Brampton - On Friday, June 19th the Green Gators environmental club of Sir William Gage Middle School was recognized as the grand prize winner of the intermediate category for Earth Day Canada's Great EcoKids National Challenge. A ceremony took place on campus to award the Green Gators and their commitment to a greener future for their school and community.

"The Green Gators recognized their school needed to lead the community to further environmental action and awareness," says Jed Goldberg, President of Earth Day Canada. "They recognized a problem, developed a solution and took action. The Gators are a wonderful example of how anyone, regardless of age, can make a difference in local communities."

Following a garbage audit of Sir William Gage, the Green Gators realized the school could produce less garbage if they implemented recycling and litter-less lunch programs. Working closely with the Region of Peel, Brampton Clean City, students, custodians and staff, the Green Gators developed the programs and educated their fellow students to the benefits of taking simple environmental action. As a result, the school reduced its garbage production from 150 litres a day to only 50 litres a day.

"As a new school, our biggest challenge was to become environmentally conscious," says Andrée Plastre, a Grade 7 teacher at Sir William Gage. "We've been successful in accomplishing this. In eight short months, the Green Gators and our staff implemented an effective recycling program, provided environmental education to students and beautified our school grounds. Afterall, if we all do a little, big things will happen."

For their efforts, Sony of Canada Ltd., a proud sponsor of The Great EcoKids Challenge, awarded the school with a SONY 32" BRAVIA® M-Series High-Definition LCD TV. Each member of the Sir William Gage Green Gators will receive a SONY W-Series Walkman® MP3 Player. For more details on their initiatives, visit http://earthdaycanada.cmail1.com/t/y/l/hujuuk/dudluriti/j.

EcoKids is Earth Day Canada's environmental education program for youth aged kindergarten through grade eight. Celebrating its 14th anniversary, EcoKids empowers young Canadian with environmental knowledge and hands-on activities, and presents this information in fun, exciting ways that increase awareness and encourage community involvement. Our multiple award-winning EcoKids web site (http://earthdaycanada.cmail1.com/t/y/l/hujuuk/dudluriti/t) is an innovative, interactive environmental web site for children, their families, and educators around the world.

About Earth Day Canada
Earth Day Canada (EDC), a national environmental charity founded in 1990, provides Canadians with the practical knowledge and tools they need to lessen their impact on the environment. In 2004 it was recognized as the top environmental education organization in North America, for its innovative year-round programs and educational resources, by the Washington-based North American Association for Environmental Education, the world's largest association of environmental educators. In 2008 it was chosen as Canada's "Outstanding Non-profit Organization" by the Canadian Network for Environmental