LexEcology
Since the pandemic, Lexington has been working hard to bring back our LexEcology program which includes our amazing Lifelab garden program and student Green Team to make a positive impact at both our school and for our Earth!
Stay tuned for more developments and green initiatives at Lexington. If you are a parent or community member, let us know if you'd like to help!
Some accomplishments since 2020...
- Ms. Leah has become our Lifelab Garden Coordinator! Students receive Lifelab lessons each week which connect to IB units of inquiry and life science concepts.
- Each class has their own garden planter with a different theme.
- Parents Ms. Ashlyn and Ms. Jackie have connected with Lexington's local refuse company "Green Team of San Jose" to help students learn how to sort trash correctly.
- Every student is trained in sorting trash and works a few shifts for at least a week at the start of the year supporting other students during snack and lunch
- Student Green Team volunteers help students sort at snack and lunch times all year
- Parents transport uneaten food to the United Methodist Church to be distributed to those in need
- Lunch time school wide clean ups
- Weighing trash on Wednesdays and reporting out to the school if we are decreasing waste
- Crayon and used marker recycling
- Twice a year Norwegian-themed "dugnad" community school clean ups and garden maintenance days at Lexington
- Food grown in our garden integrated into snack and lunch meals served in our cafeteria.
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USAgain bin!
- It's convenient and raises $$$ for Lexington Elementary.
- Gives clothes a second life
- Keeps clothes out of landfills
- Creates green sector jobs
Used crayons and markers!
Don't throw those unwanted crayons and felt-tip markers into the trash (pro-tip: they can't be recycled either). Send them to your child's classroom to be repurposed into brand new crayons and clean fuel.
Don't be a punk, repurpose your junk!
See below for past Lexington "LexEcology" news...
Senator Beall's visit to Lexington in 2019 was a memorable day for everyone! He and his staff were so impressed with our students' civic mindedness and environmental stewardship, they wanted to come to our school to see our LexEcology efforts first hand.
The Senator and his staff, along with the LGUSD Board of Trustees thoroughly enjoyed the Q&A segment of our assembly lead by our Green Team students. The student also lead a tour of our school and Life Lab which knocked their socks off!
Thumbs up to all our Lexington kids!
Students at Lexington wrote letters to Senator Beall and Assemblyman Evan Low asking them to vote YES on Assembly Bill 1080 and Senate Bill 54. At the time, the two bills were on the assembly floor and if passed, would require retailers and manufacturers in California to reduce single-use plastic packaging and products by 2030.
Senator Beall noticed this and was very impressed with our LexEcology program and appreciated the civic engagement demonstrated by our students. So impressed, he wants to come visit our awesome school!
The Senator and his staff will be visiting Lexington this Thursday the 21st from 10:30-11:30am. During that time we will have a short presentation as well as the first showing of our informative video of Lexington students taking action and demonstrating the IB practices and Programme of Inquiry created by Lex parents, Todd and Katherine Lehr. We will then do a brief tour of our campus and life lab with the Senator.
Hope to see you there!
2020 is the Year to Take Action!
Yesterday Lexington's Green Team gathered in our outdoor classroom to share ways they are helping support our environment.Since picking up trash was top of their list, they decided to take action and tidy up our school!
Please check out this website to learn 50 simple ways you and your family can take action to make all of our lives greener.https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/29/50-ways-to-green-up-your-life-save-the-planet
Please check out this website to learn 50 simple ways you and your family can take action to make all of our lives greener.https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/29/50-ways-to-green-up-your-life-save-the-planet
Some Good News
I am sure you have heard, and perhaps are following the inspiring story of the Ocean Clean Up project where a young dutch scientist has developed a plan to assist in the cleaning of the worlds oceans. Well, after proving his technique to be effective, he and his team are now going one step closer to the source of much of the oceans plastic pollution. The rivers that feed our great oceans are often polluted messes. By focusing one step closer to the problem, the idea is to slow, and eventually stop, the dumping of polluted waters into our oceans.
Please find the full story below and share with your little ones.
Everybody can make a difference, be it global or in your very own home.
Waste-Free Awareness in 2020
An impressive 85 out of 141 students at Lexington School brought a waste-free lunch this week on Trash Free Tuesday! That's 60% of our student body who either brought their lunches in reusable containers or purchased a compostable hot lunch from our new cafeteria menu, packed with tasty and healthier options. Now THAT'S being eco-conscious! What a perfect way to kick off a new, green year!
So, one of your New Year's resolutions is to be kinder to the environment and set great example to our children as to how to recycle more? Way to go! Here is a five minute video from the New York Times packed with the most recent, eye opening data on what really happens when we "recycle".
LexEcology and Lexington's Green Team hope you had a wonderful break and are energized for the next decade!
