THUNDER BAY – Grade 9 students at St. Patrick High School have helped divert 655 kilograms of batteries from local landfills.
Challenged by teacher Maggie Cummins, the teens started slowly, but finished with a flourish.
Fourteen-year-old Morgan Ortgiese said she and her classmates quickly realized the idea had plenty of merit and by collecting the spent batteries, they could have a major impact.
“Batteries are really bad for the environment and if we don’t take care of them properly, they can poison our water and it can be really bad for our health,” the youngster said.
“So we just decided that we wanted to make a big goal and achieve it, get our school out there.”
Morgan said she had no idea when the project began just how successful they’d be.
“At first I didn’t think we’d get this many batteries, because I’ve never seen this many batteries. It’s just really cool to see how many people can bring in a lot of stuff and how people are devoted to helping our environment,” she said.
It’s all about education, Morgan added.
“If they don’t they’ll never know about it and how much it’s affecting us.”
Students were taught that batteries tossed into the landfill and not properly disposed of and recycled can leach harmful toxins, like mercury and cadmium, into the ground, which in turn can affect the water supply.
That’s never a good thing, said fellow 14-year-old Nicole Busniuk.
“All the chemicals in them are not good for the water and the soil,” she said.
Students brought in batteries from home and some even went door-to-door collecting them from neighbours.
Cummins said the original goal was to fill the back of her pick-up truck, a target they easily reached when the batteries collected were loaded up on Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s amazing,” she said.
“I’m a big recycler and I challenged them.”
Batteries are sealed in bags and sent off to a recycler, via the City of Thunder Bay, to be to processed and recycled.
