Students from Tsi Deldel Elementary school west of Williams Lake have won first place in the Return-It School Contest for creating new recycling infrastructure in their First Nations community.
Teacher Moray Kennedy said 13 students in her Grade 4, 5 and 6 class were involved with the project.
“They put the recycling boxes up by the road, by the health centre and the culture centre as well as the school here,” she told the Tribune.
“We started the project two winters ago,” she added.
“We have a big clean up here every year after the snow goes and this year there wasn’t so much to pick up.”
Allen Langdon, president and CEO of Return-It, said the students of Tsi Deldel Elementary persevered to provide recycling infrastructure where none had existed.
“Their hard work and dedication to their community is an inspiration to us all,” Langdon said.
In receiving the award, the students were recognized for the new community-wide recycling program, presentations they made to share program success with the community, creating signage to encourage more drop-offs and their focus on single-use plastic reduction.
Since creating the program, the school has collected more than 20,000 containers, which were transported to Williams Lake for processing.
Implementing the new recycling system has some challenges.
In the winter season, the shed doors freeze shut – forcing students to sort recyclables outside in sub-zero temperatures, Kennedy said.
“Wildlife, which is plentiful in the area, also creates challenges if the items aren’t secured. These obstacles have clearly not dampened the enthusiasm of students, who often ask, “Can we recycle today?”
Kennedy moved to the community three years ago for her teaching job, bringing her horses with her.
As for the $5,000 award , Kennedy said they hope to use some of it for a field trip next year, possibly to Barkerville.
“We went to Barkerville before and the students want to go back. We have been studying local history on the Tsilhqot’in. We just read The River of Tears which is all about the Tsilhqot’in War.”
The students also want to visit the Barkerville Gold Mines and tour through it, she added.
Return-It has been educating elementary, middle and high school students across B.C. about recycling for the past 19 years.
As the organization celebrates its 25th anniversary of environmental stewardship, the school contest continues to underpin a mandate of empowering change through education, Langdon noted.
More than 20 billion beverage containers have been diverted from landfill and the marine environment since the inception of the Return-It program.
news@wltribune.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter