Some of the art featured at the fair. Photo: Khadija Aziz
On Wednesday 27 November and Thursday 28 November, MGCI held its first ever Go Eco Fair. The fair was the result of the combined efforts of Garneau’s Eco Team and Art Council, spreading environmental awareness to students as well as informing them of the little things that everyone can do to keep our school eco-friendly.
The clubs began planning this event about a month ago. Events that Eco Team organized included a used battery drive so that they could be properly disposed of and reduce the millions of batteries that end up in landfills annually. With the help of the organization FoodShare, they promoted buying locally grown food. In addition, they had students participate in taste tests between bottled water and tap water, as well as organic and non-organic apples, and then conducted surveys on students’ preferences. They encouraged students to stop drinking bottled water, because it produces a lot of waste, and to buy organic fruits. Eco Team also had an environmental quiz, awarding prizes to students who took part in it.
Earlier this month, Art Council collected a large amount of garbage from the school’s back field. Using this garbage, they created various framed art pieces to emphasize and draw attention to how much Garneau students litter and what needs to be done about it. Art Council president Khadija Aziz says that the “highlight of the fair was students’ interaction with us. A lot of students asked Art Council our intention in the art pieces and many others were participating in the Eco Teams’ activities.”
MGCI had been a Gold certified EcoSchool for five consecutive years, however last year the school dropped to a Silver certification, partly due to the lack of progress during the teacher strike. This year, Eco Team hopes to regain its Gold status or better yet, achieve a Platinum certification. Eco Team president Justin Li feels that “People really need to start listening to this message. We hear this every day to the point where we’re ignoring it, but it is important. These issues will bite back at us when we are least expecting it.” The clubs are preparing another back field cleanup and the second part of the Go Eco Fair for next semester, and Eco Team is planning to enlist students to help with light, blind, and heating audits.