In case you missed Senator Beall's visit to Lexington, here's a fun video posted on the LGUSD Pride of our morning together.
Take a look....You might spot your child!
9 simple ways to green your gift giving over the holidays:
How to Talk to your Kids about Climate Change without Causing Anxiety
Concerned about talking to your kids about global warming?
Here are some expert-backed tips to help kids of all ages (and their parents) understand how our planet is changing.
Two great videos to share with children:
Lexington AND The Earth Thank you!
17 Lex families showed up to our school's biannual Beautification Day last Sunday.
Wow! Our campus has never looked so good! Thank you all so very much❤🌎
Plant a tree and help fight climate change
Planting trees is a simple thing everyone can do to reduce carbon dioxide, a principle greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. No matter where you live, you can plant a trees.... and take a proactive, positive step toward keeping our planet heathy.
What's that big, green bin?
That big, green bin in front of Lexington is a collection bin for your unwanted shoes and textiles!
-It helps prevent and reduce Co2 emissions
-It saves precious landfill space
-It raises funds for Lexington School
-It creates green decor jobs
-USAgain plants one tree for every bin filed
(To date, we've planted 5 trees!)
Learn more here:https://www.usagain.com
Consider buying compostable utensils the next time you entertain.
A biodegradable spoon breaks down in 3-6 months.
A plastic spoon cannot be recycled and can take up to 1000 years to break down.
Two years ago, LGUSD nutritional services started offering compostable cutlery with all hot lunches served at Lexington. We were the first school in the distinct to successfully sort our trash and use compostables during lunch.
High fives to all!
Last spring, our students collected these biodegradable beauties to hand off to Mrs. Lougée, Lexington's librarian. To celebrate LexEcology's new book shelf filled with ecology books in our library, Mrs. Lougée created this compostable utensil tree made with our collected utensils. Come grab a book and take a look!
Thank you, Mrs. Lougée!
This Week at Lex
Kindergarteners totally "owning" Trash Free Tuesday/Thursdays!
Lexington's Green Team had a ball harvesting and transplanting herbs and tomatoes in our Life Lab.Their favorite part? Being able to enjoy and take home the fruits of their labor.
Climate Change isn't a distant threat - it's happening now. Take action on climate change. Learn what's happening and what you can do at the JCC Climate Fair on Sept 22. Information and give-aways by local governments and community groups. There will also be special activities for children and families.
This is a free event and open to the public.
Phone. Wallet. Keys.Water Bottle - GO!
As you may have noticed, many public places like San Jose International Airport are banning the sale of plastic single-use water bottles.
Globally, people purchase about 1 million plastic bottles per minute. In the U.S. alone, only about 23% end up being recycled.
EcoTip: Remembering your refillable water bottle means you will not only stay hydrated, but you will not be contributing to this global epidemic.
How's THIS for Taking IB Action?
Last week, 70 Lexington students wrote letters to Senator Beall and Assemblyman Low asking them to vote YES on AB 1080 and SB 54. These two bills are currently on the assembly floor and would require manufacturers and retailers in California to greatly reduce single-use plastic packaging and products by 2030.
Way to get your voices heard, Lexington!
Learn more here:
CHECK OUT THE LEXECOLOGY PAGE!
Welcome back and welcome NEW Lex families!
Let's all work together to make this school year as waste-free as possible... We can do it!
Let's show our kids that we care about our planet and are conscious about the waste we create. Every Tuesday and Thursday, staff and students will bring lunches that are more Earth friendly. Skip the Ziplocs and prepackaged food and let's see those reusable containers. Never fear, if your child is buying hot lunch on those days. All hot lunches at Lexington are now on 100% compostable plates, napkins and utensils. The LGUSD Food Service is also offering more vegetarian and vegan options which makes Mother Earth VERY happy as well!
Wish you could be more GREEN? This year, ECO-TIPS will be posted weekly on the Lex Link- LexEcology page. These are simple, yet powerful tools/habits to get you well on your way to living a more eco-friendly lifestyle.
Opt out of goodie bags and all plastic trinkets
(Now that China is not accepting recycling from other counties, 91% OF PLASTIC IS NOT BEING RECYCLED. Instead, it's ending up in our landfills (turning into methane), being incinerated (air pollution) or working its way into our oceans.)
Looking back on this year, we realize how much all of you and LexEcology have accomplished in just 3 years. The engagement of the students has grown, our Trash Free efforts continue to expand and integration with the IB program is solidifying. Through these efforts and so much more, we have garnered the attention of the Los Gatos Union District Office and have proven to be an inspiration for other schools in the district as they strive to develop similar green programs.
Looking ahead to the 2019-2020 school year, we are looking forward to seeing an increased growth of our amazing Life Lab spearheaded by parent, Adrienne Cox. A redwood arbor classroom, water catchment system and greenhouse will all be added to our Life Lab on the the lower field. Additionally, in the upcoming year, our district will be providing healthier, waste-free lunches with an emphasis on organic foods and compostable containers.
