Eco-kits coming to a school near you

British Columbia is offering "eco-kits" to all schools in the hope of spreading the green message.

The kits, available through the Calgary-based SEEDS Foundation, include ideas for promoting environmental awareness through composting, gardening, recycling and outdoor cleanup.

Education Minister Shirley Bond says it`s one way of helping schools model the best environmental practices and ensure students learn about environmental responsibility.

"The lessons our students learn now will have a long-lasting influence on our environment and the next generation of British Columbians."

Teacher Brenda Melnychuk hadn`t seen the eco-kits yet but said she`s glad to see more emphasis on environmental awareness. Her school, Haldane elementary in Chase, is considered a leader in Canada for environmental programs spanning 18 years.

"It`s a hot topic now . . . finally," Melnychuk said of the environment. Haldane was recognized by SEEDS as the first school in Canada to complete 3,000 environmental projects and to win the organization`s top Earth III award.

Forest Grove elementary in Burnaby is a couple of steps behind Haldane but has also won recognition from SEEDS for completing 1,000 projects. Its latest effort is a lights-out lunch on Fridays to teach students about energy conservation.

SEEDS stands for the Society, Environment and Energy Development Studies Foundation. It is one of several environmental organizations that provide education programs for K-12 in thousands of Canadian schools. It also encourages schools to come up with their own ideas.

At Haldane elementary, that includes a range of projects from helping save the endangered burrowing owl to fund-raising to bringing clean drinking water to a school in India.

"We`ve had a lot of town support," said Melnychuk, who teaches Grades 3-4 and runs an after-school club called Green Kids.

In addition to special projects and eco-kits, the province has recently distributed a new guide to help teachers incorporate environmental lessons into almost every subject at all grade levels.

Called Environmental Learning and Experience, the guide emphasizes that the study of the environment is not a single subject in the curriculum.

"Students should understand both how and why the environment has an impact on their daily lives, and what kind of an impact their daily lives have on the environment," the guide says.

Richard Kool, an associate professor in environmental studies at Royal Roads University, and David Zandvliet, an assistant education professor at Simon Fraser University, led the group that developed the new guide to update one published in 1995. Kool said one of the main changes in the new guide is the inclusion of ideas about sustainability -- a concept that was only getting started 12 years ago.

Both guides emphasize the importance of direct experience, Kool said. "If you want to know something about a pond, go out and study the pond. We think that`s kind of basic, but it wasn`t and in some ways, it still isn`t. We`re much more likely to turn to a book or turn to Wikipedia than we are to actually go outside."

The guide also encourages teachers to help students connect to the beauty of the natural world and to understand the need for action.

"It`s not enough to say you know something. If you claim knowledge and you don`t do anything about it . . . you don`t have that knowledge.

"We`re saying and the [education] ministry is sort of agreeing with us, that for students to be engaged and to learn about the environment, they have to do stuff, and that can be as simple as cleaning up your school yard or as complicated as getting involved in ecological restoration or . . . being involved in political action," Kool said.

Zandvliet said teachers are brain-storming about how they can use the document in the classroom and how they can incorporate environmental lessons throughout the curriculum. He is also involved in developing videos -- to be available in the spring -- showing innovative work by teachers in this area.

"It`s not a stretch to say the environment is in the public mind and, in particular, in the minds of the youth," he said. "This will make curriculum more accessible and more meaningful for students."

Schools are going green in other ways, too. New school designs include energy-saving features to keep the buildings lit and cool with the smallest possible environmental impact, the ministry says.

Kerry Magnus, associate director of business management services with the Surrey school district, said the concept of energy-efficient schools isn`t new, but it has become more popular in recent years as energy-efficient products -- light bulbs, for example -- become cheaper.