J. L. Crowe’s Green Team is counting on community support to win up to $1,000 through an annual environmental action contest for B.C. schools.
Science World’s BC Green Games has schools boasting about their efforts to reduce waste and raise awareness in an online contest that closes at the end of the month.
Crowe is hoping Greater Trail residents will visit their submission and vote in favour of the group’s ongoing efforts to practice environmental stewardship by developing and delivering conservation and sustainable projects.
The funding would be used toward a number of projects on the go that are listed in the group’s online application.
“It’s just nice for us as a group to have our own money to draw from rather than having to go to the school,” said Grade 12 student Alexa Matthes, who has acted as president for the core group of about 10 grades 8-12 students for the past two years.
The team is currently attempting to rid the Trail high school of bottled water by selling stainless steel “Go Green or Go Home” bottles for $6.
To further demonstrate the over-use of water bottles at Crowe, they made a Christmas tree out of about 200 bottles wasted at the facility this winter.
“We’re trying to get people realizing the amount of waste they’re creating and trying to divert that to composting or recycling,” said Matthes.
Another resourceful initiative is the team’s push to sell beads made from recycled paper for the organization BeadforLife. All proceeds from this project go to the crafters, African women, who need help to buy food, shelter and education for their families.
This spring the students look to implement a program idea that was dug up last year. Composting boxes are currently being created to encourage classmates to compost, which will at the same time add richness to a new community garden to be located on school grounds.
Not listed in the group’s application is the team’s future partnership with TerraCycle, an online organization that runs a free waste collection program for hard to recycle materials that are then turned into affordable green products.
Matthes hopes a terra box will also be lined up with a compost, recyclable and garbage bin this spring.
To vote for Crowe’s Green Team, visit bcgreengames.ca select “vote now” and filter your selection by searching district Kootenay Columbia. As of Wednesday, the local team had accumulated 19 votes.