EcoKids Blog

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

I want to let you all know why bike riding is important to Toronto. The first reason is that it doesn’t make pollution because it doesn’t have a motor running so you have to use your own body’s energy. The second reason is that you get a good work out and if you want to burn off some calories because you are working hard and if you are sweating after your bike ride that means you have burnt off some calories. The third reason why biking is important is that it is enjoyable on sunny days. My very last reason why it is good to bike in the city is that you go a lot faster than cars on the road because you get your own bike lane.

 These are my suggestions and it is your choice to listen to them.

By Julien Brule-Treffry

Photo credit: Courtesy of flickr user Aubrey Arenas

“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

Many people think, “Oh, it’s just an empty water bottle, what is it gonna do to the earth. I know NOTHING!!” Actually, they’re wrong, there are A LOT of things that just one empty water bottle can do to the environment. For instance, it takes years to decompose and can maybe end up around a ducks neck if it’s a pop can holder {you know the round circles that you’re supposed to cut before you throw them away!} Turns out, to people who might NOT have known this, it of course is going to hurt the environment! So next time you are just thinking, » How’s it going to hurt the environment? Oh, wait, it WON’T!!” Well maybe now you’ll actually think before you act!

Tara, age 12

Photo credit: Courtesy flickr user Horia Varlan

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

A lot of us have heard about it. A lot of us have read about it. Even some of us contributed to it. GLOBAL WARMING. Do you know what it really is? Do you know what can you do to stop it? We are the next generation of world leaders. Us kids!!!

In the future we are going to have to deal with this problem of global warming as it has gotten worse over the past century. Start thinking and planning for the future. If we all work together we may be able to stop decrease or even reverse the devastating effect on this planet =)

Kayleigh and Mattie and Dewald, age 12

Photo credit: Courtesy flickr user Pedro A Ribeiro

I will help you help the environment with 10 ways to help.

1-reuse paper to save trees

2-use eco friendly products

3-try to ride your bike more than riding in a car

4-use reusable water bottles instead of plastic ones

5-plant an organic garden

6-take shorter showers

7-boomerang lunch

8-use a reusable bag at the grocery store

9-turn off the lights

10-compost, recycle

Remember to teach other people to do these tips!

Maddy, age 10

Photo credit: Courtesy flickr user Travis Morgan

 At my school we are a golden Eco school! We all care about our environment very much and try to help keep the earth green. Some of the things we do are: Turn off the lights when we are out of the class, use the school garden to plant trees and flowers, use our “boomerang lunch” system to take home our own garbage. And my school does a lot more to help our planet! I hope that our school can make a big difference and help everybody live in a good clean planet.

Photo credit: Courtesy flickr user kosmopooch