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RTJK Project Journal #4 - July 20, 2009 Hi Everyone! Well, the summer has kicked off to a fast start at Reduce the Juice. Our week of training and launch event flew by, and on July 11th our team participated in Kingston Area Recycling Centre (KARC)'s 20th anniversary celebration! It's pretty hard for all of us students to believe that just a few short years before we were born recycling didn't even exist, but it's very exciting to see how far Kingston has come in 20 years. The event was a huge success, with a great turnout, including many families with young children. Despite the prediction of showers, the weather held up for the entire day, which was certainly a relief. Reduce the Juice arrived early on the scene that morning to prepare for the 11am start of the BBQ and tours. We set up a tent, propped up our display on water, energy and waste, and put on our biggest smiles despite a few nerves. The KARC event was our first event away from our home base at the Kingston Sustainability Centre. We really didn't know what the response would be, and frankly we were all a little nervous about taking pledges from the public. But at 11am when the crowds started flooding in, everyone made a smooth transition to comfortable, friendly juice reducers! The people at the event were great, and we got 35 pledges in the 2 short hours of the barbecue! KARC was an awesome event to prepare us for door to door, which would start on July 14th. Although we had all taken pledges, door-to-door brought on new nerves to all of us. What if doors slammed in our faces? What if we forgot what to say? Well, we found just the opposite. For the most part, people were friendly and willing to listen. We paired up the first day, which I think was a really good way to start off, and set out on our own the second day. Our group leaders, Sarah and Brooke, and fellow auditors are great company, and very encouraging! We all congratulate each other after getting a pledge, and share our doorstep stories with one another. I'm really looking forward to a fun and productive summer achieving our goal of 500 pledges! Jena, Student
Auditor --------------- RTJK Project Journal # 3 - July 10, 2009 Hi Guys! We are now several weeks into summer, and Reduce the Juice Kingston already has several accomplishments under its belt. First was our training week which was both fun and informative. We got the opportunity to take a tour of the Kingston Area Recycling Centre and the Wolfe Island Wind Farm. Both were very interesting and real eye openers. I'd never realized how extensive the wind farm was or how big the turbines were (80 metres!). The tour finished of course with a trip to the Wolfe Island Bakery which was scrumptious. Hurray for team bonding! The training week ended on Thursday July 9th, with Friday the 10th being our launch event. It was held at the Kingston Sustainability Center and was a huge success! Many of our sponsors came and three City Councilors were also in attendance, including the Deputy Mayor. What was the most encouraging however, was the reaction of the general public. Many people who were downtown that day stopped by to browse, chat and in many cases make a pledge. Our solar-powered snow cone machine was also set up outside on the street attracting as much attention as you would expect free snow cones on a hot day to get. Many people were intrigued by the solar panels and seemed genuinely interested in what Reduce the Juice was all about. We had many great questions coming our way. It's been a fantastic week so far and I'm looking forward to the rest of the summer with RTJK. Peace Out :D Hannah (student auditor) --------------- RTJK Project Journal # 2 - June 19, 2009 Hello everyone! Here at Reduce the Juice Kingston we`ve had a crazy busy 6 weeks of preparation and planning. We have become the first tenants in the brand new Kingston Sustainability Centre, sharing the space with other environmental groups in the city. Ford brought a 2010 Fusion Hybrid through our front window! We have gained many generous sponsors and friends and developed many successful partnerships. We starred in our first front page article in the Kingston Whig Standard - surely not the last! On June 6 we attended our first event, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) High School Challenge, where high school students collected an astounding 125 tonnes (6500 pieces!) of e-waste from the community. Our solar snow cones were a hit and we recruited for our student auditor positions among the many eager, environmental high school students. It was a great day! Our interviews and hiring have been completed, and we have gained 4 fabulous students who we can`t wait to get started. We are looking forward to getting out on the streets and attending all the wonderful summer events here in Kingston. `Til next time.... Brooke, Sarah, and Katie --------------- RTJK Project Journal #1 - May 15, 2009 Hello from Kingston! Hard to believe we are into our second week already! Last week the Reduce the Juice Kingston 2009 Team Leaders (Brooke Giles, Sarah Fetterly, and Katie Matthews) were given a three day crash course on climate change, environmental sustainability and 'reducing our juice' by the lovely and talented Sarah Fairlie, a former Team Leader and current board member of RTJ. We all joined this project with a general understanding of climate change but we soon discovered that our knowledge only touched the tip of the iceberg! This year's RTJ model is different than previous projects' - we have established three distinct goals, of which we will each be mainly responsible for one. They are: energy efficiency and conservation (Brooke), water efficiency and conservation (Katie), and waste and recycling (Sarah). These are topics we feel strongly about, and are looking forward to strengthening our knowledge and sharing it with the community. Besides campaigning the neighbourhood, we are also planning several events throughout the summer. We will be sure to post about them on here, along with updates about the awesome and exciting goings-on of RTJ Kingston. Next up for us: more learning and planning! Look for us on your doorstep in the near future, and until then, keep reducing your juice! Brooke Giles, Sarah Fetterly, and Katie Matthews - RTJ Kingston 2009 Team Leaders |
