W.H. Morden Public School is participating for the first time in the popular Battery Blitz contest in Ontario in honour of Earth Month. The community is encouraged to participate.
A leading organization for battery collection and recycling, Call2Recycle and Earth Rangers, a charity focused on environmental education for children, launched the battery recycling contest in Ontario in April. The contest aimed at instilling lifelong recycling habits among children has been running in several other provinces for the past seven years.
According to Call2Recycle Canada, the organization remains “committed to reaching Ontario’s objective to collect and recycle 3.5 million kilograms of batteries in 2023 through our extensive collection and recycling network.”
Students at W.H. Morden P.S. began collecting used batteries on April 3, hoping that these batteries would be recycled properly rather than sitting in landfills. Until April 28, all batteries up to 5kg are accepted in this recycling effort for the Spring edition. The school also has a box outside the front door for community members to drop off the used batteries during school hours.
The organizers ask that “batteries be placed in a clear plastic bag or cover battery terminals with tape (electrical/duct/packing) before bringing them to school, as some types of batteries can spark when their terminals touch metal or other batteries.”
All batteries will be collected and weighed to determine the winning schools in June 2023. If W.H. Morden students collect the most amount of batteries as one of the top three schools in Ontario, it will win cash to fund environmental education and resources.
According to Earth Rangers, 52 Ontario schools have signed up for the April contest, with 60 more expected to participate in the fall this year.
Schools in Manitoba and Saskatchewan are also participating in a province-specific Battery Blitz contest this April, with 74 elementary schools competing for 1 of the 13 cash prizes in this contest.