Recycling program funds restored after protests

Outcry from students and staff at Takhini Elementary School has forced the Yukon government to reinstate its funding for the school's recycling program.

Outcry from students and staff at Takhini Elementary School has forced the Yukon government to reinstate its funding for the school’s recycling program.

On Sept. 18, the government informed the school that its $200-a-month handling fee, which has kept the recycling program going at Takhini school for 12 years, would not continue.

“Certainly, I’m disappointed if the decision sticks,” Takhini principal Kelly Collins told the Star Monday.

“Basically, it was a major fundraiser for the school ... and when you consider the amount of education it afforded, (then) imagine the amount of kids that have gone through the school since 1996.”

In addition to teaching the students about recycling, Collins said the program offered a convenient method for parents to dispose of their recyclables while earning cash for extracurricular activities and field trips.

“We question whether your goal for recycling depots is to increase the amount recycled and make attitude changes for future generations, or to look solely at the finances,” teacher Judy Ratcliffe wrote in a letter of protest to the government. Ratcliffe was instrumental in organizing the program.

The significance of the recycling program was not lost on Takhini’s students as several penned letters to Shannon Jensen, who managed the program’s funding through the Department of Environment.

“I am upset that you took the funding away,” wrote student Kelly Bullied. “Kids do all the work. It teaches us to be good workers and to save the environment.”

Student Dennis Harper-Smarch wondered what would compell people to recycle if the school’s program ceased.

“I don’t think that taking away the funding for the recycling is right,” he wrote. “If you take it away, then why will we have to recycle? We are trying to help the environment and you are stopping us from doing it.”

But today, the government reversed its position on Takhini’s funding, and hopes to have a program in place that would be available to all schools by year’s end.

“We were already working on this new program and (the letters) certainly emphasized the desire to see that continue at Takhini,” said Jensen.

In addition to reinstating Takhini’s funding, Kelvin Leary, deputy minister of the Environment Department answered all of the students’ letters.