On November 7th, the C3 Club conducted a lunchroom waste audit of the 7th & 8th grade lunch period. C3 Members separately collected waste and recycling from the 7th and 8th grade students.
Once the waste was collected, it was taken outside and spread out on tarps by the school dumpsters. The waste was then separated into categories such as: paper, cardboard, plastics, non-compostable food waste, and compostable food waste.
The results were astonishing!
We discovered the amount of waste that is coming out of our lunchroom each year is equivalent to 3-4 school bus loads of waste. Our estimates show that Hurley School is putting out 86,625lbs of lunchroom waste each year. Our milk carton recycling produces 20,475lbs of recycling each year out the lunchroom door.
In analyzing the results, we found that if the school began composting the compostable material that comes out of the lunchroom that would reduce our waste by 33,075lbs per year. If we are able to reduce the non-compostable lunchroom waste, we could reduce our total waste by 37,013lbs per year. The lunchroom already resuses the lunch trays but we might be able to find a way to reuse the plastic materials as well. Since we started recycling the milk cartons, our waste has already been reduced. However, we could begin recycling paper tray covers and other plastic materials to reduce our overall waste by 5,119lbs per year.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Recycling
Recycling has come to Hurley! Last year, with the help of students and staff our recycling score increased over 100%! Now that is success.
The students are beginning the year by reviewing recycling procedures and posting new signs in each classroom. Green signs are posted on blue recycling bins to remind everyone to place DRY waste or recyclable materials in the blue bins only! Yellow signs are placed on garbage canisters to catch the attention for all WET waste and non-recyclable materials.
If you see someone disposing recyclables in the garbage can, please remind them to recycle. Help keep Hurley green by reducing our carbon footprint through recycling.
The students are beginning the year by reviewing recycling procedures and posting new signs in each classroom. Green signs are posted on blue recycling bins to remind everyone to place DRY waste or recyclable materials in the blue bins only! Yellow signs are placed on garbage canisters to catch the attention for all WET waste and non-recyclable materials.
If you see someone disposing recyclables in the garbage can, please remind them to recycle. Help keep Hurley green by reducing our carbon footprint through recycling.
2011-2012 C3 Club Goals
This year's C3 Club has it's Green Hands full! Recycling - Greening the Cafeteria - Composting - Community Garden - Weatherization - Adopt-a-Beach Program.
Keep an eye out for all of the amazing GREEN things we will be doing throughout the Hurley building and Community this year!
Reduce - Reuse - Recycle - Rethink
Keep an eye out for all of the amazing GREEN things we will be doing throughout the Hurley building and Community this year!
Reduce - Reuse - Recycle - Rethink
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Water Audit
Hurley’s C3 Club conducted an audit on the water fixtures throughout the main building. The purpose of this audit was to find the amount, if any, of leaks in the schools water fixtures.
Club members checked water fountains, the boys’ and girls’ washrooms, the teacher bathrooms, janitorial closets, the kitchen, and lunchroom. They looked for signs of leaks in these areas that include dripping water from pipes, and water pooling around the area of possible leaks. There were a total of five leaks around the main building. Club members have notified the school’s engineer and principal about the leaks so that they can be repaired.
Personal water audits were also done by all participating members. For a whole day each participant kept track of the amount of water that he/she used for the day. During the next meeting members shared the data they had collected from their personal audit. They used the collected data to calculate the average amount of water used by members, students, and staff at school. The average member used 305 liters of water a day. Members on average used 111,325 liters per year. Using these calculations we estimated the amount of water used by entire school. They rounded the amount of students and staff to 1,000 individuals. They calculated that the school community’s water usage summed up to 1,111,325,000 liters per year.
Club members checked water fountains, the boys’ and girls’ washrooms, the teacher bathrooms, janitorial closets, the kitchen, and lunchroom. They looked for signs of leaks in these areas that include dripping water from pipes, and water pooling around the area of possible leaks. There were a total of five leaks around the main building. Club members have notified the school’s engineer and principal about the leaks so that they can be repaired.
Personal water audits were also done by all participating members. For a whole day each participant kept track of the amount of water that he/she used for the day. During the next meeting members shared the data they had collected from their personal audit. They used the collected data to calculate the average amount of water used by members, students, and staff at school. The average member used 305 liters of water a day. Members on average used 111,325 liters per year. Using these calculations we estimated the amount of water used by entire school. They rounded the amount of students and staff to 1,000 individuals. They calculated that the school community’s water usage summed up to 1,111,325,000 liters per year.
