It’s official. Holy Name of Mary College School (HNMCS) is a Platinum certified EcoSchool. We received the news earlier this year and we are all excited and geared up for this year’s Eco Plan--especially our hard working Eco Club Team!

EcoSchools is the only voluntary certification program in Ontario that recognizes and celebrates schools for their environmental learning and action. Platinum certification allows high-achieving schools to deepen their existing program through rich opportunities that engage students in environmental learning and practice.

HNMCS has now entered a new phase in our certification process called the Experienced EcoSchool Certification Cycle (EECC). The EECC is a two-year certification cycle consisting of one pledge year and one application year. This will give HNMCS a chance to deepen its EcoSchools program, focus on a specific project, and strengthen its Eco Team.

We started off our year by planting strawberries, mint and parsley on our Eco Wall. This month our main theme is reduce, reuse and recycle. So, our first initiative for the year is Bag2School Fundraising. This clothing drive will run from October 29 until November 5. We also registered for the Ontario School Annual Battery Recycling Challenge, which teaches the proper ways to handle, store and recycle batteries at home and at school. In addition, the girls have been busy passing out Good on one Side (GOOS) paper bins to all the classrooms.

The Eco Club is excited about the upcoming Christmas concert. Our Eco-friendly beauty kits are in the making. We can’t wait to share them with you.