From April 22-26, students at Bryant Ranch Elementary participated in a school wide Earth Week campaign which was proudly sponsored by the school’s Green Team. Activities included a week-long trash-free lunch program, a free student-led Eco-craft focusing on paper waste reduction, and environmentally friendly participation prizes.

During the week, students were encouraged to bring in reusable water bottles, reusable lunch containers, reusable napkins, reusable forks/spoons, reusable lunch bags and other earth-friendly ideas. Supervisors were on hand to reward students who participated with special Earth Week Brag Cards. Over 300 students participated each day.

On Thursday, April 25, the Green Team explained how to re-purpose gently used paper into beautiful origami shapes. This Eco-craft was held during both lunches, so all students (1st through 5th grade) had the opportunity to participate. Students learned that re-purposing or “up-cycling” paper is a less expensive option to recycling paper. Participants re-purposed paper into origami hearts.

At the end of the week, those students who earned “brag cards” for performing environmentally friendly actions were able to redeem prizes. Prizes for Earth Week participation were donated from several local agencies including the City of Irvine, Orange County Fire Authority, Orange County Water District, and Southern California Edison.

Students at Bryant Ranch Elementary actively participated in the Earth Week activities, and enjoyed learning how to help save our planet.

Bryant Ranch Elementary School’s Green Team operates a daily waste awareness program. Green Team members assist other students sorting food waste (for compost), recycling plastic and aluminum waste, and re-using unopened items (for the Second Harvest Food bank.) To date, they have sorted waste from over 50,000 lunches.

Join The Water Campaign!

Want to make a difference like Bryant Ranch students? Join us this Fall in our Water Campaign to prevent single-use plastics from hurting our precious water sources by clicking HERE!

This week is Composting Week!

From May 5 2019 to May 11, 2019, celebrate composting week by being more mindful of your food waste!

1. Reduce the amount of uneaten food this week.

Try planning your meals ahead of time and placing older food in the front of your refrigerator and older food in the back and labeling foods by date, you can keep your meals and ingredients fresh. By keeping your foods fresh and in good condition, you can reduce the need to throw away food in the first place.

2. Learn How to Compost!

Follow these tips to compost! To get started, you simply need a closed container (with small air holes), browns (dried leaves, coffee grinds, saw dust), fruit and vegetable scraps (no meat or dairy products), and a little bit of water! This container will naturally breakdown your food waste and organic materials as long as you stick to using the right ingredients and turn the compost once a week!

3. Use your compost!
You can use the compost created by your container to grow plants, vegetables, and herbs to create your own food! If you don’t want to grow plants, feel free to donate your compost to a local organization or a nearby gardener!

Let us know how long you have been composting in our social media page!