Monitoring our Energy
After almost three months dedicated to saving the world, the kids and teachers have accomplished a lot! First off, we learned that tracking consumption is the first step to reducing it! Check this out:
For some reason, this week, our Broadway centre power consumption spiked to more than 4x the daily average! Actually, we've never consumed so much energy, and if we hadn't been tracking it, I wouldn't even know! The next step will be to figure out why...
Visualizations have been helpful in teaching the kids about our most frequently consumed resource, as well: Water!
Everyone at daycare washes hands, with soap and water, rubbing thoroughly for 20 seconds, at least once an hour. By plugging the sink, we've been measuring how much water it takes to do the job. When we pay attention to our task, and turn the taps off while we rub, there's hardly any water in the sink at all!
Now that we know how to do it efficiently, our newest teacher, <-- Charlotte, and Codie are going to capture it on film! Maybe to music! A handwashing video is in the works, and an intro to Charlotte (and all our staff) is on the blog!
Through the spring, we've also been inviting families to bring us their kids' food pouches, to rinse, pack up, and ship out - through the Terra-Cycle recycling program! After just 3 short months, we're diverting over 150 pouches away from our landfill, to be processed and turned into other items, including park benches!
Drop by either Buddings with your metallized plastic packages, or sign up with Terra-cycle and do it from home! They also have programs for coffee station waste, batteries, pet food bags, and many more.
Zero-Waste Spring is coming to an end at the end of May, but Buddings is committed to living (and learning) the lifestyle, so this won't be the last time you hear about it! We'll continue to find artistic ways to reuse packaging, switch to renewable resources, and reduce plastic in our lives. Here are some of the ideas we're still exploring 😉
