Earlier this year, the eco-friendly Garden of Hope Montessori school in White Bear Lake, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this month, won the Tap Water Poster Contest, sponsored by the nonprofit H20 for Life. Inspired by county efforts to minimize waste, promote a healthy community and make tap water safer to drink, the students created the winning poster, which reads, “Minnesota: Land of 10,000 Lakes, Not 10,000 Bottles.”
Garden of Hope Montessori washes at least 150 cloths a day because they don’t use paper towels, and if the students want scratch paper, they go to the paper recycling center at school. “I feel that it’s very important to teach children at a young age how to care for the earth and environments that they live in,” says Debbie Edman, the school administrator.
The school won a $50 award, which they donated back to the organization to help provide safe drinking water for people in Third World countries.
