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FALL 2012

THE TORCH

11

A

t Havergal, we are striving to raise awareness about the

significance of sustainability. This includes changing the

way we think and operate in terms of the environment.

Our focus is to continue to increase our knowledge and to

develop actions for sustainability, particularly in the areas

of energy, waste and water. Through creating awareness of

the issues, and specific actions to address them, community

members are encouraged to develop a greater appreciation of our

natural world and to learn how to preserve it.

Here are a few examples that support our approach to

sustainable practices associated with energy, waste and water

consumption at Havergal.

Energy:

• Student-led small-scale alternative energy project: a group of

students in the Upper School are investigating an alternative

energy source to offset some of the school’s current electricity

resources.

• Energy-efficient lighting: when renovating spaces at the

school, we replace light fixtures with energy efficient LED

lighting whenever possible. Most recently, we included LED

lights in the newly renovated Grade 10 bathroom and IT area.

• Anti-idling campaign: in accordance with the City of

Toronto’s idling control by-law 775-2010, we remind drivers

not to idle their cars by posting no-idling signs in pick-up

and drop-off areas.

• Earth hour is not just once a year: every day from 1:30 pm

to 2:30 pm, the Junior School turns off its lights (wherever

possible) to save energy and increase awareness about energy

consumption. In the Upper School, we take advantage of the

natural lighting in our classrooms (when possible).

• Bicycles at Havergal: to support the many cyclists of the

community, we installed new bike racks to promote and

encourage bicycling.

Waste:

• Recycling: in addition to blue and green box recycling, we

encourage students to repurpose and reuse materials for art

and other projects. Last year, the Junior School Havergreen

Girls implemented a Good On One Side (GOOS) scrap paper

notebooks awareness campaign.

• Paper: we have reduced printing at the school significantly

with the introduction to the PaperCut software program. The

software tallies our printing costs, which reminds us to be

more selective about printing documents.

• Reduction of carbon footprint: for the past few years, we

have moved to electronic progress reports and other forms

of electronic communications, including the Parent and

Student Portals, the Back to School webpage and the

Family

Handbook

. These initiatives have reduced the environmental

impacts of printing and distribution.

• Electric hand dryers: we are gradually replacing paper towel

dispensers in bathrooms with electric hand dryers to reduce

the amount of paper waste produced.

• Composting: in the spring of 2012, Grade 12 student

Samantha Bennett rallied to implement a composting

program at Havergal. In the first five months of the program,

we diverted six tons of waste from landfills.

• Battery collection: each year, we deliver enough batteries

to the city’s toxic waste stations to fill a 20-gallon barrel,

diverting 20 gallons of toxic waste from landfills. These

batteries come from the homes of faculty, staff and students.

• Water bottles: we have installed water filtration taps in offices

and dining rooms and water bottle filling stations throughout

the Upper School to encourage people to bring in their own

refillable bottles to school.

Water:

• No drips: Junior School girls are reminded not to leave

washroom taps running. We also installed touchless taps in

the newly renovated Grade 10 bathroom so the faucets turn

off automatically.

• The Junior School Water Challenge: last year, Junior School

students learned about water usage and how our choices

impact our fresh water supply. Students Alex Rozenberg and

Corie Shyba designed special shower rings to remind us to

take shorter showers.

For more on sustainability at Havergal and to learn about our

outdoor classroom initiatives, visit us online at

www.havergal.on.ca/sustainability

.

The Green

in Green & Gold

HAVERGAL COLLEGE

By Susan Pink

with contributions from Lisa Anderson, Barb Macintosh and Eva Siatkowski