TORONTO, Dec. 15, 2016 /CNW/ - Nearly 200 schools across Canada registered in the Call2Recycle® and EcoKids Battery Busters: Waste Reduction Week Contest, which resulted in 13,869 kg of used or expired batteries collected for recycling. The contest came on the heels of the highly successful Battery Busters: Spring Cleaning Contest and created an opportunity for students and teachers to take their waste reduction efforts to the next level. Organizers are thrilled with the results.
Joe Zenobio, Executive Director, Call2Recycle Canada, Inc. says, "We are inspired by the efforts of Canadian youth in our second nation-wide school battery recycling contest. Not only have students learned about the importance of recycling batteries, they have involved their communities with the support of teachers and staff. Call2Recycle is proud to be in partnership with Earth Day Canada to raise public awareness around the importance of waste reduction and engage people of all ages in environmental action."
For a chance to win cash prizes, the contest asked schools to develop innovative collection campaigns that would motivate their community to take action and bring in used batteries for recycling. Submissions were received from 177 schools coast to coast and, after a thorough judging process, winners were determined:
St. Mark School in Markstay, ON, wins the prize for the most batteries collected per person at the school. "We created a beautiful display and bulletin board related to Star Wars that read Return of the Batteries," says Carole Remillard. "The students were excited to participate and absolutely thrilled to hear that their hard work had paid off." St. Mark School was rewarded $1,500 to spend on an environmental initiative of their choosing.
Academie de la Tamise in London, ON, takes the honour of collecting the most batteries overall – an impressive 745 kg in total – and a $1,500 prize.
The winner of the $1,500 creative prize is Daniel Woodward Elementary in Richmond, BC, where the students created a hand-painted wall mural featuring a battery recycling superhero.
Other creative submissions included: An arcade-like game where people dropped their used batteries into a network of tubes, balls and funnels; a "Walking Dead Batteries" diorama; and a cowboy-themed "Wanted" poster for used batteries. All of the schools actively promoted their campaigns through homemade posters, bulletin boards, videos and songs.
The winner of the random draw is École George-McDowell, in Winnipeg, MB, which receives a $1,000 participation prize.
"We are looking forward to starting the process of building an outdoor classroom at our school," says Cheryl Coulter, a Grade 6 teacher at the school, "and these funds will be used as a lift-off to that project."
"This has been an incredibly successful contest," says Deborah Doncaster, President of Earth Day Canada. "These hard-working students, teachers and staff have really shown us what can be accomplished when we come together to help make a difference."
About Call2Recycle Canada, Inc.
Call2Recycle Canada, Inc. is committed to protecting and preserving the environment through collecting and recycling consumer batteries. Founded in 1997, the not-for-profit organization works on behalf of stakeholders to provide its battery recycling program to consumers across Canada through 8,000 convenient drop-off locations. Visit call2recycle.ca.
About EcoKids
Earth Day Canada's EcoKids Program provides free, curriculum-based environmental education resources to thousands of schools and teachers across Canada — empowering young Canadians to lessen their impact on the environment. From its modest beginnings in 1994, EcoKids has evolved into Canada's most comprehensive school-based environmental education program.
SOURCE Earth Day Canada
or to request interviews, please contact: Vanessa Farquharson, Director of Communications and Campaigns, Earth Day Canada, 416-599-1991 ext. 207, [email protected]; Linda Gabor, VP of Marketing and Customer Service, Call2Recycle Canada, Inc. [email protected], 678-218-1082
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