In what has turned out to be a massive recycling effort, Marian Academy students have collected over 396 lbs of plastic bottles for recycling over the past three months.
The project, headed by the school’s Environmental Club, seeks to make a difference in reducing the amount of plastic bottles taking up space in the landfill site. The school therefore recycles all plastic bottles that are used there. According to a report by Chelsea Manasseh and Rebecca Ramlall, since the school does not sell sodas (soft drinks), they would have been mainly water bottles.
However, two students put up recycle signs in their family’s shops and they would collect the bottles and take them to the school, where they are rinsed and packed into ton bags, which are to be collected by Netram and Sons.
Sister Shelly Jhetoo, OSU coordinates the activity at Marian Academy. The activity will be ongoing.
Meanwhile, for their Lenten sacrifice this year, students and teachers contributed cash to Project Africa, which aims to install taps in home and yards in Senegal, Cameroon or Botswana.
A box was set up at the beginning of Lent and cleared at the end of the term (on Thursday). It was noted that the giving was generous. The money will be sent directly to the Ursuline Sisters in the countries mentioned.
Sister Shelly stated that women and children are usually responsible for collecting water and would have to walk for miles to do so which meant that children missed school. “We are very happy to join with the Sisters to help provide some women and children in Africa with clean water,” she said.
Worldwide more than 1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and more than 2 billion people live without access to adequate sanitation. These shortcomings have a dramatic effect on public health around the world. Diarrhoea alone kills nearly 2 million people worldwide each year, mostly children under the age of five.
