Over the course of each academic year, Senior School houses at Trinity College School are encouraged to undertake actions that contribute to sustainability – either by doing “more good” for the environment (e.g. recycling properly), or by taking part in education and awareness-raising activities. First and foremost, these actions contribute to good habits and a campus culture that prioritizes sustainability. Also, they earn houses points towards the Green Cup, a trophy handed out at the end of the year to honour houses for their eco-actions. The 2022-2023 Green Cup was presented during morning chapel service on Friday, May 26th.
Sustainability Programs Director Alison Elliott first gave a shout-out to the houses who had the best results on the year-long recycling challenge. She noted that our housekeeping staff deserve thanks for undertaking the process of auditing recycling bins eight times over the school year. Top houses were Ketchum and Orchard with 83% correct sorting, with Rigby not far behind at 80%. Ms. Elliott challenged the school community, saying, “Next year, we’ve all got to up our game at not only sorting the waste properly for recycling but cutting down on the total waste that we as a school are generating.”
Victoria Stirpe, a residential assistant serving in the sustainability office at TCS, announced the winners of the “recycled sculptures” contest held to celebrate Earth Day. Each house had a representative come to Cirne Commons to create a sculpture using clean recycling from the containers and fibres bins; the sculptures had to resemble an animal on the global list of more than 30 marines species classified as “at risk.” Kudos to Brent House for their hawksbill turtle sculpture and Wright House for their green turtle sculpture!
Both of the contests above, along with many other activities throughout the year, contributed to each house’s Green Cup point total. All of the house green reps are to be commended for leading house sustainability efforts all year long.
The winners of the Green Cup for 2022-2023 are Orchard House (255 points) and Rigby House (298 points). The students from these houses were thrilled to pose outside the chapel with the beautiful Green Cup trophy!
Also during the awards ceremony, the School presented its Sustainability Leadership Awards, provided an update on our EcoSchools certification process, and TEAC gave their helpful list of “Top 10 MOGO Tips for Summer.”