Energy Audit
Hurley’s C3 Club members also conducted an energy audit in the school building. This audit was performed in order to find the amount of energy wasted in the school building. This was done by going to classrooms in the main building and observing ways that energy was lost in each room.
Club members looked for signs that a room was wasting energy. Some of those signs included lights being left on, cracks in the windows, and peeling paint. Cracked windows meant that air would be escaping the room and causing the heating and cooling system to have to work harder to maintain a constant temperature in a classroom. Peeling paint also suggests that air is escaping and entering the room because the moisture in the outside air causes paint to peel.
Energy can also be consumed by “vampire energy”. This is when a device is turned off but it still uses electricity because it is plugged in. Did you know that many electronics (such as computers, televisions, game consoles, appliances etc.) continue to use electricity while not in use? You can avoid this by unplugging electronics when not in use or by the use of power strips and shutting them off when the devices are not in use.
Club members looked for signs that a room was wasting energy. Some of those signs included lights being left on, cracks in the windows, and peeling paint. Cracked windows meant that air would be escaping the room and causing the heating and cooling system to have to work harder to maintain a constant temperature in a classroom. Peeling paint also suggests that air is escaping and entering the room because the moisture in the outside air causes paint to peel.
Energy can also be consumed by “vampire energy”. This is when a device is turned off but it still uses electricity because it is plugged in. Did you know that many electronics (such as computers, televisions, game consoles, appliances etc.) continue to use electricity while not in use? You can avoid this by unplugging electronics when not in use or by the use of power strips and shutting them off when the devices are not in use.
Air Audit
Hurley’s C3 Club conducted an air audit that consisted of the students tracking how many vehicles were idling around the building. Idling occurs when a vehicle is left on while being parked. Harmful exhaust from the vehicles is released into the air around us.
The club observed around the building in the morning and afternoon to see how many vehicles idled and for how long. When the audit was complete the club calculated the amount of time, fuel consumed, money spent, and greenhouse gas emissions. The amount of time spent idling per year totaled approximately 347 hours. The fuel consumed came to be 154 gallons per year. The money spent due to idling totaled $434.00 per year. The greenhouse gas emissions were estimated to be 3,259 pounds per year. The club posted signs around the building on the harmful effects of idling.
During report card pick up day C3 Club members informed parents on the harmful effects of idling and asked them to sign a pledge that stated that they would not idle or at the very least limit their idling to a maximum of 30 seconds. The club was able to collect over 50 signatures from parents. With this improvement the amount of fuel consumed, money spent, and emissions released have been reduced significantly.
The club observed around the building in the morning and afternoon to see how many vehicles idled and for how long. When the audit was complete the club calculated the amount of time, fuel consumed, money spent, and greenhouse gas emissions. The amount of time spent idling per year totaled approximately 347 hours. The fuel consumed came to be 154 gallons per year. The money spent due to idling totaled $434.00 per year. The greenhouse gas emissions were estimated to be 3,259 pounds per year. The club posted signs around the building on the harmful effects of idling.
During report card pick up day C3 Club members informed parents on the harmful effects of idling and asked them to sign a pledge that stated that they would not idle or at the very least limit their idling to a maximum of 30 seconds. The club was able to collect over 50 signatures from parents. With this improvement the amount of fuel consumed, money spent, and emissions released have been reduced significantly.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Waste Unit
The students at Hurley conducted a waste audit in the autumn of 2010. For one day, classrooms separated wet waste from dry waste. During the audit, we learned many things about our school community's recycling habits. Overall the school had the intent to recycle; however, recyclables were not finding their way into the recycling dumpster.
After the audit, GEEC members posted signs throughout the building to educate the community on what to recycle. Members respectfully requested people to participate in increasing Hurley's recycling. The C3 Club members began collecting the daily recycling from each classroom to ensure that the recycling would end up in the proper receptacle.
Within a short period of time, we watched our recycling score soar to new heights. The score reached an all time high exceeding 140%.
After the audit, GEEC members posted signs throughout the building to educate the community on what to recycle. Members respectfully requested people to participate in increasing Hurley's recycling. The C3 Club members began collecting the daily recycling from each classroom to ensure that the recycling would end up in the proper receptacle.
Within a short period of time, we watched our recycling score soar to new heights. The score reached an all time high exceeding 140%.
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