With the school year in full swing, the Parkland Secondary Green Team is starting to get busy.

The first meeting of the year was held in the second week of school and since then, there have been more members joining weekly.

One of their first projects was participating in the Great Canadian Shore Cleanup. This is an annual event that happens across Canada. It is very important in an area like the Saanich Peninsula where there is so much beautiful shoreline and wildlife to protect. Members were joined by Kirsten Dibblee’s Grade 9 girls P.E. class. “It was a very enjoyable experience,” said Catriona Dempsey, a participant and Grade 9 student at Parkland. Working on the beach in front of Lillian Hoffar Park, The class picked up nearly 185 cigarette butts in little over an hour.

Currently, the Green Team is busy planning projects for the year, including energy conservation through encouraging staff and students to turn the lights off, and continuing the incredibly successful recycling program, which helped the school reduce its garbage output by 50 per cent last year.

With most of the recycling program in place already, this year there will be an emphasis on increasing awareness by more signage and initiatives for students to reduce waste. The largest project the team is planning on tackling this year is the planting of an organic food garden for use in the school cafeteria. This project will be more of a long-term commitment for the group and they are looking to the community for help with planning and implementing the project.

The Green Team is open to ideas and suggestions from the public. To join, help, or for more information on the Green Team, please contact the teacher sponsor Erin Stinson at Parkland 250-655-2700.