Royal West Academy Environment Committee

By Tegvir Singh Boora and Evandros Kaklamanos

On May 29^th, the Environment Committee, or EC, hosted an event called the Park’ N’ Lot Party. This event was held to celebrate the completion of the conversion of an unused, unenvironmental parking lot behind the back field into a garden where natural and wholesome food can be grown.

This project started about 4 years ago, when EC members noticed there was an unused parking lot behind the back field. Parking lots contribute to the urban heat island effect in a significant way. This is explained by Leela Schmash, a dedicated EC member and environmentalist. “The heat island effect is what happens when sunlight reflects off of concrete (roads, rooftops, etc.): it becomes trapped between the ground and the ozone layer, contributing to global warming and climate change. Creating more green spaces in urban areas helps to reduce the consequences of this phenomenon. The Park n’ Lot is a prime example of a positive endeavour towards change— what was once a useless vacant parking lot is now a flourishing, light-absorbing garden. Not only has its creation (and the removal of the asphalt) helped to reduce the heat island effect, the local, organic produce it supplies us with has also made the RWA and Montreal-West communities more sustainable over all.”

To combat this effect, the Environment Committee decided to convert this old parking lot into a garden to make the school more environmentally friendly. EC members first installed above-ground planters. They grew many different vegetables in these planter such as chives and cucumbers. They used this food during Green Bean, another EC event, and even sold it to some Montreal-West locals who wanted fresh, organic food and to support their community. After this success, the Environment Committee finally decided to rake the final step and to rip out the asphalt and replace it with and in-ground garden.

To do so, the Environment Committee had to raise funds to hire a crew to do this for them so they started an Indiegogo campaign. The support for the project was surprising and touching. With the support of the RWA community by parents, teachers, students and residents of Montreal-West, enough money was raised to rip out the asphalt.

After this was done, EC members till remained hard at work, planting more food and finishing up the garden. May 29^th was a celebration of all this hard work. EC members ate food, some of which was even grown from their own garden, as a true celebration of environmentalism and what can happen when students decide they can make a difference.

Tyndale week, a week where the entire student body fundraises for the community organization that focuses on services for youth. The EC decided to do corny-grams- selling popcorn along with corny jokes!

This video explains why climate change is undeniably present from a scientific perspective. Climate change is an ever-present issue that will continue to worsen if many of the practices in the status quo remain unchanged. Too often, real action is impaired by people who are too apathetic about climate change or worse yet by people who deny the realities of climate change. This video is not a thorough scientific analysis of the situation; rather it is a brief summation of the overwhelming evidence being provided by the scientific community.

• Over 60 percent of what we put in our landfills is organic waste, such as kitchen scraps, which could be composted.(Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences)
• Compost improves soil, adds important nutrients for plants, and reduces the need for expensive commercial fertilizers. (Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences)
• The average US Household generates 650 lbs. of compostable materials each year. (Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences)
• Some diapers can be composted.
• Composting can clean contaminated soil.
• Compost helps fight plant diseases.
• Compost can discourage the presence of insects, allowing for less use of pesticide.
• It takes two to six months, on average, for things in the compost to decompose.

The perk of being at Royal West is the option to leave and eat wherever one so chooses. Even with a cafeteria and all of the places on Westminster, nothing will provide you with a waste-free, vegetarian meal. Every Friday of every week, the Environment Committee run the initiative called the Green Bean café, a place where students can get just that. The cooking, cleaning, and serving is done by students, who run the café almost entirely by themselves. The food is tasty, the ambience is festive, and most surprisingly (since words like “waste-free” and “vegetarian” tend to get associated with expense), it is cheap. Also, the amount of waste generated by students every lunch time is excessive. The café may not put an end to that, but it does take an initial step towards reducing it. If you’re interested, take the time to support your fellow students and the Environment Committee by stopping by room 104 on a Friday. There sometimes is a lineup, but do not let that discourage you, because it is certainly worth the wait.