The challenge for this year was to design a button, bookmark, or refrigerator magnet to help people remember to simply recycle – everywhere!

The idea is to engage young people in creating new ways to help make Manitoba a better place by practicing the 4 Rs – Rethink, Reduce, Recycle, Re-use.

“Last year’s contest focused on writing.  This year, we wanted to offer a chance for young Manitobans to create a visual reminder of the importance of taking care of our environment through recycling and the other “Rs”, said MMSM’s Melnychuk.

Students in elementary and high schools were invited to participate.  We received over 250 entries from 28 schools across the province, with prizes awarded according to grade levels.  In addition to individual responses from students, we were delighted to receive another 16 community entries.

“The entries were astounding and really conveyed how much kids understand why we need to recycle,” said Mary.  “With their creativity and thoughtfulness, our many contestants reminded us that they are fully engaged in this issue, and will continue to support Manitoba’s efforts to promote environmental sustainability through the 4Rs.”

A big thank you to all who participated!

Contest Winners

Click on any image below to see the full-picture…

Winner for grades K-2	Winner for grades 3-4
Kinsey Shepherd Crestview School Winnipeg Grade 2	Martha Krawczuk R.F. Morrison School Winnipeg Grade 4
Winner for grades 5-6	Winner for grades 7-9
Rachel Haner Oakbank Elementary Oakbank Grade 5	Mackenzie Anderson-Sasnella George Waters School Winnipeg Grade 8

Help the Earth!

(A Rap)

Help the earth stay alive!
Keep the water clean so we can dive!

You can help to work on having clean air,
Ride your bike everywhere!

Please help the bears by sharing and caring,
Rethink – Don’t shoot!

Reduce, Reuse don’t throw away!
If the paint is not at use, don’t throw away – keep it for another day!

We want to live on a cleaner earth,
Recycle, Reduce, Reuse, and Rethink!

Submitted by:
The Grade 2 Class (Mrs. Richter and Mrs. Pellizzaro)
Deerwood School, Thompson, Manitoba

Grades 3 and 4

It Starts With Me 

I tried to write a poem
About recycling today.
I’d start and stop, crumple it up
And throw the paper away.

No matter what I tried to write,
I couldn’t make it rhyme.
The crumpled paper mountain,
Got bigger every time.

It covered my bedroom floor,
From my desk into my closet.
Then it blocked my bedroom door,
I couldn’t leave it if I wanted.

But that didn’t stop me
I wanted to get it right.
I kept throwing crumpled paper
Until my room was out of sight.

I lost track of all my garbage,
Until it was all that I could see.
I guess to change the world
It has to start with me.

Submitted by:
Alyssa Marks
Riverton E.M. School, Riverton, Manitoba

Grades 3 and 4 French

Pourquoi on doit recycler?

Fais-tu le recyclage?
Quoi!?
Tu as dis NON!
Alors, tu dois commencer MAINTENANT!
Recycler est très facile.
Tu dois juste mettre les items dans la boite bleue.
Mettre la boite de recyclage dehors, et tu attends.
Après un petit peu de temps, le camion vient et prend ton recyclage!
Tu peux seulement recycler le papier, le carton, quelques plastiques, les cannettes et le verre de quelques sortes.

MERCI BEAUCOUP!

PS. N’oublie pas de recycler, c’est bon pour la terre.

Submitted by:
Chloë Mathers et Regan Mersereau
École Robert Browning, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Grades 5 and 6

All the R’s 

Reduce, reuse and recycle words that we all know
We have to save our planet so we can live and grow
We might be only children but we will try you’ll see
And we will save this planet
It starts with
You and me.

Submitted by:
Markus and Lorne
Frontenac School, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Grades 5 and 6 French

Recyclons à tout prix!

 Depuis que je suis toute petite, on me dit qu’il faut recycler. “Mets ça dans la boite bleue!  Pourquoi cette bouteille est-elle dans la poubelle?  Utilise le verso de cette feuille!  Mets ta pelure de banane dans le compost!  Pourquoi ces sacs de vidange sont-ils remplis?  Pourquoi ces sacs bleus sont-ils vides?”  Le recyclage fait partie de ma vie, tout comme il fait partie de la vôtre.  Mais parfois je me demande si tout cela en vaut vraiment la peine… Et parfois, tout comme vous, je fais des mauvais choix.  Alors, pour s’encourager à continuer, voici cinq bonnes raisons pourquoi il faut recycler à tout prix.