LexEcology continues to be inspired by the bright, positive outlook and energy of our students. Through their actions and commitment, they are truly ushering in REAL change to better our fragile environment. LexEcology wishes each and every one of you a wonderful and GREEN summer!
In parting, here are some resources we have found to inspire us!
Ready to commit to curbing the growing power of corporations that don't respect the environment or our democracy?
When we work together, we are more powerful than they are.
Please visit:
Sum of Us - Fighting for People over Profits
If you haven't already, please consider joining the other Lex families in OhmConnect. Easily earn $$ for Lexington while saving energy at home. Thank you!
Praying Mantis, Ladybugs and Worms...Oh My!
Our last Green Team meeting of the year was held last week. We LOVED learning all about how ladybugs, praying mantises and red wiggler worms help our life lab garden.
But, hands-down, our favorite part of the day was releasing the ladybugs and finding a nice, little nesting spot for our two praying mantis cocoons. We also fed our worms (vermi-composting) food scraps from the cafeteria. Over the next few months, these amazing creatures will ingest the food scraps and transform them into castings which will be used as fertilizer for our veggies.
Our Green Team also enjoyed harvesting the last of our kale, herbs and chamomile for tea!
Want a part of the LexEcology fun? Care about our planet? Excited to help transform our lower field into a full fledged life lab?
Sign up to be a garden parent at the Ice Cream Social in August or contact [email protected]
IB In Motion at Lexington
5th Grader Ewan Bidmead's Exhibition Project focused on protecting endangered animals. At the local community level, Ewan teamed up with LexEcology and the Green Team to encourage local wildlife growth by up-cycling used milk cartons from the cafeteria to make bird feeders. What a perfect project idea to connect our students, the community and Lexington's beautiful wildlife.
Thank you, Ewan!
National River Clean Up Day is Saturday, May 18th
Come join friends and neighbors 9am-noon this Saturday to clean our local creeks and rivers.
To sign up and for more info, click below:
Nature Is Calling
We knew modern civilization was taking a toll on the planet, but not to this extent. Last week, the UN issued a report after hundreds of researchers reviewed 15,000 scientific and government reports.
Their finding: A quarter of all Earth's plant and animal species are facing extinction and humans are to blame.
How are humans to blame?
-Economic development
-Overfishing
-Climate Change
-Plastic Pollution
-Pesticide Use
It's not too late to make a change...
Highlights from Lexington's Earth Week
Who knew Lexington kids liked sautéed swiss chard, beet greens, kale, garlic and green onions on their pizza? Yup! All harvested from our very own vegetable garden in the Life Lab. Ask your student about it.
What? You haven't seen the Lex Life Lab yet? Check it out! The Native Species Garden is being planted as we speak!
If you've got just 10 extra minutes in your day, and would like to find out specifically what YOU can do NOW to curb climate change, Take a look at this article from CNN. Best we've seen yet!
Awareness is KEY!
Earth Week 2019!
Have you been to school to see Lexington's BE THE CHANGE collage? Swing by to check it out and feel free to even add to it. Tell us what habits YOU'VE changed this year to help our planet.Now that's IB in action!
Kinders enjoyed their milk with bamboo straws....And did we mention that our Tuesday/Thursday hot lunches at Lex are almost 100% waste-free? Plates, utensils and napkins are all composted.
Everyone rocked out to groovy tunes while enjoying Ecology books in the MPR after lunch.
Our Earth Week Trash-Free raffle winners!
Mon 4/22
-Meatless Monday for hot lunch
-"Be the Change" Earth collage hanging outside of the MPR
Tues 4/23
- Trash Free Tuesday with groovy tunes and ecology books in the MPR during lunch. Eco-prizes galore to those who bring waste free lunches. Raffle winners get their photos taken and posted on the Wed link!
Wed 4/24
-Planting in the Lex Life Lab during recess
Thurs 4/25
-LexEcology Assembly at 8:30am in the MPR featuring 10 of our awesome Green Team members and Captain Green!
🌎All welcome
Fri 4/26
-Pizza served at recess topped with all of the veggies harvested from our bountiful school garden...Yum!
PLUS Eco-Tips being announced every morning by our very own Liam Rizzi!
Come join the fun!
Earth Week is next week at Lexington!
Let's celebrate our amazing planet!
Mon 4/22
-Meatless Monday for hot lunch
-"Be the Change" Earth collage hanging outside of the MPR
Tues 4/23
- Trash Free Tuesday with groovy tunes and ecology books in the MPR during lunch. Eco-prizes galore to those who bring waste free lunches. Raffle winners get their photos taken and posted on the Wed link!
