1 STAR PROJECT

From Ted Wells - Elementary teacher and activist

WHAT: You know those annoying sales catalogs that show up a little too often in your overcrowded mailbox? The ones that go straight into the recycling bin?

At the Park School in Brookline, MA,  these catalogs were a problem. We were receiving over thirty per day. So we decided to do something about it. We held a friendly "Catalog Canceling Challenge" between grades to see which grade could cancel the most catalogs in thirty days. Some took school catalogs home to cancel; others canceled their parents' unwanted catalogs. After thirty days, 145 children in the three grades had opted-out of 4,125 catalogs! If stacked, this would be a thirty-foot-tall pile!

After some calculation, assuming one canceled catalog represents at least four future catalogs not showing up, we determined that these students saved 50 trees, 50,000 gallons of water (it takes 3 gallons to make the paper for one catalog), and prevented the release of 6,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (the annual emissions equivalent of about 2 cars).
We're hoping dozens of other schools, scout troops, church groups, summer camps, soccer teams, community centers, and others will join online here and help us reach our goal of canceling 100,000 catalogs!

HOW:

1. Start a Catalog Canceling Challenge at your school by getting a faculty sponsor to help organize. Next, schedule a 20 minute kick-off assembly to get your group fired up! Invite the students involved and show them the intro slide show, videos, and parent letter found at www.CatalogCancelingChallenge.com.
2. Have each grade cancel as many catalogs as they can in 30 days! November is the best month to cancel as the holiday catalogs will be flooding in. It can be a friendly contest between grades, or a whole group effort.
3. Set up a designated area where canceled catalogs can be brought. Have different boxes set aside for each grade and put it somewhere visible so your school community can see your progress unfold.
4. Put educational signage next to the piles of canceled catalogs so people get inspired and learn from the project- If you cancel 600 catalogs, you will have saved 10 trees and 10,000 gallons of water over the next 12 months! You’ll also save heaps of energy and therefore help reduce global warming pollution.
5. More in-depth instructions can be found on this website.  Also, go to www.CatalogCancelingChallenge.com for videos, stories, and more!