The Independent

The students at Erroll Village Public School in Camlachie have made a huge dent in the number of old batteries lying around Lambton County and have helped the environment in the process.

The school’s Eco Club, led by Alison Feniak, participated in a battery cleanup event held by the Earth Rangers.

Feniak says the students, particularly the Grade 4/5 class, really bought into the project, asking friends and neighbours for batteries and going door-to-door rounding up as many as they could.

Matthew Mills was one of the students involved. He says just about everyone they asked had batteries lying around to contribute to the cause. Mills says its not surprising when you consider the one of the main ways to get rid of them is through household hazardous waste days which isn’t that convenient. “My dad has been there once before and it takes hours to get into it.” In all, the students collected 3,000 pounds of batteries which were shipped out for recycling.

Brooke Thompson’s class collected the most batteries. “At first when we saw them coming in, we’re like, ‘oh, this is amazing.’” she says, adding the kids were struggling under the weight of the bags they were bringing in.

But the work paid off, with the school collecting the most batteries in the province and winning $5,000. That money will go to add trees and gardens at the school. And there is also a pizza party in the school’s future to reward them for their efforts