Wed 4/24
-Planting in the Lex Life Lab during recess
Thurs 4/25
-LexEcology Assembly at 8:30am in the MPR featuring 10 of our awesome Green Team members and Captain Green!
🌎All welcome
Fri 4/26
-Pizza served at recess topped with all of the veggies harvested from our bountiful school garden...Yum!
PLUS Eco-Tips being announced every morning by our very own Liam Rizzi!
Come join the fun!
Got cha thinking about textile waste now, huh? Here's a great article:
https://www.kimlewandmartin.com/blog/2019/2/26/going-clothes-less-sustainable-fashion
Three cheers for the 60 moms, dads, grandparents and kids who showed up to Lexington's Beautification Day last Sunday!
Have you noticed how colorful the grounds are looking lately at our school? It's all FROM you....FOR you.... and we can't do it WITHOUT you!
Please make sure to HIGH FIVE your awesome Lex Home and School Club members when you see them. Not only did they pay for the mulch, soil, California poppy seeds and new garden bed, they also all came to pitch in on Sunday. What a team we have! Thank you families and Lex HSC!
USAgain at Lexington
LexEcology has partnered with USAgain (think use again) to collect clothing and shoes in an effort to curb textile waste. According to the EPA, 11.1 million tons of textiles are trashed in the United States each year. Some of the statistics that USAgain shares around textiles are truly alarming:
- Reusing one pound of cotton prevents the emission of more than 14 pounds of carbon dioxide. (That's like driving a car for 12 miles.)
- 1,300 gallons of water (enough to fill 13 bathtubs) are used to manufacture a single cotton T-shirt.
- A third of a pound of pesticides and herbicides are used to grow the cotton used in one T-shirt.
- According to the World Bank, 17-20% of industrial water pollution is due to textile dyeing and treatment.
- Landfilled textiles require years to decompose, and during the process will release the harmful greenhouse gas, methane.
- Clothes account for 10% of the global carbon footprint.
The clothes that USAgain collects are delivered to local warehouses, sorted, bundled and are made available to wholesale buyers, thrift store chains, and textile recyclers. For 5.4 billion people living on less than $10 a day, used clothing is the only option. So, gather up your surplus clothing and shoes and drop them into the Lexington bin. Every time we fill a bin, USAgain not only plants a tree, but they also donate $15 directly to our school.
Learn more here:
Kale'd It!
Lexington students had a blast harvesting their three types of kale this week. We then made kale chips with olive oil and salt. Nearly EVERY (Yes, EVERY!) student tried the kale chips and raved....Honest engine! Ask your student. The cafeteria/food services will also be showcasing this vegie next month on their menus.
Perhaps kale gets added to your menu tonight!... Buon appetito!
The Monarch Butterfly Population has Plummeted 86% in just ONE YEARReasons? Pesticide use, climate change and loss of their habitat (the milkweed plant)How can YOU help? The best way to help the Monarch Butterfly is to rebuild their habitat and give them the food they need to survive.Let's work together to help save the Monarch Butterfly. Look for milkweed seeds to be coming home with your son or daughter.Thank you to Kristen Johnson's second grade for creating our newMonarch Butterfly garden in our Lexington Life Lab.Out goes the deer grass....In come the Brazilian verbena,butterfly bush, chives, salvia and showy milkweed!We're here for you Monarchs!The Lexington showcase of LexEcology to the LGUSD Board of Trustees was a huge success! Thank you to everyone who participated and above all, the Green Team kids who passionately embodied IB and the spirit of Lexington.
Click here to read more on the LexEcology page.
To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow
-Audrey Hepburn
We're cutting back some old growth on our Mexican Bush Sage also known as Salvia Leucantha. Cutting back old and dead or dying stalks makes room for the new growth that sprouts from the base of the plant. Keep your eyes on these plants as they grow and start to bloom again and see if you can notice the difference in their appearance now that they've been pruned. Once these plants begin flowering again we will be seeing our humming birds and other pollinators becoming more active and enjoying our landscape.
Lex's Green Team met on Tuesday. The kids took items that would normally go in the recycle bin and created art sculptures, a fairy house and even a cat toy!
The Adventures of Captain Green
This cute character is the brainchild of Jef Bambas, a Daves Ave parent and talented comic strip creator who will be developing issues of Captain Green monthly to support every Green Team in the district and our cause....Lucky us!Thank you, Jef!
LexEcology is growing by leaps and bounds
Take a look!
NEW TO LEXINGTON IN 2019!
Lexington’s amazing Green Team presented the new Crayon Initiative Program to our student body on Monday. https://thecrayoninitiative.org/ Nice job guys!
Got any unwanted crayons sitting around the house that could be repurposed into a new crayon for a child in need? Just drop them off at Lexington. There are boxes in each classroom as well as in the office. Be Green!
