Think Globally Act Locally | The Power Of R

Carihi High in Campbell River is setting goals of zero-waste in 2010 and taking action to make it happen. Today I visited several classrooms to deliver one hour presentations about the globalization of garbage and local solutions to rethink, reduce, reuse and recycle our way to a cleaner planet. It was an inspiring day today because so many positive initiatives happened in such a short amount of time.

After each presentation students had questions but more importantly they were taking action to implement a full blown composting program at the school before the end of the day. To help things along I brought along some equipment to make it happen. The Power Of R and Comox Strathcona Waste Management donated two Earth Machine composters, two battery collection bins and twenty classroom compost buckets to the school.  By the end of lunch hour the composters were installed, the buckets were distributed and the principal’s door was being knocked on by students to report what they were up to. I didn’t even know it was happening, it just did.

I spoke The Green Team Environment Club over lunch hour about actions of other schools on Vancouver Island and ways to connect with those schools to strengthen their own programs. The club remarkably tripled its membership today and hopefully that enthusiasm will continue to bring Carihi High closer to its goals. The school is setting a good example for other schools, businesses, and households in Campbell River. I’ve seen this positive momentum build before in past projects and I can guarantee that Carihi High will change the environmental legacy of Campbell River in 2010.

Before the Christmas break at their annual Turkey Dinner Night the Green Team will announce its initiative to the rest of the school. Over one hundred students are already moving the project forward for school wide recycling, composting and battery collection. The Green Team will also meet with Highland Secondary’s Eco Team in 2010 to collaborate their efforts and share strategies. I’ll work with these clubs to help prepare them for presenting to other secondary, middle and elementary schools in SD71 and SD72. By the end of the New Year hopefully every school will be involved in this incredible Power Of R movement.

Here is what the Green Team teacher sponsor Wayne Demerse had to say about the day:

Get your school involved in The Power Of R movement by booking a presentation or workshop by emailing me at powerofr@gmail.com today.

This week I visited Highland Secondary Social Studies 11 classes to speak about the globalization of garbage. It was particularly exciting because Highland has been implementing school wide programs for recycling cardboard, collecting old batteries, and composting. The classes were diverse and interesting. Making the connection to local solutions for global problems is what this presentation is all about. This is what the teacher had to say about the day:

"My grade 11 classes had an extremely positive experience learning more about our relationship with 'stuff'. Zac Whyte presented the information in a professional way, with particular attention to the level of concentration and understanding of his audience. The visual aids really added to the presentation, and the local content increased the engagement of the students."

  – Danika Village SS11 Highland Secondary School

My first hour long presentation of the season was at Mark R. Isfeld today. Lee McGeorge invited me to introduce the concept of Globalism to her Social Studies 11 class. It's a difficult topic to narrow down but in the end it's about our interconnectedness with everything on the planet. The presentation focused on the global issue of dealing with our solid waste locally and as a planet. We discussed landfills, global warming and case studies of solid waste issues around the world. The Power of R was in full effect when explaining simple methods to reduce, reuse and recycle our waste.

This class is submitting their Top 5 Steps to lowering their ecological footprints to powerofr@gmail.com. You can too! Just submit a photo of yourself, your age, school and of course, your Top 5. If you are a teacher in the Comox-Strathcona area you can book custom presentations now by emailing me.

"Zac Whyte used great graphics, interaction and movie clips to create a memorable and inspiring presentation on globalization for my class.  He discussed various environmental problems associated with our “throw away” society and challenged the students to make a difference.  His enthusiasm and animation really made the topic accessible and engaging for the students.  One student said, “He was entertaining and didn’t just tell us boring facts.”

Lee McGeorge - Mark R. Isfeld Social Studies 11 Teacher