Eagle-eyed students organize successful recycling program
They’ve stretched their wings along the shores of Lake Huron. Now, these eagles are making their own nest a more vibrant shade of green.
The Green Eagles Environmental Club at North Lambton Secondary School, in Forest, ON, already performs good work across Lambton County, in southwestern Ontario, on numerous environmental initiatives.
And in recent months, this group of dedicated students looked inward to tackle a recycling project that’s initiated positive change at their North Lambton Secondary—which was already a gold-level-certified Ontario EcoSchool.
The student-led club raised support for a campaign to install additional recycling containers—which their own research indicated were much needed—in strategic locations around the school. The results are already encouraging.
“One of the club’s goals this year was to increase the level of recycling in the school,” says science teacher Lisa Fox, who supervises the Green Eagles Environmental Club. “Through a grant from Enbridge, we were able to purchase eight large hallway recycling bins—which are now in use all throughout the school.
“And through a waste audit, they’ve found that the project has already reduced the amount of recycling that ends up in the garbage.”
From Lambton Shores to Kettle Point, the Green Eagles Environmental Club organizes and mobilizes for all kinds of environmentally proactive projects in the area, including:
- Community clean ups;
- Plastic water bottle reduction programs;
- Recycling collection and monitoring, waste reduction initiatives;
- Tree planting and pollinator garden development; and
- Earth Day activities.
“Their aim is to raise awareness around various environmental concerns and provide programs and activities for the entire school to take part in,” says Fox.
Enbridge owns and operates three solar energy projects in southwestern Ontario—the 80-megawatt (MW) Sarnia Solar Project, the 15-MW Amherstburg II Solar Project, and the 5-MW Tilbury Solar Project—as well as the nearby Talbot Wind Energy Project in Chatham-Kent, which produces another 99 MW of clean energy.
We exist to help fuel quality of life in the communities where we work and operate, and we regularly partner with organizations like the Green Eagles Environmental Club to build stronger communities.
“This initiative really supports our values, in that it positively impacts the local community and the environment,” says Chris Lupaschuk, an Ontario-based community relations representative with Enbridge. “The program provides students with easily accessible recycle bins, which reduces the amount of recyclables ending up in the trash, and that is very much a benefit to everyone.”
Canadians generate about 31 million tonnes of waste a year, according to federal government statistics, and only recycle about a quarter of that material.
Fox says the students at NLSS are passionate about the part they can play in helping keep their school, their community and their country green.
“The Green Eagles and all community members of NLSS would like to thank Enbridge for helping us become a more eco-friendly school,” she says.
(TOP PHOTO: Green Eagles Environmental Club members, from left, Quinn Potts, Jessica Dobroski, Rachel Daley, Chloe Simic and Megan McIntyre. The student-led club also includes Cassidy Blunt and Selena Dirven.)
