WINNIPEG — Convenience is a huge factor when it comes to recycling. In rural communities, it can be especially challenging to get people to participate because not everyone has door to door pick-up.
Despite the extra hurdles, the students at Woodlands Elementary School have launched a brand new green team with help from Recycle Everywhere 101.
“When we came to this building we decided we’d form a green team and the first thing we’d focus on is beverage container recycling and more paper,” explains Elaine Johnston, a teacher facilitator for the Green Team at Woodlands School.
The new $9 million dollar school in Woodlands Manitoba opened in September 2015. With all the modern energy efficient features, it seemed fitting to create a group of student volunteers to focus on recycling and sustainability.
Students are in charge of gathering up the recyclables so they’re diverted from the landfill. Select volunteers go room to room with a large recycling bin on wheels. They dump the empty beverage containers and papers inside.
“I decided to join the green team because it’s fun helping the Earth,” said Devlin Lillies, a Grade 4 student on the Green Team.
Grade 7 student Latisha Genaille feels the same way, “It just means a lot to me to help the Earth.”
The school registered with the Recycle Everywhere 101 program for support and to receive free blue bins to place inside the building and in the schoolyard.
“We’re starting to get the whole school to recycle. We’re making more ideas and we’re trying to spread it around school,” said Green Team member Molly Phillips.
The group meets regularly and is planning a school-wide education campaign.
Grade 4 student Mya Malcolm is excited to see the change in habits at her school.
“We talk about how we can change students around our school to put their cans and juice boxes into recycling.”
One of the challenges for rural schools like Woodlands Elementary in the Interlake is that the community itself doesn’t have a recycling pick-up program like many cities do. But they’ve found a workaround.
A staff member who has access to recycling often takes smaller collections, or if there’s too much, the school’s maintenance staff calls someone to pick-up the recycling.
Just over half of the schools in Manitoba (55 per cent) are not in major cities. With recycling more of a challenge, participation can be tough.
“We can create the awareness and encourage people to gather the recyclables but it’s a then what,” explains Johnston.
“There’s a recycling piece at the dump, but if your garbage is picked up and there’s no place to put it then it becomes up to the homeowner and the community to get rid of that, right.”
Acutely aware of the some of the extra hurdles in rural communities, Recycle Everywhere 101 ensures its resources are accessible province wide. Over 5,000 bins have been shipped to schools outside Winnipeg since the program launched in 2013.
“We try to make it as easy as possible for schools,” said Jaclyn Diduck, schools coordinator for Recycle Everywhere.
“We can help you with what bins you need for the school, we can help you with signage, we can help teach the kids and spread that message. Maybe we can connect you with another community who just got their program going and you can share the successes and ideas.”
Recycle Everywhere 101 is hoping that if all schools jump on board and recycle, the practice will extend beyond the walls of Manitoba’s schools.
“Especially in some of the younger schools, the kids are the ambassadors. So the kids are the ones who are teaching their parents, they’re teaching their older brothers and sisters their grandparents,” said Diduck.
The sign-up rate for rural Manitoba schools with the Recycle Everywhere 101 program is almost six per cent compared to 75 per cent of schools in Winnipeg.
Recycle Everywhere 101 loves to use contests to encourage schools to get involved and to help recognize the efforts made by students. They have two contests running until the end of February. One is a Race to Register contest for all the new schools that sign up. The prize is includes a visit by Winnipeg Jets player Jacob Trouba.
The second contest is a t-shirt design challenge. The winning design will be printed onto 50 t-shirts for the school, and delivered by a special guest. For all the details go to their website here.