Boomerang Lunch  

What is a boomerang lunch? A boomerang lunch is a lunch that has every piece of it returned to its source, home! In other words, everything in the lunch goes back home at the end of the day. No matter if it is leftover food, containers, or garbage, it all goes back to be washed or disposed of at home. We are thrilled to have a mini recycling center at our school for items such as, milk containers, juice boxes, plastics, paper/cardboard. What can I do to ensure my child doesn’t come home with a messy lunch bag? The number one choice is to send all food items in sealable reusable containers. Therefore, the only items returning in the lunch bag will be in sealed containers ready to be washed and used the next day. If you choose to send disposable containers such as yogurt, applesauce, and juice boxes, your child will be encouraged to place the empty containers in a resealable bag to be returned home if they cannot be recycled. Isn’t waste just being diverted home and then thrown in the garbage? The eco-team feels that it is our responsibility to teach the students the number one best option for our environment. This is reducing waste. The purpose of the boomerang program is to promote the use of reusable containers, thus reducing the amount of lunch waste being produced by our school. The collection, transportation, and processing of garbage as well as recyclable materials requires a significant amount of energy, putting strain on our environment.

Dear Parents,

We are excited to tell you about a very special program we are coordinating at our school in conjunction with Crayola. It's called Crayola ColorCycle – an amazing new program devised to turn used markers into energy!

Around Our Lady of Mount Carmel students and teachers will be collecting used markers that are ready to be discarded. The markers will be sent to a facility where they will be converted into clean fuel. This fuel can be used to power vehicles, heat homes, cook meals and more!

Please help support our efforts by sending your kids in with any used markers you may have around the house – even non-Crayola brands. A drop-off box will be located around the school for your child to deposit the markers.

Thank you in advance for participating! With the help students and parents like you across the country, the Crayola ColorCycle program can keep tons of plastic out of landfills each year.

Remember, don't throw out that used marker—ColorCycle it!

Sincerely,

The ECO team

OLMC is ECO Gold Certified!​

Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a certified GOLD ECO School. This year we are hoping that all students and staff are conscious of their everyday waste and continue this on a daily basis. We encourage the use of re-usable containers and water bottles. We now have a beautiful water bottle filling station so lets make sure it gets used! All classrooms have recycling bins as well as there is a hallway recycling center for proper disposals. Items that are considered garbage will be asked to be brought back home. If you are keeping an item in a wrapper to inform us that the product is “nut free” that is great, just know that the empty wrapper will be brought back home that night. In order to keep lunch pails clean, we recommend that students place any waste back in a reusable container/zip lock bag for the return trip.

At ALCDSB we embrace our call to be stewards of God's Gift of Creation. In the context of student success, stewardship takes on a holistic meaning encompassing stewardship of the environment, self and those around us. With this in mind, Outdoor and Environmental Education programming within the ALCDSB seeks to engage our students, Kindergarten through Grade 12, in authentic, integrated learning experiences within the natural environment and within the school community. Engagement levels are high at our Outdoor Centres as students are physically active while exploring the interconnectedness of living things. 

Within the school community our students continue to participate in Ontario Ecoschools, a rigorous, province-wide certification program which is the vehicle for the Ministry of Education's Policy Framework for Environmental Education in Ontario Schools. The Ontario Ecoschools program places eco-action directly within the sphere of student influence leading to a sense of empowerment and meaningful participation in the local community.

For more information on Ontario Eco Schools, please visit: ecoschools.ca