Forest Grove Elementary Turns Recycling into Learning Opportunities

With just 91 students from kindergarten to Grade 7, Forest Grove Elementary is a small, rural school located 20 minutes from 100 Mile House in the Cariboo, where most field trips require bus transportation which can be expensive. However, thanks to implementing a recycling program to return beverage containers for deposit refunds through Return-It, these expenses are no longer a barrier.

Between April 2024 and April 2025, Forest Grove students, families, and volunteers collected 214,210 containers, generating more than $21,000 in refunds. The funds have supported a wide range of activities and programs. Over the past three years, students have participated in memorable trips, including winter wilderness education at Gavin Lake, skiing at Mt. Timothy, and fishing at Schoolhouse Lake Provincial Park. They’ve also learned to embrace the 3 Rs—reusing items like plastic fruit cups for painting, scrap paper for drawing, and yogurt cups for seed planting.

The program is a community effort. Parents volunteer to collect donations from the three community bins at the local transfer station, sort the containers and transport them to the Gold Trail Recycling depot. Students in the Grade 6/7 leadership program also dedicate Thursday afternoons to sorting containers, helping fund their annual class trip to Vancouver. This year, proceeds will cover transportation, accommodations, meals, and entry to the Vancouver Aquarium, Science World, and Castle Fun Park.

“The bottle sorting program helped me to better understand the metric system and volume that we learned about in math class.” - Kate, Gr. 7

“Returning bottles keeps them out of the beautiful lakes in the Cariboo.” - William, Gr. 7

“Sorting bottles helped me to learn how to play volleyball and basketball by providing the equipment we needed and school jerseys.” - Augustus, Gr. 6

“What a privilege it is to witness such an exceptional recycling program out of our small but mighty school. Our students take such pride in what they achieve through this lucrative program." - Jess Drennan, CPAC Treasurer

Over the past 20 years, the initiative has provided everything from playground equipment and technology to breakfast programs and school supplies. Forest Grove Elementary’s Return-It program stands as a great example of how recycling can create opportunities, empower students, and strengthen community ties.