Alberta’s environment will be in the hands of three St. Albert students next Monday as they head to the legislature to be ministers for the day.
Local schools revealed this week that St. Albert students Katie Dawe, Lexie Gratton and Katherine Perry had won this year’s Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development’s Minister for the Day contest. The Grade 5 students will get to spend next Monday learning what it’s like to be the province’s environment minister.
The contest asks Grade 5 students to answer a series of questions about what they would do if they were environment minister, explained Alberta Environment spokesperson Shannon Nicolson. The 12 winners get to tour the legislature and meet Diana McQueen, the current environment minister.
Dawe, who attends Vital Grandin, said she didn’t know she had won the contest until her teacher did a presentation on it.
“I thought it was just a trailer showing what you’d do if you won,” she said. “Then my picture came up on the Smart Board and it said, ‘Congratulations, Katie,’ and I was, like, (gasp!) what?!”
Dawe said she enjoyed learning about wetlands and was a huge fan of wildlife.
“I like all different kinds of animals that live in the forest, and if they died, I’d be so depressed,” she said.
If Dawe was the environment minister, she’d create a day where everyone would pick up any trash they saw and would not idle their cars.
“Maybe if there was one day where you had to do that, you’d do it every day,” she said.
Gratton, who attends Ă©cole Father Jan, said she would have Albertans water their lawns only in the evenings so the hot sun wouldn’t evaporate the wetness.
“It’s important to conserve water because it’s a limited resource,” she said.
She would also remind parents not to idle their cars while in the drive-thru.
Perry, who attends Muriel Martin, said she would challenge Albertans to leave their cars parked for a week.
“Driving pollutes the air and creates greenhouse gases,” she said, and we can clean the air by walking or biking instead.
The contest is part of Canadian Environment Week. Visit http://environment.gov.ab.ca/edu/mftd/ for details.
The parking lot at Servus Credit Union Place will become a free-for-all this weekend as the city holds its annual Take It or Leave It event, where residents can come running to claim unwanted stuff that’s, well, free for all.
Take It or Leave It is a free waste-reduction event meant to give residents a chance to get rid of unwanted but still useable stuff they have lying around the house, said municipal operations supervisor Darrell Symbaluk. About 550 cars showed up at last year’s event.
“There are always things of value that come through,” Symbaluk said, including couches, camping gear and lawnmowers.
Staff will be on hand to help unload vehicles, and will accept pretty much anything except tires, toilets, building materials, propane tanks, barbecues, mattresses and paint. They also reserve the right to refuse anything they deem unusable.
Residents can drop off and pick up items at any time during the event, Symbaluk said. Visitors should bring proof that they live in St. Albert and are encouraged to bring donations to the food bank.
Unlike previous years, where people bid on items using stickers, everything this year is first come, first served.
“We’ll try to do it as fairly as we can,” Symbaluk said, and staff will step in to arbitrate any squabbles over items.
The event runs from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the north parking lot, Symbaluk said. Anything left after 1:45 goes to the dump.
“We’re surprised every year at how little waste there is at the end,” he said.
Call public works at 780-459-1557 for details.
