"Many drops fill the cup"

One of the efforts that I, and the staff at Mainspring, are always working towards is the environmental sustainability of our school.

If any of you have heard the song "3rd Eye Vision" by Mishka, you may recognize the title of this post as one of the lyrics.

For the other 99.9% of you (no offense to Mishka- it's a competitive industry, love) the idea of the song is to motivate us all to take the baby steps in our lives that, when added together, make our home-planet a happier, healthier place.

There is no social movement that happens overnight. The day Martin Luther King Jr. realized there was racial injustice in America was not the same day the Civil Rights Act of '64 was enacted. There are crucial, tiny steps that happen from the moment a problem is noticed to the moment a problem is solved. These tiny steps are the "many drops that fill the cup."

One of the types of "drops" that can fill the "cup" of an environmentally friendly culture is to teach our children environmentally responsible lessons. We do that here at Mainspring by both by making their surroundings environmentally conscious and by involving them actively along the way.

In the kitchen, here are some of the recent little steps we've taken:

Reusable bowls and spoons at every breakfast 

Reusable dishes and flatware at lunches whenever possible

(This is a work in progress since right now it costs our school to pay Ms. Rachel overtime to stay and wash dishes on the days we don't have a kitchen helper. We usually opt for disposable lunch dishes on those days.)

A bussing station we set up at pre-schooler height 

so the kids can participate in caring for the dishes we wash and re-use.

Active student participation in all aspects of tending the school garden.

This is Mariposa, from the Shining Star classroom. 

Here, she is delivering beautiful okra from the school garden to my kitchen door 

And look! I used that okra the same day in the lentil soup at lunch:

Yum!

I encourage all of you to make more environmentally-friendly decisions.

Kids love helping! 

They thrive when they are doing something they feel is productive. 

Involve them in the extra effort.

And don't forget- if you are a parent or guardian, you are your child's #1 role-model. 

Teaching by making yourself an example of an environmentally responsible person is very powerful.

Have more Earth-friendly ideas for our kitchen? Leave a comment!

Thanks for tuning in,

Ms. Rachel