Bring Us One Million More!
Help keep plastic bags out of the landfill and help out your local elementary school at the same time!
"In 2012, over one million bags were collected, which is a new record for the program," says Tom Ethans, executive director at Take Pride Winnipeg! Inc. "It is great to know that one million single-use bags were kept from the landfills and recycled!"
Bags collected by elementary schools across Manitoba for MMSM Bag Up Manitoba are baled and recycled, to become items such as bird houses and benches, made from a composite of recycled plastic and cellulose fibre. Each participating school will receive a bird house, and some schools will be eligible to win a bench for their school!
Any elementary school in Manitoba is encouraged to participate. Teachers or principals can register their school by calling the Take Pride Winnipeg! office at 204-956-7590. The school will collect and track the number of bags at their school for the month of October, which will then be transported and baled for recycling upon completion of the program.
“We want to have as many schools as possible involved in the program,” states Ethans. “Last year, we had 160 schools registered. Schools as remote as Matheson Island were involved, so if you have plastic bags, we’ll help figure out how to get them recycled!”
Members of the community are encouraged to participate as well. Simply call your local elementary school to find out if they are participating in the program and if they are accepting donations from the public. To recycle plastic bags year-round, a number of local grocery stores, including Canada Safeway, have collection containers for used plastic bags.
Take Pride Winnipeg! wishes to thank its title sponsor, Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba, as well as sponsors BFI Canada, Gardewine Group, Trex and Canada Safeway for all their support.