Go clean, go green, go McArthur!
That simple, three-line chant echoed across the McArthur schoolyard yesterday afternoon as students celebrated Earth Day by ridding their playground of trash.
“We’re cleaning up our schoolyard to reduce the pollution,” said Grade 6 student Margit Warner. “It’s important because if we don’t, the air will be all yucky and maybe we won’t be able to breathe.”
The School Yard Clean Up is a program headed by the city’s Capital City Clean Up. McArthur is one of 124 local schools registered for the cleanup program this year, a significant increase over the 29 schools that signed up last year.
“It really just encourages local students in schools to get out and clean up the schoolyard trash from the moment the snow melts until the end of the school year,” said Elvie DeBenedetto, Capital City Clean Up’s senior program planner.
“Schoolyard cleanup can happen every day, but it really speaks to protecting the environment, our natural areas and our local wildlife.”
All participating schools will receive a certificate from the city.
Edmonton’s park staff will select 12 of the tidiest schools to win a $500 grant for a school environmental program.
