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Students take recycling into their own hands—literally
Forty-one students from Fernie and Jaffray took recycling into their own hands recently. They collected waste paper at their schools and used blenders, screens, sponges and rolling pins to create beautiful handcrafted paper of their own. Two classes—Grade 6 in Fernie and Grade 5 in Jaffray—took part.
“It’s a memorable experience for everyone involved,” said Dawn Deydey, Wildsight’s Beyond Recycling program coordinator. “The kids get right in there and experience the act of recycling and re-using—plus they end up with beautiful paper.”
The paper-making capped off 20 weeks of classes that the two classes how to go ‘beyond recycling’ and reduce their carbon, waste and energy footprints at school and at home.
Students were able to take part in the program thanks in part to generous funding provided by BC Hydro.
“BC Hydro is supporting Wildsight’s Beyond Recycling program with a $15,000 contribution over three years,” said Diane Tammen, Community Relations manager for BC Hydro. “The program teaches valuable conservation stewardship skills.”
Tammen said Beyond Recycling helps youth learn skills they can use now and throughout their adult lives. “They also can share what they learn with their families and others.”
As well, the Beyond Recycling program fits into BC Hydro’s objective “To support initiatives that demonstrate a commitment to building a culture of energy conservation in B.C.,” she said.
Students in schools throughout the East and West Kootenays tackled topics such as waste reduction, ecological footprint (and handprint—i.e. what we can do to reduce our impacts), climate change, and energy consumption, through Wildsight’s Beyond Recycling program. The program is aimed to inspire students in Grades 4 through 7 to consider the impact of their actions and make positive changes to reduce their impacts.
Other program sponsors include the Regional District of Central Kootenay, Fortis BC, BC Hydro, FortisBC, the Columbia Basin Trust, NSERC, and TD Friends of the Environment with support from teachers, administrators and parents from schools throughout the region.
“It’s been another great year for the kids,” Deydey said. “Every child brings so much curiosity to the topics and so many solutions to the challenges around them. It’s an honour working with them, their teachers and their parents.”
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