GIA Update: April 2011

"The Waste Busters"

Beaver Country Day School - Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, U.S.
Sadat City Languages School - Sadat City, Egypt

• The Waste Busters are working waste reduction and management in their respective communities.
• Facebook Page name: "The Waste Busters"
• Facebook Page link: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1000000391768858
• and
• http://www.facebook.com/pages/Waste-Busters/149858235067000
• (They will combine their Facebook pages shortly)

• Facebook Page Statistics: 102 "Likes;" 2 photo albums

• Service Project Date: April 16, 2011

• • Partnering with the Charles River Watershed cleanup event and recruiting many Beaver Country Day students and other schools in the community to participate. More details to follow

• Originally extensively researched implementing a composting system in their school, but were unable to find a farm willing to partner at this time. They will explore this further in the future.
• Now, working to implement the town's first public recycling system on the streets of Brookline, beginning with Brookline's tourism center, Coolidge Corner. To implement this, they need to raise $1,000, which they are hoping to gain in part through partnerships with local businesses in Coolidge Corner. They also met with many city officials, including the historical society, who decide whch recycling canisters will be permitted, etc.
• The students have also implemented "No Tray Tuesday" where, to save the water used to wash trays, students don't use trays in the cafeteria. On other days, trays now have imformation printed on them regarding how to conserve water through not using trays.
• The students have implemented "Water Bottle Wednesday," where students are encouraged to use reusable water bottles instead of plastic bottles. The Wastebusters created thei own reusable water bottles (with the GIA insignia) and sell them at their school

• Service Project Date: - Global Youth Service Day, April 14, 2011

• • Awareness and advocacy campaign as part of the GLOBAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY (GYSD) through People to People International (PTPI) Student Chapters, with over 520 students expected to participate, gaining exposure for their project not only locally but also internationally, through the PTPI newsletter updates and on GYSD website. More details to follow.

• Sent in second video presentation for review and Skyped with the judges. Scores have been updated for all teams to include the second videonconference results.
• Students have focused primarily on reducing the use of plastic bags, which are usually disposed of in the dump rather than recycled. Instead, the students have created "ECO bag," or reusable shopping bags, which aren't yet popular/available in Egypt. Using old tunics and t-shirts, they created shopping bags and have sold them to their peers.
• On March 21, 2011, the students organized a fundraiser and presented their GIA project to a school-wide audience during the Mother's Day Concert and Bazaar held at the school

GIA Midterm Update: January 20, 2011

"The Waste Busters"

Beaver Country Day School - Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, U.S.
Sadat City Languages School - Sadat City, Egypt

• The Waste Busters are working waste reduction and management in their respective communities.
• Facebook Page name: "The Waste Busters"
• Facebook Page link: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1000000391768858
• and
• http://www.facebook.com/pages/Waste-Busters/149858235067000
• (They will combine their Facebook pages shortly)

• Facebook Page Statistics: 102 "Likes;" 2 photo albums

• Recently they met with Tedd Saunders, from Eco-Logical Solutions - a corporation that works with hotels to reduce waste and improve energy use. Through this, the Beaver team learned how small changes can make a big impact.
• Also met with Stephen Messinger who was involved in the Solar Power Decathlon in Washington, DC where he helped construct an innovative green home. Students asked for advice on how to construct composting campaign. Messinger reportedly shared wonderful ideas.
• Met with Kevin, the head of the Beaver Country Day School's food company, Sage, about installing a compost system.
• Beaver students also met with the following organizations: Lupine Design (helping Beaver students design their composting system), The Lennox Hotel (ecological waste disposal), Leaders in Sanitation of Brookline (responsible for recycling projects in Beaver's city).
• Have instituted "Daily Environmental Helpers" such as "Make a Change Monday," "No Tray Tuesday," "Water Bottle Wednesday," etc.

• First Skype conference call with Beaver Country Day School on December 16, 2010.
• To gain a better understanding of waste management in Egypt, students initiated contact with local businesses using their parents' networks to visit factories in the city to learn how they manage their waste.
• Students are looking into developing an advocacy group for better waste management, especially in hospitals where they are discovering there is a lot of danger posed by the lack of awareness of procedures in disposing of medical/biohazard wastes and no system accountability.