6 Tablespoons vegetable oil.

What to do

1. With the help of an adult preheat the oven to 400°F, and grease an 8 x 8 inch baking dish with butter or non-stick cooking spray. Peel, core and slice the apples and place them evenly into the baking dish.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, oats, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the vegetable oil and stir the mixture with a fork until it looks crumbly.

3. Spread the mixture on top of the apples so that they are all covered. Bake it in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Don’t forget to keep an eye on it! It’s done when the apples are soft and the topping starts to brown. Let it cool for 10 minutes, then dig in!

Enjoy!

Find Pick-Your-Own farms in your area: http://www.pickyourown.org/canada.htm

Victoria, EcoKids Intern

Photo credit: Courtesy of flickr user Paul-W.

You may have just come back from summer camp, the cottage, a family vacation, or maybe you’ve done a tonne of summer reading. In any case, you can bet everyone is super excited to go back to school and tell all their friends about their holiday!

 It’s a new year, a new class and a new you. But in the spirit of being eco-friendly, EcoKids know that not everything needs to be new all the time and we should always try to reduce, reuse and recycle.

 So when you go back-to-school shopping this year, consider some of these tips to help you reduce waste, make environmentally sound choices, and be mighty cool at the same time.

 1. Shop Vintage!
Thrift shops and clothing consignment stores are becoming more and more popular and many of have lots of cool clothes. Proceeds from some thrift stores go straight to local charities to help kids and families, so in addition to caring for the environment your purchases can help other people too.

 2. Reinvent!
Your notebooks and binders from last year are likely still in good shape. Empty them out, recycle your old notes, put new labels on and reuse them. You can always reinvent your notebooks with bumper stickers, decals and colourful permanent markers. And if you need new paper, choose products that have the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) logo on them. It means that the paper was made responsibly by a company that cares about our forests.

 3. Pack an Eco-lunch!

Still using a brown paper bag? It’s time to trade it in for a reusable lunch bag. It’s also great to pack your lunch in reusable plastic containers instead of disposable baggies or plastic wrap. And of course, take a refillable water bottle or juice container with you.

 One last thing: when you’re buying new stuff look for quality materials–solid, sturdy backpacks, clothes, etc. that will last you a long time (natural or organic fibres like cotton and bamboo) are sustainable and better for the environment).

 So that’s it. Three things you can do to make back-to-school shopping more eco-friendly. If you have more tips to share with us, leave them in the comments section below! And let us know about your latest eco adventures by becoming one of our Guest Bloggers. Just click the tab at the top of the page.

Victoria Chu, EcoKids Intern

Many Canadians go camping when they are on summer vacation. But did you know that camping can actually be harmful to the environment?

Here are some tips for being more environmentally friendly when you go camping this summer!

-         Make sure that everything you bring in to the campground comes back out with you!

-         Plan ahead so that you only bring what you need.

-         Light fires only in fire pits and use a camp stove to cook.

-         Try to keep the fires small.

-         Never burn garbage in the fire pit!

-         Put out fires when you’re done with them!

-         Try to only camp on campsites so that you won’t damage untouched areas.

-         Respect wildlife, you are in their home. Don’t feed or approach animals, and keep your pets from chasing them.

-         Leave natural objects as you found them.

-         Respect other visitors.

-         Leave the campsite in better condition that when you arrived.

 The most important thing to remember is Have Fun! Enjoy your summer and all the natural beauty that Canada has to offer!

 Go to Parks Canada to find a national park near you!

Lauren Crickmore, Educational Program Assistant

“Oh little worms in the bin so neat, how we wonder what you eat.  Apples, eggshells, veggies, too.  All these things are good for you.  Little worms in the bin so neat.  Now we all know what you eat!”

 Hey kids, these are lyrics to the song Little Worms, which is a song about how worms compost our food scraps. You can create your own compost at your home or in your class.  And what kid doesn’t like exploring insects?! 

