The Environmental and Recycling Club “The ERC”

Last year in the ERC The ERC was started last year by a group of dedicated Freshman at Canton High School who were interested in making a difference in their community. Last year the ERC was involved only with implementing a recycling program in our school. This year our group has expanded to include four committees.

Fundraising Committee Canton High School By Arielle Monaghan

Fundraising The fundraising committee is responsible for raising money for environmental causes and finding ways to fund the ERC. This group also acts as the treasury, keeping track of the funds and expenses of the ERC.

Fundraising Ideas We are planning the following projects to raise money: -Bake Sales -Environmental Pins -Creating Environmentally themed T-shirts to be sold -Selling organic chocolate -Parties to raise money for a cause -ERC sponsored dances

Our Current Project The fundraising committee is focusing on designing environmentally oriented pins. A design contest is being held at the school and the ERC will vote on a winner. Once we create the pins, we will sell them during lunch. We are also selling organic chocolates. These chocolates have been taste tested to decide which will be best to sell to the school community. We are confident that once kids taste the espresso flavored dark chocolate, they’ll sell out fast!

External Projects Canton High School By Natalie Kaplan

What is the external projects committee? The External Projects committee focuses on projects that are done outside of the school. The committee consists of dedicated people who brainstorm and carry out ideas for different field-trips and projects that our club can take part in.

What kind of Projects does External Projects intend to do? We have many ideas that could help our environment in many different ways. Here are some ideas we have recently come up with: -Tree Planting in Urban Areas -Cleaning litter out of parks -Sponsoring tree planting in other countries -A media presentation to raise awareness outside of school, among other schools, kids and adults -Field trips to the aquarium, zoo, science museum, greenhouses/plant nurseries and nature trails -Distributing educational pamphlets around town about recycling and how to do it -Making Presentations at the elementary schools about recycling -Creating services to help bring recycling to office buildings, schools in other towns, etc.

The Middle School Recycling Club For our first project, our group has decided to bring recycling to other schools in our town. We are going to start by creating a recycling club at our town’s middle school. The students will be able to get information about the club through the school’s announcements and any interested students will come to a meeting after school. We will discuss what our club has accomplished so far, and how we have done it. The students will be instructed about the recycling process, how we have recycled at our school and how they can implement this process at their own school.

What will this project accomplish? The middle school students will run a branch of this club at their own school. They will be able to create their own projects and work with their own ideas, as well as develop important leadership skills while helping the environment. Our environmental club as a whole will grow much larger with these new members. This will give us the number of people we need to take on much larger projects that will have a much greater influence on the environment and the community.

Other Ideas Other ideas we have discussed and elaborated upon: We have thought about going to our town’s elementary schools and talking to the students about recycling, then sending them home with flyers for their parents. This would increase recycling in the home. Another idea was to have a bottle & can recycling contest at the elementary schools. The contest would be between grades and the grade that brings in the most cans & bottles to recycle would win a prize. The money from the redeemed cans & bottles would go towards the prize.

Recycling Committee Canton High School By Grace van Riel

What is the Recycling Committee? Before the environmental club was formed, there was no official form of recycling for the school. Hundreds of pounds of paper and plastic were being thrown away unnoticed. Last year we started the ERC in order to ensure that our school would start recycling.

Our Purpose Our purpose is to increase the amount of recycling inside our school and awareness about the effects of recycling.

What does the Recycling Committee Do? The recycling committee goes around our school every week and picks up the recycling bins that we placed in each room. Once all the recycling bins are collected, then they are emptied into larger recycling bins which are then picked up by BFI, the town’s trash and recycle collector.

What is one of our new projects for this year? Soon we will be implementing a new program with ABITIBI ® in which we will receive payments by the ton for the paper that we recycle. We are hoping that we will also be able to get the Canton community involved because the more paper that we recycle, the more money we will raise for our school.

Internal Projects Committee Canton High School By Jeffrey Cattel

What is the Internal Projects Committee? The Internal Projects Committee controls projects that are done inside the school. The committee consists of fifteen members who meet on a bi-monthly basis.

Our Purpose The purpose of the internal projects committee is to increase environmental awareness at Canton High School and the Canton Public Schools.

Ideas Internal projects committee has had six meetings. As a group we have worked hard to come up with a multitude of ideas which we would like to pursue throughout this school year. We are in the process of assessing the feasibility of each idea.

Ideas Skits Posters Environmental Fact of the Week Newspaper Articles Solar Panels Collection of Rain Water Cleaning and Maintaining School Courtyards Taking Break the Addiction in Your School Challenge

Accomplishments As a group we have decided to take the Break The Addiction Challenge We have created 25 posters throughout our school, each with its own environmental facts, encouraging and increasing environmental awareness in our school We have started the Environmental Fact of the Week on Monday’s morning announcements

Break the Addiction Challenge Designed to help decrease America’s dependence on oil and over consumption Sponsored by MTV Has multiple facets including 12 Steps Towards Breaking the Addiction (a personal challenge) and the Break The Addiction Challenge (for schools and colleges).

Break the Addiction Challenge The challenge has smaller challenges for each semester, with grants given to a portion of the schools who take part in the challenge – This fall we are expected to get press recognition for our group’s work on global warming. – In the Spring we will need to achieve a 100% clean energy policy at our school. – As a final exam we will need to reduce our school’s greenhouse gas emissions down to zero.

Fall Challenge Our group has drafted newspaper articles to be published next month on how our group is addressing global warming. The newspaper articles discuss simple ways in which anyone in our school and/or community can lessen their impact on global warming. These include- Turning off the lights when no one is in the room Planting Trees Car Pooling, driving more efficient cars, and making sure your tires are fully inflated Cleaning or replacing air filters in air conditioners and furnaces