There are bins in the office to recycle crayons and markers!
Happy Holidays from the Green Team and LexEcology!
At lunch on Tuesday, 20 Green Team members brainstormed various items that can and cannot be composted. We talked about decomposition and the amount of time different items take to break down in the earth.
Here were some results that amazed us!
Plastic bags: 500-700 years
Glass bottles: 1-2 million years
Plastic bags: 10-20 years
Styrofoam: never
Crayons: never (made from paraffin wax which in non-biodegradable)
Then, we decided to do a little science experiment and bury various items in the Lex Life Lab to see, over time, how they decompose.
Our Green Team is excited to watch the decomposition process of these buried treasures over the next few months and years!
They chose to bury:
A banana and orange peel
A whole apple
A cotton sock
A compostable fork/spoon from the cafeteria
Crayons
A milk carton
A paper towel
Stay tuned for our ongoing results!
Ready to take action in 2019 and help fight climate change? Here's what you can do
Holiday Eco-Tip
Thinking about tweaking a few things this holiday season to reduce your impact on Earth?
Here's a simple list of eco-habit ideas. Take a look! Try just one and feel good about being a
part of the solution.
Parent Input Needed by Dec 20th
If you haven't already, please take just one minute to fill out this survey from our district's wellness and menu planning committee. Your feedback is necessary to help make our hot lunch meal program better than ever.
Thank you so much!
New to Lexington!
One small step, but every step counts!
We are excited to announce that Lex will be piloting a program to switch from plastic utensils used for hot lunches to all compostable utensils!
Not only that, but there will now be more vegetarian options available for hot lunch. Link to menu: https://losgatossd.sodexomyway.com/
Thank you to the district for thinking GREEN!
Lexington's Green Team has been learning so much about the effects of plastic on our environment.
Upon discovering that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/ is now actually more than twice the size of Texas, our students wanted to brainstorm ways that they, as children, could help preserve the ocean and reduce waste. We quickly began charting ways that we could take action immediately to do our part.
Here are just a few ways they came up with:
-Participate in Trash Free Tuesdays and Thursdays
-Avoid using single use plastics/disposables such as water bottles, ziplocks, pre-packages snacks, plastic bags, plastic wrap and plastic cutlery
-Say "No thank you" to straws
-Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
-Teach others about the effects of plastics on our environment and health.
-Use compostables
-Simply buy less!
Taking it to the next level (as all amazing IB students do) our Green Team kids were eager to learn more about what exactly is being done to clean up this "mess" humans have created in our oceans. (Btw there are actually SIX different garbage patches throughout the world's oceans....Yup, we have a huge problem here.)
We learned about an advanced technology that has been developed to help rid our oceans of plastic. Interestingly enough, the Ocean Clean Up launched its first clean up system from the San Francisco Bay just two months ago. https://www.theoceancleanup.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwzenbBRB3EiwAItS-u-CtD3jrjgBk5PGpvKk4dilR-7O9Z3VpqADL3b9plKPJvwA3qEggKRoCc3cQAvD_BwE
A second company committed to cleaning up the oceans is 4Ocean. Their solution is simple: Beach and coastal water cleanups. Their innovation is how they fund their work, by selling bracelets and reusable bottles made of recycled plastic and glass. 4Ocean aims to remove one pound plastic and other debris from the ocean for every bracelet or bottle sold.
With the holidays right around the corner, this is a perfect gift! https://4ocean.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA2o_fBRC8ARIsAIOyQ-kU-LlBS6AP5g53LtHjVdjXWigrPowhkhzUGgQ0Rg2KcTNoUv1Six8aAkTrEALw_wcB
Would your kids respond the same as these kids? Raises an interesting point....
Happy HalloGreen!
Here are some cool eco-tips for an environmentally friendly Halloween.
Guess how many schools have contacted Lisa Hanson ( Daves Ave Green Team leader) and me (at Lexington) recently to start a Green Team, out of the clear blue sky??? FIVE!! Lisa H and I are hard at work informing and spreading the good, green word at Van Meter, Blossom Hill, Carlton, a school in Campbell, and Saratoga Elementary!
Look out world, here we come!!
World Centric Speaker Comes to Lex
Come join us on October 30th from 12-1:00pm in room C14 to learn more about single use plastic awareness, zero-waste, sustainability and conscious living. LexEcology proudly welcomes Bhavani Werning from World Centric, a leader in the compostable products industry. All welcome!
To the 18 families who came to Lexington last Sunday for the Fall Beautification Day...
We Thank You!!
Together we:
-Sanded and sealed the outdoor classroom stumps and Kinder kitchen
-Planted more bulbs in the front of the school to enjoy come Spring
-Weeded and pruned throughout the school
-Planted more lavender and sage and added mulch
-Created steppingstones for the life lab
And a special thanks goes to David Hubbard who built this amazing root view box from scratch. Wow! Come check it out on the lower field next to the worm compost bin and small outdoor classroom.