 Here is a step by step guide for making a worm compost bin (you will also need an adult to help).

Materials: One 12-gallon coloured plastic storage bin (choose one that is smaller if storage space is an issue), Electric drill with 1/2-inch drill biT, Hot glue gun (Be careful. These are very HOT and may cause burns. Please ask an adult to help.), Four plastic pop lids, Newspaper, Water, One pound of red worms.

Instructions

Step 1: Ask and adult to drill eight holes into the bottom of the compost bin. Space them out evenly to allow water to drain throughout the bin (please ask an adult to do this part).

Step 2: Glue plastic pop lids to each of the four corners on the bottom of the container (please ask an adult to this part).  The pop lids will act like “legs,” which will slightly lift the container to allow water to drain.

Step 3: Place the compost bin on a flat surface outdoors or indoors. The compost bin may remain outdoors when the temperature outside is between 12º C and 25º C.  Otherwise, place the compost bin indoors with a tray under it.

Step 4: Shred some newspaper into strips about an inch wide. Fill about two-thirds of the compost bin with the newspaper strips.

Step 5: Pour six cups of water into the compost bin and mix the newspaper strips around to get them wet.

Step 6: Place the worms in the compost bin. Allow them to live in the bin for about three days before feeding them.

Step 7: Fill the bin with scrap foods such as fruits, vegetables, eggshells, tea bags and coffee grounds.  You can also continuously add shredded paper (not glossy), coffee filters, leaves and lawn clippings. Do not add plastic, meat or dairy products.

Step 8: Continue to put your food waste into the compost once or twice a week but do not add more then one pound of food waste at a time. Dig halfway down into each section, place the food down in an even layer and cover with the old waste you dug up.  Rotate quarter sections each time you feed your worms.

Let us know how your worms are doing!  If you have a worm compost bin, share your experience with us. What do you like about it? What do you think is interesting in a worm comport bin? What have you composted?

By Nicole, EcoKids Intern

Little Worms is reprinted courtesy of Envirokids, a program of the City of Tacoma, Washington: http://www.ci.tacoma.wa.us/envirokids/activities/songs.htm

Photo credit: Courtesy flickr user looseends

On Earth Day, April 22, 2010, an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded and sank. There is now an open oil well off the coast of Louisiana that is leaking about 795 000 litres of oil every day. That’s almost as much as filling an Olympic-sized swimming pool with oil every three days.

 The US Coast Guard and many volunteers are trying to plug the hole, clean up the oil and stop it from spreading. This is very difficult to do. The hole is really deep in the water and it is very hard to plug. The weather is also causing big waves that are pushing the oil past the big inflatable bars, called booms, that are trying to keep it in place.

 The Coast Guard has set fire to the oil in different spots to burn it away. Once burned, the oil forms into hard balls that can be scooped out of the water much easier than liquid oil. Nobody knows how many days it will take to plug the hole and clean up all of the oil.

 Oil spills are very dangerous for the wildlife living in the area, which includes birds, sea turtles, dolphins, fish, crabs, oysters, shrimp and many other species.

 After seeing the damage that the spill in the US caused, the Sierra Club of Canada wants to delay offshore oil drilling. They think this disaster has shown that the process is not safe enough.

 If you want to help, try to walk, bike and use public transit as much as possible so that you use less oil and won’t need offshore drilling!

 Let us know what you think about what’s happening with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill!

Lauren, EcoKids Assistant

Photo credit: Courtesy flickr user Marine Photobank

Reference:

 http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/803480–barack-obama-vows-to-stop-oil-spill-crisis

Hey EcoKids, I LOVE animals! How about you?

I don’t know what I would do without my dog; he means the world to me. That is why we need to love and protect our animals–household pets AND wild animals.

It is sad though, that in Canada and other parts of the world, wild animals are becoming endangered. This means that some animals exist in such small numbers that they are at risk of extinction.

