Bodwell High School
From ClimateNetworkWiki
The Waterfront School that Embraces the World
955 Harbourside Drive, North Vancouver, British Columbia
Click here to check out our school's website
The Bodwell Eco-Action Team (BEAT)
Contact: Stephen Goobie
Staff Email: sgoobie@bodwell.edu
Click here to check out our group's website
Our Mission:
To bring about a significant, measurable shift toward those environmentally-sound and sustainable practices which enrich the quality of learning and living of our students.
Our Sustainability Policy:
Bodwell High School, through and among its students, staff, and facilities, seeks to ...
I. INCREASE the:
a) level of respect and care shown toward our surroundings
b) level of literacy and awareness of local and global environmental issues
c) proportion of total waste which is material sent for recycling, by operating an effective waste management system
d) proportion of consumed resources which are reusable, recycled, recyclable, or non-toxic
e) level of visibility in the community as a positive example of an environmentally- responsible organization
II. DECREASE the:
a) consumption levels (per-person) of energy from natural gas and electricity
b) consumption levels (per-person) of physical materials, notably those from non-renewable resources
c) total volume (per-person) of solid waste and pollution levels in waste water
d) pollution produced by transportation to and from school of people and products, and,
III. NEUTRALIZE the:
a) carbon-based use and emissions of the school and its members by such efforts as contributing to a tree-planting program in Kenya.
By taking measurable strides in these directions, Bodwell High School seeks to demonstrate and practice its core values through action.
Sustainability Projects at our School:
As our eco-group only just formed in September 2007, we are still largely in the planning phase.
Here are some of the things that we have accomplished so far:
1. Became a member in the Green Schools Program (run by the Seeds Foundation).
2. Created an eco-action website.
3. Drafted Bodwell’s first school-wide official Sustainability Policy.
4. Our ESL Science students decorated paper recycling boxes for each classroom.
5. Collected information about the heating and cooling systems of the physical building, and began to collect and analyze data on electricity use from BC Hydro and natural gas consumption data from Terasen Gas.
6. Offered Environmental Science 11 on the course selection list for January 2008 and advertised this course throughout the school. Course did not have sufficient enrolement. We will try again in the summer 2008 semester!
7. In addition to our Recycling Club, we arranged a new recycling pick-up service with the North Shore Recycling Program.
8. Began to collect data on copier paper consumption.
Here are some of the things were are planning to do from January 2008:
1. Introduce the purpose of BEAT to the student body by carrying out (if approved) an Official Launch Event (like an eco-fair) of a school-wide program called Mission: Inside-Out in February 2008.
2. Further connect and unite with dorm students and staff who are organizing their own eco-actions to improve environmental issues in the dorm.
3. Carry out a Pro D Day plan focussed on respect for our immediate surroundings and implement any agreed-upon actions. The Power Smart team from BC Hydro is scheduled make a presentation to our staff on this day.
4. Hold student contests for ideas to take action on each point of the Sustainability Policy. Read winner out at each assembly.
5. Appoint/elect a Minister of the Environment to our Student Parliament.
6. Implement a reusable paper system next to the photo copiers and printers. Implement post-consumer recycled-content copier paper for school-wide use.
7. Further investigate and implement refillable white board markers.
8. Begin to implement plans of action to decrease consumption of electricity and natural gas.
9. Investigate the possibility of using a biodiesel blend (from Cascadia Biofuels) for school buses.
10. Propose the improvement of bicycle facilities at the school.
11. Propose a system of small salary incentives for staff who use transit, multiple-occupancy vehicles, bicycles, or walking to commute to the school.
12. Format and structure a carbon offset program in preparation to propose and implement to plant trees through the Rafiki Project, our connection to Kenya.
