Earth Week is celebrated at NDP to spread awareness of the environmental issues in the world and how to contribute to making a change. This year, NDP’s Green Schools Club and Environmental Science class organized the week into different themes and activities to emphasize the importance of different factors impacting the environment.

To begin the week, Monday centered around Waste and Recycling. Green Schools held a bracelet making activity with paper beads and recyclable materials during lunch. The Environmental Sciences class started an art installation piece for community members to add trash and recyclable materials to create an NDP art piece. Tuesday’s theme was Care for Creation which focused on caring for the planet and its wildlife. NDP began the day with a presentation about the themes of Earth Week and their significance. Students learned how they could help one step at a time to make progress in helping the planet. Green Schools organized a nature walk for students to take part in during lunch to more fully appreciate and be present in nature. As well, the Environmental Sciences class hosted an animal trivia for those who did not participate in the walk. Wednesday prioritized awareness of Energy usage and taught students about ways they could limit unnecessary energy consumption and instead preserve the Earth’s energy. This was followed by the theme of Water on Thursday which focused on preserving the planet’s oceans and conserving water. The Environmental Sciences class organized an Upper Level reusable cup competition to prevent plastic pollution within the school. The last day of Earth Week was Friday, and its theme was Food. Green Schools organized a meatless special to help with the greenhouse gas emission crisis that meat production contributes to.

It is important to recognize Earth Week so that as a community we can do better to help our planet. We need to acknowledge that there are problems we are causing to the Earth, but that we can also be the solution.