Bluewater District School Board

Bluewater's Earth Day at JDSS page

Earth Day at JDSS

Earth Day at JDSS
Posted on 05/07/2021
From creating a promotional video to gathering trash in local neighborhoods to conducting research and writing about saving the bees, John Diefenbaker Senior School (JDSS) knows the significance of what Earth Day stands for.

Two years ago, JDSS created its first ever Green Committee with a mission statement to “raise awareness about environmental issues by encouraging and developing sustainable practices, both individually and collectively”.

This year, for Earth Day, the Green Committee created a video to encourage students, staff, and members of the community to make a pledge for our planet.  Examples mentioned in the video include walking/biking rather than driving, avoiding single use plastics, reducing meat consumption, air drying laundry, gathering litter, and using reusable K-Cups and Eco-Strips laundry detergent.  Students created their pledges with a timeline in mind, and considered how they were making a difference by filling out a template that the Green Committee developed.

JDSS’ Green Committee encourages you to write your own pledge today because Earth Day is every day!

View the Earth Day Pledges video below:



Pledge templates:


Template for creating an Earth Day pledge to "make every day Earth Day" with examples, such as a pledge for reusable shopping bag for groceries, reusable cutlery, reusable straws, energy-efficient bulbs at home, and unplugging chargers when not using them
Pledge template: I pledge to:___; Time frame:___; Why this is important:___ Pledge example: I pledge to: avoid using single plastic.; Time frame: For one week,starting on Thursday,April 22nd.; Why is this important: This is important because the process of creating plastic requires an abundance of energy and resources. The consumption of these resources, contributes substantially to global warming.

The JDSS Green Committee also organized Earth Day contests for students and staff to participate in over the April break.  Some participants collected garbage from around their neighborhood and submitted photos of what they had gathered.  Whoever collected the most garbage would win a pair of hiking socks, generously donated by Canadian Tire in Hanover, and a JDSS reusable water bottle courtesy of the Students’ Council.  Congratulations to Carter Mighton, who won this competition!

Another category in the Green Committee’s Earth Day contest was “Most impactful”, where students were encouraged to submit a photo of what they were doing for the environment, along with a write-up explaining the impact of their actions.

Mrs. Meulensteen’s Grade 8 class, the winners of this competition, wrote to the Green Committee about joining the Bring Back the Bees mission, sponsored by Honey Nut Cheerios, after doing much research on “the plight of honeybees”.  They explored how "helping the honeybees doesn’t have to happen strictly at a policy level—it can happen right in your backyard, or maybe even our schoolyard”.

After joining the Bring Back the Bees mission, students logged on and ordered packets of sunflower seeds to be planted for the benefit of the honeybee population.  The article, written by Mrs. Meulensteen’s Grade 8 class, is posted on the Green Committee section of the JDSS Students’ Council website.

Anyone who is interested in learning more about this initiative to save the bees is encouraged to visit the Green Committee website.  

Two students will be drawn from the class to win a JDSS water bottle and pair of hiking socks.  Many thanks again to Canadian Tire in Hanover and the JDSS Students’ Council for donating prizes!

Students on laptops in classStudents on laptops in classStudents in class view Bring Back the Bees information on whiteboard

Submitted by: Avryl Bender, JDSS student
Bluewater District School Board is located on the traditional land of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, which is represented by the communities of Saugeen First Nation and Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation.
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