Monday, December 28, 2009

Project Blue website

Our letter writing effort is now featured on the Project Blue website!
Check it out!

http://janegoodall.ca/project-blue/groups-action.html

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Writing For Human Rights.

Here are some useful sites to help you with your letter writing.

Project Blue Facts:

www.janegoodall.ca/project-blue/get-informed.html

Useful links from theConcil of Canadians:

www.canadians.org/water/issues/right/right.html

www.canadians.org/water/policy/index.html

Sample letter from the Council of Canadians:

http://www.righttowater.ca/RTW

Canadian Newspaper directory:

www.google.com/Top/News/Newspapers/Regional/Canada

Water Can:

http://www.watercan.com/

Tips in writing the letter:

Objective: to direct the attention of key decision makers towards addressing importanat national and international water issues, for example, the recognition of water as a human right.

1) Research the issue and collect necessary facts.
2) Write Away!!

Note: when writing to politicians, it's great to start with a standard letter template for writers to follow, however, the more personalized the letter, the more attention it will receive.

Note: , for a guide line, keep in mind that 'Letters to the editor' is one of the most read sections in the newspaper.

3) Hand it in!! The due date is Tuesday December 8, 2009.


BTW: you are writing to Jim Prentice


Sunday, November 15, 2009

Wastefree Wednesday

Don't forget that it's Wastefree Wednesday on November 18th at SAM. What does this mean? This means that you should bring a wastefree lunch to school. Bring your lunch in reuseable containers. The goal is to avoid throwing out any garbage at lunch. Please support the Green Team and SAM and help reduce your impact on the environment!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Planet Forward Fundraiser

The Green Team is encouraging all of the staff and students at SAM to participate in the Planet Forward fundraiser. By participating, not only are funds raised for the school (which goes back to special programming for students), the planet is helped as well.

Don't have a resuseable water bottle or reuseable bag? Now is the time to purchase them through Planet Forward!


So please support your school and the environment by encouraging your friends and family to purchase an environmentally friendly product.


Remember the top fundraising class for Grade 7 and for Grade 8 will receive a pizza party!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

We Day 2009

Imagine, 16,00 leaders of the next generation, gathering nationally at one spot, ready for world change. Cheering, and screaming, as inspiring speakers speak, and amazing performers perform.On October 5, 2009, students and teachers all around Toronto gathered at the Air Canada Centre to hear many touching speeches about child labour and poverty in the third world countries. There were many inspirational speakers sharing there experiences with the world, all with one important message: One person can make a big difference in the world. Don't believe it? Well, look back 15 years ago. One boy saw an article in the newspaper, about a 12 year old slave, who was murdered in Africa for speaking up for his freedom. THE boy who read this devastating story decided that something must be done, so he took matter to his own hands. This boy, was Craig Keilburger. The next day, he spread the news and started a small group called Free The Children. This initiated a worldwide organization, helping children in the developing countries get a proper education, with clean water to drink.

This year, about 30 students from SAM were chosen to go and participate in We Day 2009. This meaningful conference was kicked off by the extraordinary, one and only, Craig and Marc Keilburger.They raised awareness of child labour and poverty with one saying, "WE are the generation"
This certainly brought everyone's attention forward. Other inspiring speakers such as Elie Wisel (author of Night, Holocaust survivor), Paul Martin (former prime minister), John Tory (conservative party), Mia Farrow (actress, humanitarian, leading Darfur activist) and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.(environmentalist, author). Many more amazing world changers followed. Many of them had heart changing stories. Sad stories of what they had gone through, and what we can do to stop it from happening, like child labourers. The world does need a few more things however, as Spencer West said, "I think the world needs a lot of laughter. There isn't enough." Occasionally, there were special performances. One of the crowd pleasers were Justin Bieber singing "One Time" and Hedley singing "Cha-Ching". There was a special guest performance by the Jonas Brothers. That certainly raised the level of enthusiasm.

After hearing these inspiring speeches, we felt that each of us are important and has the power to make a difference in the world. If all of us come together, imagine what the impact on the world would be, so it all starts at SAM. Think about the people living in the third-world countries, like Africa. They have to walk kilometers just to fill 2 buckets of fresh water, and look at us. We just turn on the tap and "voila" out comes water. We are lucky, yet most people do not realize that and do not appreciate our access to water, and we think that is unfair to the people living in poverty. So the next time you leave the tap on or take a long shower, think about them, and rethink about what you are doing.