 In Canada, some of these animals and mammals include the Bald Eagle, the Barn Owl, the Beluga Wale, the Northern Fur Seal, the Northern Gray Wolf, the Sea Otter and many more. In order to stop these animals from being endangered, you can take action and make a positive change.

Here a couple of suggestions

 • Propose to your teacher that you start an animal research project by having your class research one Canadian animal that is endangered. Get all the classes in your school involved.

 • For older elementary students, start a fundraiser (be sure to ask your principal first) like a bake sale to create animal awareness in your school and to collect money so you can adopt an animal (local zoos usually have adoption programs) or make a donation to an animal protection program.

These are only a couple of ways you can help deal with the problem of animals becoming endangered. Be sure to let us know what you are doing!

Government of Canada. Species at Risk Public Registry http://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/sar/index/default_e.cfm

Nicole, EcoKids Intern

Photo credit: Courtesy flickr user Jenny Spadafora

Now that it’s spring, it’s almost time to start planting gardens. This year why don’t you start your own herb garden?

 First, choose which herbs you would like to grow. Here are a few suggestions to choose from: rosemary, sage, sweet basil, dill, mint, thyme, chives, or parsley.

 Now is the perfect time to start planting these herbs indoors. Ask your parents to help you find a good container to grow them in. It must be 15-30 cm deep and have holes in the bottom for drainage (herbs don’t like very wet soil). Fill the container with about 6-8 cm of potting mix, then plant the herbs and fill more potting mix around the herbs. Find a place to keep them that gets a lot of sunshine and water them regularly.

 Once the end of April comes around it will be time to plant your herbs outside. Choose an area of the garden that you want to plant them in and ask your parents to help you get it ready. Make sure the area has a lot of drainage. Remember to keep watering them!

 If you don’t have a backyard you can keep your herbs inside or put them out on a balcony if you have one.

 All herbs have different growing times, so do some research to learn when they will ready to harvest and use.

 When your herbs are ready, help your parents to make organic or locally grown meals to add them to.

 Send us pictures of your herb garden and let us know which herbs are your favourite!

 Enjoy!

Lauren, EcoKids Intern

Photo credit: Courtesy flickr user barockschloss

The Arctic Tern is a small bird known for its long migrations. Recently, scientists discovered that the Tern’s migration is twice as long as they had thought (they attached very tiny electronic trackers to the birds), making it the longest migrating bird in the animal kingdom.

Arctic Terns live and travel in groups of about 50 birds, called colonies. They spend the summer at their breeding grounds in Alaska, northern Canada and along the Atlantic Coast, as far south as Massachusetts. They can also be found in Greenland, Iceland, and northern Eurasia.

Every year the colonies leave their northern breeding grounds in August and travel south to the shores of Antarctica. Soon after leaving their breeding grounds, the Terns make one long stop in the middle of the North Atlantic to feed, making sure they have enough energy for their journey. After feeding, the birds fly south along the coast of Western Europe.

Once the Terns hit Western Africa half of the birds continue along the African coast and the other half crosses the Atlantic to finish their journey down the Brazilian coast. Scientists aren’t sure why they split up. The group comes back together off the coast of Antarctica about three and a half months after leaving the North.

After spending the winter in the Antarctic, the Terns fly north again. However, they don’t take the same path back; they follow a large “S” pattern right up the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. This makes them travel much farther but is worth it since the wind patterns they follow allow them to use less energy and fly much faster, making the journey home only about a month and a half.

Arctic Terns travel an average of 70 900 km per year. This is twice the distance that scientists had thought. Since Arctic Terns live for up to 30 years, the distance they fly in their life would be like flying to the moon and back three times!

Tell us about an animal that you find fascinating and tell us why you think it’s so unique!

You can find out more about the Arctic Tern in the Eco Field Guide in the Homework Help section of the Ecokids website.

Lauren, EcoKids Intern

Photo credit: Courtesy flickr user Tomi Tapio