In 1970, Trinity College School teacher Jack Goering and TCS parent Pat Lawson joined together to host one of the very first Earth Week events at the School. These two committed environmentalists were on the leading edge of the Earth Week movement, which is now celebrated globally each April in the week surrounding Earth Day.
This year, Trinity Environmental Action Club (TEAC), the Senior School house green reps, the School’s sustainability committee and Environmental Coordinator Alison Elliott introduced a slate of activities on the theme “Invest in our Future.”
On Wednesday, April 20th, as part of the CAIS (Canadian Accredited Independent Schools) Climate Action Accelerator Program, Grade 12 sustainability steward Sarah Deleeuw represented the School as a student host for the national “Hope Matters” Zoom webinar featuring Elin Kelsey. Elin is the author of Hope Matters: Why Changing the Way We Think Is Critical to Solving the Environmental Crisis, which seeks to promote a positive, solution-oriented and science-based approach to climate change.
In the Junior School, “Head for a Day” Kennedy Adams proposed a challenge amongst homeforms for Thursday, April 21st. To show their commitment to food waste reduction, each class tried to attain lowest amount of food waste by weight in the “Watching our Waste” challenge. The Grade 6 class had the lowest amount of food waste at 1.3 lbs total. The Junior School will run the challenge again in a few weeks to see if the total waste weight can be even lower! Special thanks to the culinary services team, including Belinda Lowther and Christine Hoskin-Bailey, for helping to make this initiative happen.
On Earth Day, Friday April 22nd, the Senior School took part in a non-uniform day, wearing green, blue and/or brown clothing. During morning break in Cirne Commons, representatives from each house competed for Green Cup points by building sculptures depicting an Ontario species at risk using recycled materials. Ketchum House with its Atlantic sturgeon (first place) and Bethune House with its yellow-spotted salamander (runner-up) were awarded ribbons for the two most creative and realistic sculptures. Cirne Commons was also the site of a special lunchtime showing of the documentary 2040. The film follows Damon Gameau as he travels the globe speaking with people working on new ways to address climate change.
To honour Earth Day and “Invest in our Future,” Junior School students sowed wildflower seeds in the School’s “pollinator paradise,” which is located near the health centre and school apiary.
It is hoped that these initiatives will further inspire a commitment to sustainability that extends well beyond one day or one week, to continued action for the preservation of this planet we call home.