-Phoebe and Tina

Sunday, October 4, 2009

GreenScenezToronto Video Contest

Here's a pretty cool contest.
Check it out.
Winning team gets their video premiered at the Green Toronto Awards.
Let Ms. Ma know if you're interested as you require the support of a teacher or adult advisor to enter.

http://www.toronto.ca/livegreen/gscenez_index.html

Friday, September 25, 2009

Recycling

I'm sure that you have all heard that this year, the SAM Green Team is focusing on Project Blue, but we must not forget about recycling and our environment! As you all know, we are starting duties this week, and one of our jobs is to stand by the recycle bins in the lunchroom during both first and second lunch to make sure everyone throws away their garbage in the correct bin. To make our job easier, here is a list of recyclable and non-recyclable items.

Recyclable:

  • Milk/juice cartons (throw straw away in garbage)
  • Yogurt containers
  • Plastic bottles
  • Pop cans
  • Glass bottles (remove lids before recycling)
  • Aluminum trays
  • Paper and paper bags

Non-recyclables:

  • Straws
  • Plastic spoons, knives, forks
  • Waxed paper
  • Food
  • Soiled (dirty) paper plates
  • Paper coffee cups and lids
  • Plastic bags
  • Napkins
  • Styrofoam

These are only items we think you might need to throw away in the cafeteria. If you are unsure which bin your garbage goes into, do not hesitate to ask the Green Team monitors. That is what we are there for!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Duty Schedules and WE Day info

Next week, we will be starting SAM Green Team duties! Here is the listing for the people on duty each day.

Monday:
  • Jane

  • Tina

  • Alain and Jerry (first round)

  • Janet and Iffat (second round)

Tuesday:

  • Divya

  • Sarranya

  • Haley

  • Keya

Wednesday:

  • Daria and Ivy (first round)

  • Winne and Vigashavi (second round)

  • Gloria

  • Iris

Thursday:

  • Jane

  • Tina

  • Theresa

  • Theresa

Friday:


  • Wendy

  • Iris

  • Unknown

  • Unknown

What You Have To Do:

Start by going to room 102 to get your Green Team passes. Then you start your duty by going up to the second floor to turn off lights and computer monitors, and work your way down to the first floor. At the last 10 minutes of the lunch period, go down to the cafeteria to monitor the recycling and waste bin. You have to tell the people in the cafeteria if the waste is going in the correct bin. Remember, the Gr.8s are duty during first lunch and the Gr. 7s are on duty during the second lunch.


We Day: On October 5th

As most of you know, the Green Team only has 15 tickets to go to We Day. If you want to participate, you have to first be committed in doing the water projects. By Friday, write down 2 or 3 Water Project ideas and send them to Ms.Ma. We will probably be drawing randomly, so good luck to those of you who wants to go!!!!

SAM Green Team


Monday, September 21, 2009

Go Green and Going Blue

Everyone has heard of "Go Green" right? Well, now SAM is also going blue! This year, we are aiming for platinum for being the most eco-friendly school. We will post some tips up on the Green Team blog website so you can try them out and conserve water.


"Why do we have to conserve water? The earth is filled with it!!", you may say. Well, my dear reader, although 70% of the world is filled with water, only 1% is fresh and ready for direct human uses. So imagine this. There are roughly about 6 billion people in the world, and if half of that number takes a 10 minute shower, and the other half accidentally leaves the tap on, think about how much water will be used. If we keep this up, the remaining 1% will be gone in a jiffy!



You might be thinking, 6 BILLION PEOPLE?! I'm not even 1% of that number! What could I do? Well, for starters, think about doing little things, and if everybody does little things like that, then there will be a huge difference! Check your taps for leaks and don't keep your front lawn sprinkler on even when it's raining. Even using a water-efficient shower head can save you up to 2800 litres of water per month! Such little things could make a big difference, so don't underestimate turning the tap off!

Come back often to check on new updates and posts!


The SAM Green Team


Remember! GO GREEN AND BLUE!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Welcome!

Welcome to the SAM Green Team blog. Here you will find Green Team news, events, and issues. Please check back often to find out what's happening.