Category Archives: Sustainability

More summer programs – FARM CAMPS

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FarmFolk CityFolk Summer Farm Camp
July 18 – Aug 15, 2012
A great opportunity for the next generation of farmers to sink their hands into the earth and learn about ecologically sound food production. Camp will take place on Fraser Common Farm Co-op in Aldergrove on four consecutive Wednesdays (July 18th, 25th, August 1st, 8th), and then one Wednesday selling produce to the public at the Langley Community Farmers Market (August 15th).

For kids aged 6 to 12, and their parents (optional). Camp will run from 10am to 3pm each Wednesday at the farm, and from 2pm to 6pm the last day at the Farmers Market. Cost will be $150 for all 5 sessions.

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Visionary farmer Joel Salatin coming to Foxglove Farm
Seats still available! Joel Salatin is bringing his self-described lunatic farmer vision and philosophy to Foxglove Farm on Salt Spring Island for a workshop on pastured livestock and sustainable agriculture on June 20-21. Salatin raises grass-fed cattle and “beyond organic” chicken and pork on his 550-acre, pasture-based Polyface Farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Practicing what he calls “a relationship-dense production model that yields far more per acre than industrial models”, Salatin demonstrates the symbiosis between farmers, fields, and animals.
Wednesday, 20 June, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Thursday, 21 June, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Cost: $195 plus HST (includes lunch)
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Passport to Permaculture: Urban Agriculture Kids Camp
The World In A Garden is happy to present Passport to Permaculture, a summer camp where kids learn about food and ecology following the 3 ethics of permaculture: care of all people, care of the earth & fair share. Throughout this weeklong camp, kids receive stamps in their “Passport to Permaculture” as they complete activities on the topics of nutrition, urban agriculture, biodiversity, local food, multiculturalism, ethical business and more! The camp features guest speakers, a pizza-making field trip to Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company and a camper-run farm market.
Dates & Times: July 9-13 & July 23-27 | 9am-3pm
Location: The World In A Garden, West 57th & East Blvd, Vancouver, BC
Ages: 5-12
After/before care is available upon request
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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES WITH URBAN DIGS FARM (Burnaby)
Farm fresh food. From our house to your home.
There’s always lots of work to do on the farm and sometimes it can get overwhelming. So its nice to know that there are friendly, helpful folks out there who are willing to pitch in and lend a hand! If hard work and tasty food sounds like your idea of a good time, we invite you to join us! 

 

Coquitlam Environmental Achievement Awards

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The Inspiration Garden group was nominated for a Coquitlam Environmental Achievement Award.  Several students attended the Award Dinner on Saturday night.  Congratulations to the group and to Makenna, Chiara, Maddie, Emma and Corra (who attended the dinner).

The Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-Up

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Today students ventured into Mundy Park to clean up Mundy Lake and Lost Lake in Mundy Park.  We spent some time watching the turtle in Lost Lake.  Students picked up more than 500 pieces of garbage in the park.

Presentation on Climate Change

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Today in A Block, Jamie’s older brother gave us a presentation on climate change. It was very interesting, giving us a whole new perspective on climate change and global warming.

For example,

  • The Milankovitch cycles.
  • Procession, eccentricity, and obliqueness in the Earth’s orbit.
  • What would happen to the Lower Mainland after all the ice has melted.
It was a great presentation, and we hope for more presenters to come.
-Henry, Winfield, and Matthew

We’ve joined CALL2RECYCLE Battery Recycling Program

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Hillcrest Middle MACC classes have partnered with Call2Recycle® to make convenient battery recycling available to the school community of Hillcrest Middle School. The only free rechargeable battery and cell phone collection program in North America, Call2Recycle helps communities operate household battery and cell phone collection programs.

In our one week trial collection, Hillcrest Middle School collected almost 400 batteries.

Batteries are a long-lasting, eco-friendly power source for many electronic devices, including laptop computers, cell phones, portable scanners and printers, power tools and PDAs.

Hillcrest Middle and families of students at Hillcrest Middle can now recycle the batteries used in the school and at home every day, preventing the used products from entering the solid waste stream.

Since 1996, over 31 million kilograms of batteries have been collected through Call2Recycle. Various federal and provincial regulations govern the proper disposal of batteries and cell phones, naming Call2Recycle in official legislation as the collection method for eco-safe battery and cell phone reclamation and recycling. Call2Recycle is the first battery program to attain Basel Action Network (BAN) e-Steward qualification and upholds strict third-party standards for environmental safety and social responsibility.

About Call2Recycle Call2Recycle® is the only free battery and cell phone collection program in North America. Since 1994, Call2Recycle has diverted over 31 million kilograms of rechargeable batteries from local landfills and established a network of 30,000 recycling drop-off locations. Advancing green business practices and environmental sustainability, Call2Recycle is the most active voice promoting eco-safe
reclamation and recycling of batteries and cell phones. Call2Recycle is operated
by the non-profit Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC). Learn more at call2recycle.ca or 877.2.RECYCLE.

Eminent Afternoon

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This week we celebrated the completion of the Eminent People Project. Students sat down to enjoy a pasta lunch and became the Eminent Person they studied for the past month. Students prepared a display about their person, interacted with class mates as their person and participated in a trivia game. Students were thrilled to welcome Trustees Holly Butterfield and Gerri Wallis to the classes and to talk with them about why they chose their person of eminence. We were also pleased to have parents come into the classes to talk with the students and look at the displays.

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Inspiration Garden: Day 1

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One day we went to Inspiration Garden. It was lots of fun! First, we were paired up with grade 2/3 kids (we were grade 6/7.) I bet it was a little scary for the younger kids. Anyways, after we were paired up, we were assigned to different stations. In the station that I was at, we were planting radishes! It was kinda cool because we learned how and when to plant radishes! After the first station, we went to the second (keep in mind that others had started at different stations). At this station, we made little plant pots ot of newspaper, filled them with dirt, and put seeds of sunflowers and watermelon into them (seeds that can’t grow in the winter.) After that, we went to a station where we tested the amount of sand in the soil. We were given glass jars to fill with dirt, (from the station that they had given us) washing powder, (the soap) and water, we then did so! We still haven’t gotten the results. After that, the class was over and we were allowed to tour around the garden while we waited for our rides. And that’s pretty much the first day at Inspiration Garden!

Inspiration Garden

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What it basically is: An activity in which students grades 6-7 are paired with grades 2-3 and learn about sustainability and how it relates to the environment and agriculture, as well as learning leadership with the younger children. Students will have the chance to interact at the Inspiration Garden and write down their experiences in a small journal.

Each week, there are some challenges that students can volunteer to do, and make a 2-5 minute presentation about the topic of the challenge they received and about what they learned.  This is a great opportunity for the children and students to learn about the environment around them, all while having fun in the garden!