Patrick Keller built this beautiful redwood bench to add to our Redwood Retreat area just below the classroom planter boxes. Thank you Patrick!😘
While creating the Redwood Retreat, two sunken benches were discovered dating back to the late 50’s and 1962. These concrete benches were created by Lexington students back in the day.
Feel free to come down to the lower field and see all of the amazing changes that are taking place in our Life Lab.
Thank you again to all of those who came to Beautification Day and showed their school spirit!☮️
While creating the Redwood Retreat, two sunken benches were discovered dating back to the late 50’s and 1962. These concrete benches were created by Lexington students back in the day.
Feel free to come down to the lower field and see all of the amazing changes that are taking place in our Life Lab.
Thank you again to all of those who came to Beautification Day and showed their school spirit!☮️
Here are more photos from Beautification Day.
Meet Captain Green
This cute character is the brainchild of Jef Bambas, a Daves Ave parent and talented comic strip creator who will be developing issues of Captain Greenmonthly to support every Green Team in the district and our cause....Lucky us!Thank you, Jef!
12 years, eh? Have you seen the news or read the report that states that we have just over a decade to get climate change under control?
Everyone's talking about the report released the beginning of October by the U.N Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) https://www.ipcc.ch
I know, I know....Doom and gloom...
But let's all focus on what we CAN do! What eco-friendly thing have you mastered? What's one thing you are working on or improving?
Here's a pretty straight forward article that gives some ideas of what your family can do to help reduce global warming.
We're in this together, my friends.
Our First Four Green Team Meetings were a Huge Success!
Day one: We created our IB Essential Agreements (rules) as a team. Then, we reviewed last year's successes and picked up trash behind the classrooms.
Day two: We watched a short video about the effects of plastic in our oceans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFZS3Vh4lfI&t=26s
We learned about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and
then brainstormed ways WE could reduce the the amount of trash we produce as individuals.
Day three: The Green Team planted a new Japanese coral maple tree in front of the school where an old shrub had died this summer.
Day four: We discussed the Ocean Clean Up project (more on that to come) https://www.theoceancleanup.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw9NbdBRCwARIsAPLsnFZuC4xBgZBxaLbLWNehJynqWrwg_69KhQpZHYJtPHYAsASK2KpxnDwaAttREALw_wcB
We celebrated the success of our anti-straw initiative. Yea!!
Last year, the Green Team created a petition asking the Los Gatos Union School District to eliminate single use plastic straws from our cafeterias. They received 150 signatures from Lex as well as numerous signatures from Daves Ave's Green Team led by Lisa Hanson. Because of our tenacity and commitment to clean up the oceans, the LGUSD Nutrition Services and Sodexo agreed to have straws and the spork packs (that are wrapped in plastic) eliminated from the district’s program. They also now provide compostable napkins and are discussing implementing Trash Free Tuesday's district wide.
We also rejoiced in the passing of Assembly Bill 1884 last week! https://www.cawrecycles.org/ab1884calderon/
Last year, students each wrote a letter to Assemblyman Evan Low urging him to pass this bill which would require dine-in restaurants to forego offering straws to customers unless they specifically request one. Their letters, along with the letters from Daves Ave's Green Team, were sent to the Assemblyman's office last March. The students cheered as we learned about the new law will going into effect this January 2019! Woohoo!
WAY TO GO GREEN TEAM! So proud of you for taking action!
To celebrate, we took the lavender from the front of our school that would otherwise be composed and made lavender sachets to enjoy.
The Green Team meets the first and third Tuesday of every
month at lunch. All ages welcome!
What are Trash-Free Tuesdays/Thursdays?
The concept is simple...We want our kids to bring lunches that don’t generate any trash. It’s a great way to help our planet AND save money!
Forget the Ziploc bags and tin foil, buy in bulk, skip the individually wrapped packages…You get the picture. (A little pro-tip: pack the lunch in a reusable container the night before school)
As an added incentive, your child will have a chance to win fun (eco friendly) prizes on randomly chosen Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the year! All kids with completely trash free lunches brought from home will receive a raffle ticket and a chance to win.
Let’s show our kids that we are working together to help take care of our planet and be conscious of the amount of waste we create!
We leave you with this to chew on over the summer...
Dear Future Generations-Sorry
https://youtu.be/eRLJscAlk1M
https://youtu.be/eRLJscAlk1M
Did someone say MORE SCIENCE at Lexington?
LexEcology is excited about expanding our Life Lab/Garden next school year.
Featuring…IB and Core Curriculum based ecology lessons specific to each grade level!
- Compost and Worm Bins - These bins are already up and running and require minimal maintenance.
