For the second year in a row, Thetis Island Elementary School beat out all other elementary schools in B.C. and took top prize in a program that encourages schools to recycle beverage containers.
Sixteen elementary students and their teachers collected close to 103,087 containers and earned $1,000 in prize money from Encorp Pacific (Canada)’s BC School Recycling Program during the 2011-12 school year.
Thetis Island not only won its enrolment category of one to 150 students for the third year running but also beat out all other elementary schools in B.C. for a second year.
“The students and teachers earned $8,702.85 for their school from recycling containers,” Sandy Sigmund, chief marketing officer for Encorp Pacific (Canada), said in a press release. “This combined with the prize money made a grand total of $9,702.85 to go towards school programs and activities.”
Thetis Island Elementary School is a one-room school house for students from kindergarten to Grade 7.
Currently, there are 14 students taught by part-time teachers Arlene Kasting and Sherri Pepin and part-time educational assistant Wendy Lueder.
The school’s returnable bottles program is run by parent and student volunteers and is well-supported by the small island community of 350 people, according to a press release.
“We are very thankful to be able to take our bottles to Junction Bottle Depot in Ladysmith — about one hour away by ferry and vehicle — where the staff is always helpful and encouraging,” said school representatives. “The returnable bottles program is the primary source of funds for our field trips, school supplies, computers, sports equipment, books and many other essentials that enhance our learning.
“In addition to raising funds for the school, the returnable bottles program provides a community service and makes a positive contribution to our community waste management system by reducing our environmental footprint. Thetis Island School is happy to be making a difference in this way and thankful for the support of everyone who helps us to help our community and our planet.”
Another big winner was Chemainus Secondary School.
Chemainus Secondary took first prize in the school with 200-500 students category for collecting 57,327 beverage containers and earning $7,326.42 in deposit refunds. Combined with their prize money, the school earned $8,732.42.
Encorp’s BC School Recycling Program provides schools with the tools and resources to make recycling easy, convenient and profitable. Schools keep 100 per cent of the deposit refunds for each container collected, and the program is free of charge.
The schools are grouped into elementary and secondary categories, based on student enrolment, and the schools that collect the most containers in each category win cash prizes of $1,000, $750 and $500.
Click here for more information about how local schools ranked or to join the program.