Halton Waldorf School was one of the nearly 800 entries in the Recycling Council of Ontario WFLC and one of the 30 winners ~ the only Burlington school in Ontario !

Collectively 200,000 students from 62 Ontario school boards diverted 25 tonnes of lunch waste from entering landfills – roughly the weight of 2 school buses!

Congratulations – Students from class 4 are featured in the RCO media release here.

Halton Waldorf School encourages parents and students from ALL Burlington schools to pack zero waste lunches every day by using reusable bottles & food containers.

Thanks to the RCO and their partners, Metro and Tetra Pak Inc. fifty students have won an educational experience. To view the winners click here.

Photo: Grade 4 students show school lunch waste from one day's lunch waste collected from Kindergarten to Grade 8.

In honour of World Water Day, BurlingtonGreen will be presenting: White Water, Black Gold on March 21st to kick-off our 2012 eco-film festival. You can learn more about this great event here.

What is World Water Day?

International World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

An international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day.

 Each year, World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater and 2012 focuses on Water and FOOD.

There are 7 billion people to feed on the planet today and another 2 billion are expected to join by 2050. Statistics say that each of us drinks from 2 to 4 litres of water every day, however most of the water we ‘drink’ is embedded in the food we eat: producing 1 kilo of beef for example consumes 15,000 litres of water while 1 kilo of wheat ’drinks up’ 1,500 litres. Learn more about this important issue by checking out this video and World Water Day website here.

Click here to view our winter issue:

• A Look Back at 2011
• Youth in Action
• President's Thanks
• Central Park Community Garden Project
• Go Local Food Network News
• Connor's Corner
• ...and more.

See Great Lakes United's resolution regarding artificial water fluoridation here. 

See video clip below:

What can you do? Learn more about this issue and share your viewpoints with our Halton leaders who will be discussing this issue on January 31, 2012.  The Region’s Health and Social Services Committee voted to end it more than a year ago but the full Council delayed making the decision. Now they are holding a special meeting on Tuesday, January 31 at 9:30 a.m. at the Regional Council Chambers, 1151 Bronte Road, Oakville.  We hope you can attend.

Exciting News!

 Local Youth Network is asking Burlington to vote for People’s Choice Award

BurlingtonGreen Environmental Association received exciting news from the Ontario Trillium Foundation that our innovative Youth Program is up for recognition among thousands of province-wide programs.

“On March 23, the Foundation will be honouring the best of the best - those organizations that exemplify excellence, innovation and leadership in building healthy communities across the province. We will showcase eight organizations our volunteer and staff think are truly extraordinary in terms of impact, innovation or collaboration.

Great Grant Award recipients will have been identified from among some 4,500 charitable or not-for-profit groups that received OTF support in recent years, and selected from among nominees from across the province”.

Nominated for a People’s Choice Award, the local Youth Network will be spreading the word in coming weeks in an effort to garner the most votes from the people of Ontario competing among 18 Ontario groups.

“We are very proud of our team of Youth and their many contributions benefitting the health of Burlington’s environment. It is so exciting that the Province has recognized their extraordinary efforts as well. We hope that everyone in Burlington will take a moment to vote and to vote often to highlight to everyone in Ontario that Burlington Youth are the best” said Amy Schnurr, Executive Director of the non-profit Association."

Online voting will take place from Feb 13 to February 29 at an Ontario Trilliium Foundation webpage (to be posted) and people can vote every hour ! The organization with the most number of votes will  be announced along with other awards at a gala luncheon in Toronto on March 23, 2012

VOTE FOR YOUTH ~ VOTE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT ~ VOTE FOR THE BGYN!

More about the BGYN:

BurlingtonGreen is very proud of the establishment of Burlington's first Youth Environmental Network. Since it's inception 3 years ago, hundreds of youth have had the opportunity to share ideas, become empowered and take action to help the environment locally by participating in various habitat stewardship and event greening projects and more! They have also helped to plan our popular and inspiring annual Youth Environmental conference drawing youth from all corners of the City to get involved in being part of the solution to help the planet through collective efforts.

“ My experiences with the Youth Network have truly transformed me as a person, and have positively influenced many other youth like me. The BurlingtonGreen Youth Network is what I describe as a powerful grassroots catalyst for very real and exciting youth-led action in improving the environment both locally and globally...I believe that the Network is a deeply vital and necessary program for the present and future well-being of the community.  Aside from its crucial role in facilitating action by youth for the environment, the most precious element of the Network is its unique ability to creatively instill an unyielding spirit and drive and motivation and potential in each youth who participates in the program"  

Andrew Wong - Youth Network Alumni

"My experience as a BGYN member has been the absolute most motivating, empowering, educational and impactful volunteer opportunity I've ever had to date. This organization has influenced my life in more ways than I ever thought possible.  Most importantly it has enabled me to find full potential in my passion for the environment…One of the most memorable experiences I have with the BGYN was helping to organize Burlington’s first Environmental Youth Conference. Working with an innovative team to plan and run a day of environmental action and inspiration for 400 youth was an invaluable teamwork, event planning and organizing experience. There is nothing else like the BurlingtonGreen Youth Network.”

Zofia Smeja - Youth Network Alumni

“BurlingtonGreen’s tireless commitment to engaging youth as today’s environmental leaders is truly inspiring. As a professional Community Worker who has worked with youth in a range of non-profit sectors, I have been absolutely astounded with the energy and devotion BGYN’s youth members have invested in creating and encouraging positive environmental change. By offering youth-focused environmental programming that provides youth with valuable skills and opportunities, BurlingtonGreen not only has positive impacts on the natural environment, but also in the lives and futures of young people; they are truly “EcoMentors” in every sense of the word."

Josh Stevenson, EcoMentors Program Manager,Earth Day Canada