Commençons avec le papier.  Saviez-vous que lorsqu’on recycle le papier, on utilise ce papier pour faire d’autres papiers, au lieu d’abattre des arbres?  Oui, c’est vrai!  Et ceci est beaucoup mieux, parce qu’à ce rythme, bientôt il ne restera plus d’arbres!!!  Donc, raison numéro 1, if faut sauver les arbres…

Deuxièmement, il faut habituellement moins d’énergie pour fabriquer des produits avec des matériaux recyclés que si on utilisait des nouveaux matériaux.

Troisièmement, le recyclage sauve l’air et l’eau fraîche parce que la plupart du temps, quand on fabrique des produits à partir des matériaux recyclés, on crée moins de pollution de l’air et moins de pollution de l’eau que quand on fabrique des produits a partir de matériaux neufs.

Quatrièmement, on sauve de l’espace d’enfouissement parce que les matériaux recyclés ne se retrouvent pas avec les montagnes de vidanges dans les dépotoirs.

Cinquièmement, le recyclage crée des emplois parce que c’est plus de travail quand on recycle de que quand on jette tout simplement les choses aux vidanges.  Alors on a besoin d’embaucher des gens, ce qui est toujours une bonne chose pour les gens qui cherchent un emploi, n’est-ce pas?

Alors, voila cinq bonnes raisons pour recycler.  Mais même avec tout ce que l’on sait, on continue à jeter!  Saviez-vous que les États-Unis jettent deux millions et demi de bouteilles en plastique par heure?  Deux million et demi…par heure!  Pensez à ce que cela fait a notre planète!  Saviez-vous que ces bouteilles en plastique sont presque recyclables à 100% et qu’elles sont aussi assez simples à recycler?  Si on continue comme cela, notre terre va bientôt devenir un grand dépotoir.  Fermez vos yeux et imaginez que vous  vivez parmi des tonnes de déchets.  C’est horrible, non?  Imaginez que votre chambre est remplie de déchets et que même votre lit est couvert de déchets…dégoutant!  Maintenant, fermez vos yeux, et imaginez que la terre est propre comme un jardin. Dont, on prend bien soin.  Respirez l’air frais et sautez dans l’eau claire d’un lac ou d’une rivière…un rêve?  À vous de décider.  Recyclons à tout prix!

Submitted by:
St. Avila School, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Grades 7, 8 and 9

Michael loves to recycle 

There once was a guy named Michael
Who didn’t know how to recycle.

He tried to recycle plastic
And realized it was fantastic

So he tried recycling a tire
He now knows not to light them on fire

He experimented with metal
And turned scraps into a kettle

He even recycles electronics
And uses the cash to buy comics

Michael decided to recycle rubber
And became an environmental scrubber

Now that Michael’s recycling paper
He’s getting rid of harmful vapour

He turned an old egg carton
Into a home for his hamster Martin

He decided to recycle glass
And found out it had a lot of mass

When Michael went to recycle his bottles
He met a lot of really hot models

When Michael started to recycle cans
The models became his biggest fans

By cutting down his electricity use
Michael has now learned to reduce

It’s important to protect the ozone layer
So he stopped driving his car to become a team player

By making a shed of recycled wood
He’s helping the world more than he thought he could

Michael says, “Don’t throw out the cardboard
The Earth’s troubles can’t be ignored!”

It’s time to start to reduce
By cutting down the water use

And if we all cut down on our water use
We’ll have more time to drink apple juice

If we all would take time to re-use
We’d stop getting bad pollution reviews

Michael realized he could recycle more
And it wasn’t at all a tedious chore

By rethinking how we treat our waste
We can show the world we have good taste

Submitted by:
Grade 7 and 8 Class
Pierson School, Pierson Manitoba

Honourable Mention

Recycling is cool and blue 

In the distance we saw a great big lump,
And decided it must be a giant ugly dump!

Oh what can we do?
So Manitoba doesn’t look like goo?

To do the job, you must do it right.
Recycle all day long and into the night.

You know that thing that’s square and blue?
Add your paper, cans and cardboard too!

