Submitted by Wildsight

How can we reduce our waste? It’s a big question to grasp, especially if you’re just a kid. But for students in Beyond Recycling, an environmental education program that runs in Kimberley schools and throughout the Columbia Basin, this question is the foundation on which learning happens.

Beyond Recycling is a Wildsight-run education program that takes students on a journey to explore their energy, waste, and consumption. Through 24 weeks, students go beyond the 3 Rs to really understand where our waste comes from, where it goes, and how we can make changes to lessen our impact on the planet.

“The length of the program really allows us to build connections and deep understanding of waste, energy, water, climate and sustainability,” explained Kimberley Beyond Recycling educator Kim Urbaniak.

As part of this year’s Beyond Recycling program, Steph Spensley/Jaime Pichette’s Grade 5/6 class, and Erryn Turcon’s Grade 5/6 class at McKim Middle School visited the local Save-On grocery store then the Food Recovery Depot.

At Save-On, the students toured the store, with a focus on how they reduce their waste. They got to go behind the scenes to see the new cake freezers, the -40 C cold storage, the dairy freezer, and the loading bay with its own “Wall-E” machine to compact cardboard for recycling. Save-On is part of the local food recovery program, donating all of the unsellable but still edible foods to the Food Recovery Depot.

At the Food Recovery Depot, students learned how food is sorted for the food bank, compost, farm animals, and human re-distribution. The classes got to help sort and make bins for food bank families.

Students learned how big companies can divert waste (food waste specifically), that there are lots of rules about what food can be sold and when, and the difference between expiry dates and best before dates. Students also learned how the Healthy Kimberley Food Recovery Depot diverts so much food from the landfill.

Students found the field trips interesting, some commenting on how much food waste there really is in our community. For Ms. Urbaniak, experiences like this help to drive home the Beyond Recycling message for the students.

“Beyond Recycling is an in depth look at how the lives of Grade 5 and 6 students impact the planet. The hands-on, interactive lessons, activities, and field trips look at both the negative and positive impacts we can have,” she reflects.

To learn more about Beyond Recycling, visit www.beyondrecycling.ca

Beyond Recycling couldn’t happen without the generous support of funders, including the Columbia Basin Trust, the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Province of British Columbia, the Regional District of Central Kootenay, the Regional District of Fraser Fort George, and TD Friends of the Environment, as well as all the generous individual donors who help make Wildsight Education programs possible.

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