Earth Day Celebrations

Earth Day is April 22, 2011 this year.   It is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s natural environment.  Communities across United States celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues.  Due to Spring Break, Defer will be celebrating Earth Day on April 29th.  In addition to it being a focus of Science instruction that week, Defer is taking on two special projects.  First, we are encouraging everyone to walk to school on Thursday, April 28th.  Join your neighbors and friends and reduce pollution by starting your day with a healthy walk to school.

Secondly, we’d like to try for a waste free lunch for all students who pack a cold lunch on April 29th.  So what is a waste free lunch and why is it important?  It’s really important!  Our landfills are full and overflowing.  Incinerators pump contaminants into the air.  Much of the trash we    generate comes from the packaging on the food we buy, and lunch foods are no exception.  In fact, it has been estimated that on average a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year.  At Defer, that’s about 26,000 pounds of lunch waste.

Join the Earth Day events at Defer and pack a waste free lunch on April 29^th.  Here are four steps to accomplish that:

·  Reusable lunch bags – replace the brown bag with something safe and reusable. Use that same container each day.

· Snack and sandwich bags – It is estimated that families spend $85 on disposable plastic baggies.  Save money and resources with

     reusable bags and wraps.

· Utensils and more – cloth napkins, utensils, and even straws!  Why throw it away when you can use it again and again?

· Reusable bottles - Americans spend about $16 billion annually on bottled water which makes 38 billion bottles in our landfills.  Break the wasteful cycle by bringing your own bottle.

We plan to measure how we do with our waste free lunch.   We’ll be weighing our lunchroom trash prior to April 29^th and our hope is that on Earth Day, April 29^th, we will have much less to weigh.  Join the challenge – pack a waste free lunch on Earth Day.  Make a difference in our world!