Since I will be in rehearsal for the 20K Project on Earth Day (how fitting!), the Équipe Verte GEC decided this year to move some of our Earth Day activities to April 11th.
On a beautiful Spring day in Toronto, as part of an annual tradition, we had parents, teachers and students come to the local ravine for the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, a national initiative spearheaded by the Vancouver Aquarium and WWF-Canada.
Over the course of the day, over 400 participants collected 9 bags of garbage and 2 bags of recycling - all in all, 150 pounds of stuff that doesn't belong in a ravine! Upon arrival, I gave a short welcome to each class (ages 5-12), showing them some of the trash we had already picked up. The goal was to show how individual actions have an enormous effect: for better (picking up trash) or worse (throwing the trash in the ravine). I also spoke about how this ravine was connected to Lake Ontario, which in turn flows into the Fleuve St. Laurent, and then on to the Atlantic. All waterways are deeply connected, which not only relates to our previous World Water Day activities (see photo of our message board), but to our work on 20K!
Other Earth Day activities will be undertaken by the rest of the team on April 22nd, including a litterless lunch picnic, outdoor classroom activities, and electronics-recycling station.
Have a very happy Earth Day!
Rick Miller