- Themed Gardens Beds (one per class) - Garden parents will be given seedlings assigned to your class based on the season, along with instructions on how to plant a care for them throughout the year. You will be working closely with the life lab lead(s).
- Green House - We are looking into getting supplies donated for this project, and would love to partner with parents who have an interest in offering input on how to make this functional and effective for the school.
- Fruit/Veggie Harvesting - This can be a fun and integrated part of the garden, where kids can harvest and market the food they have grown.
- Water Conservation - We are looking into a possible water catchment system for the school, via cistern or other means. We need some parents with a passion for efficient water use for our school and its garden.
- Root View Box - We could use somebody who is handy with woodwork to build a simple viewing box for our garden so that kids can witness seeds geminate and take root, while growing throughout the season. We have plans, we just need hands.
- Garden Maintenance and much more!
We realize that this is a long plan and that not all of these things will happen right away, or even by the end of the year. We’re excited to nurture these projects until they are mature, but to make this program successful, volunteers are not just appreciated, but needed! It’s a simple, fun way to get involved and spend time with your student outdoors. We will be looking for 1-2 garden parents per classroom (time commitment 2-3 hrs/month) who will work with the LexEcology and the Garden Leaders to cultivate our kids’ love of learning, nature and science.
Interested in learning more? Excited to commit for next year? Please reach out to Adrienne Cox at [email protected]
Have a wonderful summer break!
You Made A Difference and
We Thank You!
Celebrating the end of the school year with a HUGE thank you to the 23 Lexington families who signed up and participated in OhmConnect this year. Together, these families have raised over $1900 for our school simply by decreasing their energy usage for just one designated hour per week. Thank you for supporting our school and sending a message to our children that we care about our environment.
The Lebleu-Ficara Family
The Cox-Bandaian Family
The Rayner-Goodman Family
The Wilk Family
The Logan-Green Family
The McCalley-Chappelle Family
The Hakimi Family
The Song Family
The Bannon Family
The Garonzik Family
The Swift-Cato Family
The Hickey-Peak Family
The Merriman Family
The Rolinson Family
The Saenz-Lebaredian
The Hedges Family
The Hayes Family
The Fan Family
The Rizzi Family
The Monk Family
The Degraff Family
The Keller Family
Please sign up today at ohm.co/lexingto. If you have any questions or issues registering,
please reach out to Lisa Keller [email protected]
Brought to you by LexEcology
Lexington Families working Together for a
Greener Tomorrow
A HUGE THANK YOU to the 10 moms, 1 dad and kids who showed up to our school wide Beautification Day last Saturday!
Without their help we wouldn’t have been able to:
-Plant our first apple tree along with 10 native shrubs
-Weed the front and back of the school
-Amend our vegetable garden
-Cut back overgrowth
-Clean up trash on campus
Pssst... The District doesn’t do this for us folks...It takes a village.
HOLY HARVEST!
Garlic bread anyone? Last week we also harvested our veggies and garlic. The garlic bread was deeeelish and the kids enjoyed trying out the different herbs and vegetables that they had grown. Thank you Candice Brown for the countless hours you’ve spent watering over the course of the year. We couldn’t have done this without you.❤️
Garlic bread anyone? Last week we also harvested our veggies and garlic. The garlic bread was deeeelish and the kids enjoyed trying out the different herbs and vegetables that they had grown. Thank you Candice Brown for the countless hours you’ve spent watering over the course of the year. We couldn’t have done this without you.❤️
Our Recycled Art Sculptures
SO PROUD! Please read!
As a result of our Green Action Team (LexEcology) submitting a petition to the Los Gatos School Board with signatures from almost every Lex student and staff member, the Los Gatos Union School District has agreed to ban straws and spork packets (wrapped in plastic), add compostable napkins, as well as implement a district wide Trash Free Tuesday beginning this week! The schools win, the district wins (this saves them $$) and our earth wins too. Huge thumbs up to the Daves Ave students for joining us in this initiative as well.
Hooray for the kids for showing our community that doing the right thing and TAKING ACTION makes a difference!
Earth Week is Next Week!
We will be harvesting (and enjoying) our veggies from our garden as well as having the Green Team (Lex's garbage hauler) come to speak about the recycling process and trash reduction. The Saratoga Library will bring it's book mobile filled with books about ecology and the earth, then do an earth-friendly art project with us during lunchtime. The bike-rodeo will be on Wednesday for 4th & 5th grades and Friday we will celebrate by all wearing green! And don't forget about Lexington's Beautification Day on Saturday the 28th at 9:00am. We can't keep our school looking as beautiful as it is without your help.
https://www.theoceancleanup.com
STUDENTS WORKING IN THE GARDEN
Earth Day is around the corner...