To keep the grass so green and the ocean so blue,
Recycling is a must for me and you!

Submitted by:
Miss Little’s Grade 3 Class
Opasquia School, The Pas, Manitoba

Recycling:  Good for All 

We, as a society, are all well aware that our actions will affect the earth.  We have been told numerous times by the media that we need to start cleaning up our act.  But, what most of society is either ignorant of or chooses to ignore, is that every day, we make simple decisions such as throwing paper in the garbage, that will affect our communities for the worse.  One simple thing we can do to enhance our lives is to recycle.  Recycling is a good thing for everyone because it reduces waste, helps the environment, and can save you money.

As our population increases, so does our waste in the landfills.  Manitobans make over a million tonnes of waste each year, and on average each Canadian produces 2.2 kilograms of waste per day.  It all adds up.  Over 60% of household waste can be recycled, so why don’t we recycle?  One tonne of recycled paper saves 17 trees.  Recycling saves energy and fossil fuels; for instance, it requires 95% less energy to recycle aluminum than it does to make it from scratch.  Research done showed that one tonne of plastic bottles recycled would save the same amount of two peoples energy use for one year.  All of these are examples of how recycling reduces our waste and impact on the earth.

When we recycle, it goes to a recycling plant to be reused again, and it doesn’t land up in a dump where it can pollute our water, soil and air.  Most of what we throw in the trash isn’t biodegradable, and will stay on the earth.  The collection and dumping of garbage in landfills is destroying the environment.  Garbage dumps take up land space that used to be part of a habitat for plants and animals, and they also contribute to pollution, which hurts plants, animals and people.  Some places burn their garbage, and this makes ashes and air pollution.  When we recycle, it means fewer resources are taken from the earth (which is good) and we can conserve them.  Recycling prevents soil erosion (from logging and mining) and loss of biodiversity.  When we pollute the earth with excess garbage, we are adding to climate change that will affect the eco-systems.  So, by recycling, we are saving the earth, protecting our health and wellbeing, and protecting wildlife.

Recycling saves money for businesses because it costs less to make products out of recycled items.  By using recycled materials, businesses don’t need to spend money on extraction and forming of raw materials into useable materials.  Think about it.  To make paper from non-recycled materials, you would need to cut down trees, transport them, and then manufacture them into paper.  Whereas, if you recycled, the paper wouldn’t have to travel as far to get produced into new paper, no trees would need to be cut down, and the process to make the paper is significantly reduced.  From the example previously stated above, does not it make sense for businesses to use recycled materials?  If the availability of a resource is increased and it isn’t extracted as much (because of using recycled materials) then the cost of the resource will be lower.  If businesses use less energy to make their products by using recycled materials, then eventually our electricity rates could be lower.  Landfills are expensive to run, so if you are sending less garbage to the dump by recycling, it means lower costs to collect garbage and this could save you money on your property taxes.  Recycling programs are cheaper than the collection, burning and land filling of running garbage dumps.

If we all make an effort to recycle, this will show our government that we are serious about making a change.  Actions speak louder than words, so to convince them that we are serious, we all need to recycle.  Recycling is good for the economy and the environment, so it is a no brainer that we all should recycle!

Submitted by:
St. Maurice School, Winnipeg, Manitoba

The Facts!

 Total number of schools participating in the city of Winnipeg: 92
Total number of schools participating out side the city of Winnipeg: 41
Total number of bags collected: 475, 924

Schools were divided into categories based on location and student population to determine which schools would be awarded a Trex bench made out of recycled plastic bags.  Here are the schools that won benches!

William S. Patterson School (Clandeboye) – 19, 282 bags
Bernie Wolfe Community School (Winnipeg) – 17, 311 bags
Victor H.L. Wyatt School (Winnipeg) – 15, 070 bags
Chapman School (Winnipeg) – 14, 840 bags
Lord Nelson School (Winnipeg) – 11, 000 bags
Elwick Community School (Winnipeg) – 10, 023 bags
Brennan School (Newton) – 9, 719 bags
West St. Paul School (Winnipeg) – 9, 133 bags
Winnipeg Mennonite Elementary (Winnipeg) – 9, 076 bags
Daerwood School (Selkirk) – 7, 568 bags
La Verendrye School (Portage La Prairie) – 7, 567 bags
Ecole Ste. Anne Immersion (Ste. Anne) – 6, 913 bags
River Elm School (Winnipeg) – 6, 266 bags
Westview School (Winnipeg) – 5, 622 bags

Bag Up Manitoba: 200 000 bags. This is less than half of the total number of bags collected by schools across the province.

