Saint John, N.B. – Sponsored by Canaport LNG, The Gaia Project was invited to run their Trash Tracker Program at Forest Hills School this past Spring. Trash Trackers is a one day program that helps students conduct a waste audit of their school’s entire waste from the previous day. Students are given the opportunity to examine their waste impact and then discover first-hand what could have been recycled or composted instead of put in the landfill.
When the waste audit is completed, Gaia’s Program Delivery Officers discuss with students how they can improve their school’s waste footprint and then help them design a waste management plan for their school. At Forest Hills, Pamela Hawkins’ Grade 4 class saw an opportunity to reduce their waste by rinsing out and recycling milk cartons, something that was never done at the school before. They recently took it one step further by getting the school to recycle the pizza boxes from the lunch program.
“The Gaia Project exposed the children to how much garbage they are producing every day. We found over 100 milk cartons in the trash which should be recycled,” said Pamela Hawkins, Teacher at Forest Hills School. “After The Gaia Project left we began collecting, washing and recycling all the milk cartons in the elementary school. We also began recycling the pizza boxes from the hot lunch program.”
The success of the Trash Tracker at Forest Hills School could not have been possible without the sponsorship from Canaport LNG to run the program at the school. A representative from Canaport LNG was present during the program and took note of the students’ enthusiasm towards the program.
“We loved the Trash Trackers program! It was a great learning experience for the students, and even for our company, to see how much waste is thrown away that could have been recycled and repurposed for something else,” said Kate Shannon, Canaport LNG. “Education is a key part of our sponsorship priorities and this program was a perfect fit; watching the students have that light bulb moment when they realized how they can make a difference with something as small as recycling a yogurt container, instead of throwing it away, was wonderful to see. It has even helped us focus more on our own recycling initiatives at Canaport LNG! It was an excellent program; we would absolutely sponsor it again.”