On January 12, students from King Albert Public School (KAPS), along with their co-op teaching student Ashley-Marie O’Keefe received the City of Kawartha Lakes Environmental Hero Award.
The award is a special designation presented by the city to students living in Kawartha Lakes who have shown a commitment to improving the wellness of the environment.
Every Wednesday, KAPS Grade 5 and 6 students are in charge of garbage and recycling duty at the school. Over time, students were noticing how many plastic bags were being thrown out and littered around the community, and they decided to do something about it!
As part of the school’s Eco Hero Project, the group of students developed a reusable bags program to help Kawartha Lakes residents participate in the city’s voluntary single-use plastics ban. The cloth shopping bags will feature the KAPS knight’s shield on the front, and students worked with local businesses to find partner sponsors to feature their logos on the back. The bags will be given out for free at local businesses to customers who need them, and to students who don’t have lunch bags or backpacks.