Together with your child, check out this link to learn about this celebration dedicated to saving our planet. Take a quiz to find out how green you are are more!
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/celebrations/earth-day/?utm_source=NGdotcom-FFG&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=20180321_FFGfooter&utm_campaign=NGdotcom&utm_rd=18263111215#earth-day-cleanup.jpg
The world's oceans are full of plastic and 4 billion plastic-lined Starbucks cups end up in the garbage every year. These are nearly impossible to recycle because of their plastic lining.
The sheer amount of plastic trash created by Starbucks is out of control -- and is ending up in waterways and other fragile ecosystems.
In 2008, Starbucks boldly told the world it would serve a 100% recyclable paper cup and increase reusable cup usage to 25% by 2015. To date, it hasn’t kept either of these promises.
Starbucks is part of the problem: tell the coffee giant to switch to 100% recyclable cups!
https://actions.sumofus.org/a/starbucks-recyclable-cups?sp_ref=393357785.99.186465.e.0.3&referring_akid=39889.14208892.2b4Lv6&source=mlt
The GREEN STUDENT ACTION TEAM is fired up! Tuesday they gathered 129 signatures from the Lexington student body and staff on their NO MORE STRAWS IN OUR CAFETERIA petition...Wow! Way to go, Guys!
The petition is going to be delivered to the LGUSD School Board. Our goal is to have the District and Board agree to eliminate the "spork packs" that include a napkin, spork and straw all wrapped in plastic (most of which ends up in landfills)
Instead, the students would be offered just a spork and napkin.
And who came up with the idea that kids couldn't drink directly out of milk cartons?
The Green Student Action Team is taking action!
Last week, we wrote letters to California Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) to ask him to vote YES on AB-1884, a bill that would require dine-in restaurants to forgo offering single-use plastic straws to customers unless
they specifically ask for one.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2018/01/29/plastic-straws-illegal-unless-requested-under-california-bill/1074610001/
Our kids are on a quest to educate people about the harmful effects of plastic straws.
they specifically ask for one.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2018/01/29/plastic-straws-illegal-unless-requested-under-california-bill/1074610001/
Our kids are on a quest to educate people about the harmful effects of plastic straws.
Want to get involved and have YOUR voice heard? Forms and info supporting AB-1884 will be available in the school office for you to fill out and sign. We'll make sure they get delivered to our assemblyman next month.
Thank you!
Please Donate
We are looking for clean recyclable materials that would otherwise be headed to a recycle bin. The Green Student Action Team will be working with other Lex students to create sculptures from these recycled materials to display in the office during Earth Week next month. Please have your students gather interesting materials and drop them off in the office.
Interested in helping with this project? Please email Lisa Keller [email protected] Thank you!
Interested in helping with this project? Please email Lisa Keller [email protected] Thank you!
RETHINKING PLASTIC STRAWS
Everyday in the US alone, 500 million plastic straws are thrown away. They are not recyclable or biodegradable...They remain on this earth FOREVER. Thank you for taking a minute to share these videos with your kids. It's time we all reconsider using plastic straws.
PBS- How Much Plastic is in Our Ocean
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFZS3Vh4lfI
Straws Trailer
https://youtu.be/zVnyMuXnEcg
Mark Your Calendars for our Spring Beautification Day!
Saturday, April 28th at 9:00am
Bring your kids and garden tools for a fun 1/2 day of sprucing up our school and spending quality time with Lex families.
Thank you in advance!
We are excited to tell you about a special program we’re coordinating at our school in conjunction with Crayola. It’s called Crayola ColorCycle – an amazing program devised to turn used markers into energy!
All around Lexington School students and teachers will be collecting used markers that are ready to be discarded. The markers will be sent to a facility where they will be converted into clean fuel. This fuel can be used to power vehicles, heat homes, cook meals and more!
Please help support our efforts by sending your kids to school with any used markers you may have around the house – even non-Crayola brands. Drop-off boxes will be located in each classroom for your child to deposit the markers.
Thank you in advance for participating! With the help of parents like you across the country, the Crayola ColorCycle program can keep tons of plastic out of landfills each year.
Remember, don’t throw out that used marker—ColorCycle it!
Brought to you by the LexEcology Team
Cursing Trash Free Tuesdays and Thursdays? We get it, but it's a small "action" that can make a real difference in the world. Here are some tips to make it a bit easier.
*If you don't do so already, try packing lunches the night before and keeping them in the refrigerator overnight.
*Cut up fruits and vegetables. Children often take 1 or 2 bites out of an uncut apple or banana and throw the rest away. Your child can take a few bites and save the rest for later.
*When shopping, buy foods in bulk or in larger packages. Avoid individually wrapped portions.
*Encourage your children to help plan, prepare and pack their own lunches. They're more likely to eat a meal that they've helped prepare.
Click here to get the PDF poster.