At École Blanche-Bourgeois, recycling beverage containers is more than a gesture; it’s a collective initiative performed with pride by students, staff and the community.
The school’s Recycling Ambassadors work hard, week after week, motivated by a shared desire to protect the planet, support the Grade 7 and 8 school trip and raise extra money. Twice a week, the ambassadors collect deposit-bearing beverage containers from every classroom, clean and count them, and then give them to their teacher, who generously volunteers to take them to the Saint-Antoine Bottle Exchange redemption centre.
A Green School: A Source of Collective Pride
A highlight of the year was being one of the schools chosen to receive an award for their hard work participating in Encorp’s Recycling Heroes in School program. This recognition gave students an even greater sense of pride and motivation.
With the funds they received, the school held a pizza party to thank the ambassadors and celebrate their outstanding work. And that’s not all – in the future, the school plans to step up its involvement with more posters and challenges, a mascot, competitions, staff surveys and better-organized clean-ups, especially for events taking place in the gym.
Teaching Peers and Growing Responsibility
At École Blanche-Bourgeois, environmental responsibility grows with the students. In Grade 4, they’re in charge of recycling, and then in Grade 5, they take on composting. Thanks to their commitment, they’re now using 20 fewer green garbage bags per day! To deal with the problem of foul-smelling bins, the ambassadors started washing containers more frequently and replacing old metal bins with plastic ones supplied by Encorp, which are easier to maintain. Today, the school has bins of various sizes, including a large bin that’s accessible to the community, whose contributions helped raise money for the Grade 8 students’ school trip.
Developing Environmentally Responsible Citizens
At École Blanche-Bourgeois, students quickly learned that every little bit helps. The program has given students a better understanding of environmental issues, and has taught them how to do the right thing and inspire those around them. Sorting errors are rare, which means that awareness efforts are working. Students know exactly what to put where thanks to posters around the school.
The Recycling Heroes in School program, combined with the commitment of an entire school that was already green even before the program was launched, continues to turn young people into true eco-responsible leaders.
Your School Can Also Raise Money by Collecting Beverage Containers!
École Blanche-Bourgeois is just one of many schools participating in Encorp’s Recycling Heroes in School program, and yours could be part of the program, too! Collecting and returning deposit-bearing beverage containers is a fantastic way to raise extra funds for your school, and this program helps provide you with the supplies and support to make it easy.
Send us an application on our website to get your school started with beverage container recycling!
