Earth Rangers lead the charge to recycle almost 20,000 batteries in Calgary

Foundations for the Future Academy, Calgary keeps batteries out of Alberta landfills

CALGARY, Feb. 8, 2016 /CNW/ - Canada's national consumer battery recycling stewardship organization, Call2Recycle Canada, Inc. partnered with Foundations for the Future Charter Academy, Southwest Campus, Calgary, an Elementary School with nearly 500 students and staff, to keep batteries away from the Alberta landfills.

Students Reem and Adam Kaber became involved in Earth Rangers Battery Blitz which motivated them to recycle batteries to preserve the environment. The children learned that used batteries are used to make various items from new batteries to stainless steel products, helping to conserve our natural resources.

The Kaber family approached Call2Recycle who supported their idea to launch a Battery Recycling Challenge at their school. The overwhelming efforts of the Foundations for the Future Academy, resulted in almost 20,000 batteries being collected by the students. "Grade 4 and their teacher Adrianna Snihura came out on top by collecting 5,474 batteries", said Lorie Skaper-Burtch, Principal of the School. "I was amazed at the way that the students embraced the idea of battery collection with such enthusiasm." The second prize winner was Grade 3 and their teacher Penny Meyer who collected 4,429 batteries.  Erin Payne was awarded the Teacher Champion Award for believing in the program and motivating the students. The stars of the show were Reem and Adam Kaber who won the Student Champion Awards for introducing the contest.

The school hosted an Award ceremony on February 8, 2016, with Roger Nippard, Superintendent, and key school officials. Already, this success story has been featured on Global News.

"Congratulations to Foundations for the Future for their commitment to protecting the environment," said the Superintendent Roger Nippard "I am grateful to the Academy for raising awareness around the importance of battery recycling. Hopefully this can become an Annual event and we can extend it to other schools too."

"We were delighted to assist Foundations for the Future to run a successful battery recycling program," said Kristen Romilly, Director, Call2Recycle, Western Canada. "It was a pleasure to work with this school in Calgary to raise awareness for battery recycling throughout the province."

Currently, 83% of Alberta residents live within a 15 kms radius of an available drop-off site. Residents can find their closest drop off location at call2recycle.ca.

Call2Recycle, Inc. 

Call2Recycle, Inc. (Call2Recycle) is North America's premier product stewardship organization dedicated to minimizing the environmental impacts of products in the marketplace. Operating across Canada and the U.S., its marquee battery recycling program Call2Recycle® is the oldest and largest consumer battery stewardship program. Collecting and recycling batteries for retailers, municipalities, businesses and consumers through its network of close to 30,000 collection sites, over 45 million kilograms (100 million pounds) of batteries and cellphones have been diverted from the solid waste stream. Learn more at call2recycle.ca or call2recycle.org.

SOURCE Call2Recycle

Sandra Abuwalla, Call2Recycle Canada, Inc., [email protected], [phone]