Big Bay students are learning to recycle
By MIRIAM MOELLER, Journal Staff WriterArticle Photos
Champagne started reading with her third- and fourth-graders about recycling in their science books and then invited Marquette Waste Management’s Bruce Martin, the company’s district operations manager, to the Powell Township School.
Martin told the students what can and cannot be recycled. Motor oil bottles can’t be recycled, aluminum can.
“He gave us sheets of information,” Champagne said. “What we’re doing now is make posters with pictures and put it up at the transfer station.”
The poster is designed to show residents who drop off their trash what can and cannot be recycled.
But the students are not only helping out within their community, they’re also taking initiative in their school.
“The big thing here at school we started to do is our cook will set aside tin and plastic for us,” Champagne said. “Before they just went into the garbage, now she sets them aside and then after lunch the students recycle them.”
Austin Durand, 9, of Big Bay, is one of the students who helps with the recycling process.
“We’re taking all the big cans out of the bucket, and I strip the paper off them, and we take the can opener and take the lid off and then we jump up and down on them,” he said about preparing the cans for the recycling bin.
Bethany Wright, 9, who lives on County Road 550, said they are also weighing the cans to see how much they are recycling.
According to Champagne, the students recycle about 1.4 kilograms of aluminum per day. For every kilogram of aluminum recycled, 8 kilograms of bauxite, 4 kilograms of chemical products and 14 kilowatts of electricity can be saved, she said.
The students said the school saves on the amount of garbage it needs to discard, and something new can be created from the recycled cans.
