Chedabucto Education Centre/Guysborough Academy’s Green Team Garden

Chedabucto Education Centre/Guysborough Academy’s Green Team continues to make their school green in the Municipality of Guysborough shows green leadership. The municipality of this Green School won a Bright Business Award in 2016 for their EcoVision 2020 plan. The municipality partnered with Nova Scotia Power on a local wind energy project called Sable Wind which produces 13.8MW, which is enough renewable energy to power 5,000 homes. They are also aiming to have 40 percent renewable energy and to reduce the municipality’s greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent by 2020. The Green Team at CEC/GA has some amazing role models in their community who promote Earth-friendly habits every single day.

The team hosts annual events in the school for Waste Reduction Week in October, and Earth Week in April. The school also contributes to a large, successful community garden that is near the local waste management facility. With junior high and high school students making up the team, the Green Team is able to take on collaborative projects. For example, when some Green Team members are writing their high school exams, junior high members lead the work in the garden with the elementary students.

The 2017-18 school year began with some changes at CEC/GA, including Mr Michael Wilson stepping in as leader of the school’s active Green Team to support their work to become more sustainable. Mr Wilson is not only the new Green Team Leader, he is also in charge of the Guysborough & Area Garden Club. For more information on the awesome community activities of the garden club, check out this article from the Guysborough Journal. A major project of the garden club continues to be the collaborating with the school’s Green Team to run the community garden at the Waste Management Facility. Check out this video about changes to the Waste Management Facility that features the school and community garden, and the Green Team!

The Green Team works with the Garden Club to use the garden very effectively. The Green Team hosts an annual Harvest Meal in the fall when the school and community members are invited to a delicious lunch at the school featuring the food they have grown. The garden produce is largely donated to the local food bank, ensuring that those who depend on the food bank have access to locally grown fresh vegetables. This year, the Green Team is planning to host a Fall Garden Rally for Eastern Nova Scotia in the new Chedabucto Lifestyle Complex once it opens later in 2018. Mr Wilson is hoping to help the Green Team connect more with the community to build more community relationships. One such community project saw the Green Team planting gardens at Milford Haven Special Care Home, the local long-term care facility. The students planted the gardens in the fall of 2017 and they plan to help maintain the gardens, too. Many of the residents have already expressed their appreciation for the gardens because it has beautified the grounds and provides them with a lovely area to spend time in nature.

With established green projects, such as the community garden and harvest meal, this team is always working to do more work at the school. With the help of Mr Wilson, there is no limit to the accomplishments of this amazing team! We look forward to supporting their efforts to waste less and encourage sustainability at school, and can’t wait to see what the CEC/GA Green Team does next!

~Pamela Chandler
Engagement Officer, Northern NS