“What a great project and our school really enjoyed it.  It made us think about the use of plastic bags and our awareness is heightened for sure!  Thanks for organizing this event.”

- Judi Wolfe, Pacific Junction School

“We are last year’s runner up winners and I am happy to say that our win must have motivated families to change their ways.  We have only collected 2024 bags this year, a mere 20% from last year’s total.  The most common comment I heard was, “We don’t use plastic bags anymore.”"

- Annette Danis, Ecole Riverview School

“We started collecting at the beginning of October and collected 2067 bags.  The students are really pumped and are going to collect all year until next October so the numbers should be great.  The landfill will love us.  Thanks for letting us participate.”

- Sharon Gillis, McCreary School

“Well, what a month! Our total is 9,719. Beyond anything I dreamed of. When we first started my prediction was maybe around the 3,000 mark. I suppose I underestimated the determination of our students and their families and friends from many different places. I will say this now, we’re the little school with the big heart. But more importantly, our students learned that recycling is a better alternative than throwing out. Thanks for a great way for teaching this! It was fun!”

- Linda Maendel, Brennan School, Newton

“We just completed our collection and we have over 3500 bags!!  One of the boys in our classroom (grade 5/6) suggested having a bake sale and asking for five bags per cookie/slice, and that really did the trick.  They were really pumped about the whole thing and some of the kids made short video clips to promote the collection and recycling of the bags.  We had a blast! (almost forgot…one of my boys made a “recycling man” outfit out of boxes to be our mascot.)”

Brigitte Madder, Ecole Garden Grove School

“The roundup concluded on Friday, October 29th and my student counting committee was busy at work. The total of plastic bags collected and ready for pick up at Ecole Robert Browning is 4553. Thanks again for this great initiative-it got the kids talking and involved!”

- Pierre Bohemier, Ecole Robert-Browning

“Thanks for all of your help. I teach grade 2, and I incorporated the counting of the bags into a math lesson. The kids loved it.”

- Colleen Dooley, Holy Cross School

“Our total count came to 1879.  I don’t think we’ll win the bench again this year, (we did last year), but I wanted to share a tidbit of information with you. We are a small school with very big hearts! As we worked on this project this year, one of our student representatives said, “if we win a bench again this year, we should give it away to someone who needs it!” (perhaps a local charity could put the bench to use.)  I found this to be a profoundly thoughtful “pay it forward” comment and thought you may wish to know. I’m very proud that our students not only recycle to help our environment, but are able to see a world beyond their four walls.”

- Rone Boyko, Ecole Assiniboine

“Our school has collected 4584 plastic bags for the MMSM Bag Up Manitoba — Plastic Bag Roundup Challenge. We really enjoyed collecting the plastic bags because:

a)  it was for a good cause

b)  we were working as a class together

c)  saving the environment and recycling

d)  we had fun and

e)  we now know what 1/2 of 10000 looks like ( our goal was to collect 10 000 bags  — we made it halfway!!)

Thank you for the information and the opportunity to work with our class and school, work with you and working for Manitoba.”

- Grade 4 Students, Brock-Corydon School

Recent research shows that people in Portage la Prairie do recycle.

All eyes are on Manitoba as Recycle Everywhere is the first permanent away from home beverage container recycling program in Canada. Now Portage la Prairie can proudly boast its claim to being the first Model Community for this initiative and set the standard for permanent community-wide away-from-home collection programs across Manitoba. Public space beverage container recycling is becoming commonplace in Manitoba.

Ken Friesen

Executive Director

CBCRA

204.371.6441

kfriesen@cbcra-acrbc.org

Kelly Braden, P.Eng.

Director of Operations

In previous years, students in approximately 90 urban and rural schools collected more than 450,000 bags over a two-week period! This year, more than 100 schools are expected to participate.

The goal of the Plastic Bag Roundup Challenge is to inspire students to reduce their impact on the environment. Information will be sent to schools in late September. For further information, email carly@takepride.mb.ca or phone (204) 956-7590 ext. 203.