Manitoba

A Toothbrush’s Journey

You may not know this, but plastic toothbrushes create major toothaches for our environment.

When student Jenn Fossay from Warren Collegiate in Warren, Manitoba, learnt that plastic toothbrushes take over 400 years to decompose, she knew that she had to come up with a solution.

To raise awareness about the negative effects of plastic toothbrushes on the environment, Jenn wrote and illustrated a children’s book to educate the next generation. The book takes readers through the life-cycle of a toothbrush lost down the storm drain. Once the toothbrush makes its way into the environment, it begins negatively impacting the lives of marine animals. Continue reading…

OILaway

2019, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Nicholas Kiesman from West Kildonan Collegiate in Winnipeg, Manitoba noticed that there was a lack of awareness in how everyday products such as used motor oil should be safely disposed of. He reached out to a local oil change facility to see what he could do to help.

OILaway student action Manitoba He partnered with his local Great Canadian Oil Change to put on an event so that people could bring in their used oil and other household products for proper and environmentally safe disposal. He was able to educate community members about disposing of these products any time at drop-off sites such as the Great Canadian Oil Change that he hosted his event at.

“We [will] be able to educate the community on how to properly dispose of used motor oil, and explain to them why taking care of our watershed is so important. While doing this, we have the ability of making sure that the hazardous substances in used oil are not unloaded carelessly into our environment by those who think it’s not a big deal. Because honestly, it is. It’s time that careless thinking stops. It’s time to inspire the community and take action.”

Boyne River Cirriculum

2019, Carman, Manitoba, Canada

Hannah Petrie was a high school student at Carman Collegiate in Carman, Manitoba. She has always had a passion for education, so when she was thinking about ways she could improve her watershed, of course teachers came to mind. What better way to spread the word about healthy watersheds than giving the resources to those who teach our youth!

Hannah held a Professional Development day for teachers within the Boyne River Watershed to learn how to properly educate their students on their watershed and what they can do to keep it healthy.

“In the end, helping someone understand how they can positively affect the environment is a challenge, but can have personal, as well as global impacts. I believe teaching the young students will promote a lifestyle that contributes to a healthy environment, since they are the future.”

Hockey SokStraps

2019, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Alex and Tyler are high school students at Garden City Collegiate in Winnipeg, Manitoba. While coming up with an idea on what they could do to improve their watershed, they considered things they did every day. Both of them play hockey, and they noticed that after just one game or practice, there was a large amount of plastic waste from sock tape. They came across a local company that had a solution: reusable hockey sock straps!

They provided their hockey team members with SokStraps to use instead of plastic hockey tape. Many of the students liked the way they worked and made the full-time transition to SokStraps.

“The high use of sock tape is a problem in our world that has gone under the radar for far too long. We have never known what sock tape really does to our watershed, but now we do. It’s time that we become the solution, and work to fix our past mistakes and the damage that we have caused.”

Making Beauty Sustainable

2019, Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada

Jenna Kowerko, a grade 12 student at Lord Selkirk Regional Comprehensive Secondary School, was concerned about the effects that the waste her school’s Cosmetology Department could be having on her local watershed. She did some searching and found a company called Green Circle Salons that would take some of that waste and dispose of it in a more environmentally friendly way. Green Circle Salons [is] North America’s only sustainable salon solution to recover and repurpose beauty waste (greencirclesalons.com).

According to their website, this program allows salons to repurpose and recover up to 95% of the resources that were once considered waste! You can actually watch the weight of “waste diverted” climb in real time on their home page!

“This would be a great deal of change at a small price and it is shameful to still think that our salon and other salons have not progressed to this eco-friendly level. It is probably because most salons do not know about this affordable idea. It is our job as the future generation to spread awareness to help save our environment.”

Green Salons Logo

Reducing the Amount of Styrofoam

2019, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

John and Roy are students at Holy Cross School in Winnipeg, Manitoba. When asked the question, “What could you do to improve your watershed?”, they came up with the idea of reducing the amount of Styrofoam used at their school. The chemicals used to make Styrofoam get into the food we eat off of them, and later can leach into our watershed. Although there is often a recycling symbol on the bottom of Styrofoam products, most recycling depots won’t actually take them.

The boys found a Canadian company called Greenmunch that specializes in environmentally friendly disposable products. Since it wasn’t feasible to have reusable products in their school without a way to wash them, this was the next best thing! Compostable products that will break down in a landfill much more quickly and without leaching chemicals into the soil that can end up in our water.

The Ecological Impact of Batteries

2019, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Westwood Collegiate student Lhili Kolbauer addressed the issue that improper disposal of batteries was having a negative effect on her watershed by involving her community in a battery recycling initiative. Before she came up with her solution, Lhili did some research of her own to see what kind of effects batteries could have on her watershed if they made their way there due to breakdown in landfills or other areas that they should not be found. This was what she saw:

Batteries over time comparison Manitoba project

She found that in less than two weeks, the batteries degraded quickly and affected the quality of water greatly. This degradation can occur in landfills when water passes over improperly disposed of batteries. This water then enters our watersheds, creating a problem. Lhili’s solution was to deliver recycling boxes to members of her community that would come with information on where they could take their old batteries to be properly recycled. Rather than have an event where people can drop off their batteries a single time, this is a long-term solution that educates people to get into a new habit of continued proper disposal.

“Every action, no matter how grand in scale, matters when taking care of our watershed.”

Alternate Acrylic Field Marking Paint Campaign

2019, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Keanna Bailey and Jenna Myskiw are students at Garden City Collegiate in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They noticed that the field marking paint that their school division used on school sports fields was made of a material that could leach into their watershed and cause problems. They found an alternative that was much more eco-friendly. They approached their school division to see if they would support a change in the paints they were using, and the division agreed to change all their paint over to eco-friendly options! The division made the change on their own without any additional funding, and they plan to continue to use it in the future. Sometimes, all it takes is letting someone know there is a better way!

“Encouraging more youth to take precautions and rethink how their lifestyle is impacting our watershed. By creating this conversation, along with educating each other on Lake Winnipeg watersheds current situation allows the topic to be exposed to more people. Ultimately try to get everyone switching their ways to ecofriendly products. At last, we are concerned for our watershed and want to help fix the chemical flow into Lake Winnipeg. Because it is devastating to see, our lake portrayed as a harmful body of water, mainly due to human activities that can be fixed. We want to be able to enjoy Lake Winnipeg for years to come, and that starts with recognizing our actions, and revising to more sustainable options that will benefit our watershed and overall environment.”

Waste Free Lunch

2019, Warren, MB, CANADA
Waste Free Lunch

Katelyn LaCombe from Warren Collegiate in Manitoba wanted to encourage her classmates to bring waste free lunches to school. She noticed that so many of her fellow students were bringing food in plastic bags, plastic wrap, and other disposable items. She held three contests throughout the school year where students could bring lunches in reusable containers to get their name entered to win environmentally friendly phone cases and zippered cloth snack bags. She provided a poster with different options to replace single-use plastics to educate everyone to continue packing waste free lunches even after the contests were over.

Waste Free Lunch

Hydrology Education

2019, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Holy Cross School grade 8 students Carliana and Vrinda wanted to make a change in the way their peers use water, so they came up with the idea to have an assembly to educate students and teachers about conserving water. Thinking of the future means thinking of our youth today. They explored themes related to the importance of freshwater, why it is important to conserve water, why it is important to keep our water resources clean, and what they can do at home and at school to make a difference.

“Educating other students on water and why it is important now means that they will have that knowledge as they grow up, making positive changes become habit early on.”