Stonewall students are taking a creative approach to share important environmental messages.
Students at RW Ecole RW Bobby Bend School have been busy decorating paper grocery bags with Earth Day artwork.
The bags were available for Family Foods shoppers on April 22 for Earth Day for 15 cents apiece. Once again, Family Foods donated part of the proceeds of all bags sold on Earth Day to REACT (Rockwood Environmental Action Community Taskforce), a non-profit volunteer-run organization that focuses on environmental responsibility.
It’s the fourth year that the local elementary school has co-ordinated with recreation facilitator Laine Wilson on this initiative.
“The Earth Day bag project has established itself as an annual campaign,” said teacher Jennifer Rukhra. “The students at Ecole RW Bobby Bend School appreciate their designs being handed out on Earth Day and many take pride in their artistic efforts.”
Students from kindergarten to Grade 4 participated in the initiative, creating more than 400 decorated bags.
Beyond the bag-decorating project, the school has maintained an environmental focus through other initiatives.
“Our Grade 4s have recently performed in an Earth Day themed concert this year, which ties nicely into this project and Earth Day. Classes have been encouraged to participate in a playground cleanup,” Rukhra said.
”Quite a few teachers have been reading the story of The Lorax, but I’ve also lent out books about Greta Thunberg and a picture book on oceanic plastic pollution. One of the initiatives that I would like to bring in next year is a litterless lunch, having students bring in only reusable containers for the day.”
The students have always been keen to learn about environmental issues, she added.
“We start the conversations early with our student body about the importance of keeping our planet clean and the impact of our choices on other living things,” she said. “We know teaching young children the habits of reusing and recycling are critical social responsibility skills.”
Meanwhile, at Family Foods, the annual initiative continues to generate both excitement and awareness.
“It’s really fun. I feel like the staff enjoy it as much as the customers do. We all look through them together and it’s so exciting to be able to bag with them instead of just the plain bags,” said front-end manager Erica Corrigan-Lowe.
“We understand why it’s very important. Even while we’re handing them out, we’re telling people we’re doing this for Earth Day. We’re trying to promote recycling and not littering. It’s a great project.”
