KINNGAIT/CAPE DORSET - Empty aluminum pop cans and plastic containers are set to end up in the recycling bin in Cape Dorset, not the landfill, thanks to Sam Pudlat School and the community's two major retailers.

Through the program, set to start in early September, pop cans collected by the school will go to the West Baffin Eskimo Co-op, while plastic containers will go to the Northern store, said Kathy Pelletier, a Grade 3 teacher and chairwoman of the recycling committee. The stores will ship the collected items south for recycling,

"Anything we can do is, I think, significant," she said. "We're not trying to run a profit here. We are trying to reduce landfill waste and create awareness for pollution, littering and recycling. It can be done here in the North."

During Sam Pudlat School's open house last month, Pelletier displayed information about the project, seeking reaction from the community.

"I had a really positive response from all that came by. I was really boosted by it," she said. "Everybody is really receptive to that idea and they hope that it really works out. They want to take part in it."

Grant Stovel, the store manager of the West Baffin Eskimo Co-op, said he believes people have no idea of the number of pop cans discarded in Cape Dorset. To increase awareness of the problem, the co-op is running a contest where the person who best estimates the number of aluminum pop cans the West Baffin Co-op sells in a year will win a $500 shopping voucher.

"It's absolutely huge," he said. "The number one item that we sell in our store is (pop) cans. That's the most popular item every day, every week, every year. It's hundreds of thousands of cans a year."

All Arctic co-ops in Nunavut have started paying non-profit groups $1,500 for each 20-foot sea container they fill with aluminum cans. Stovel said he looks forward to sending back south seven to eight filled containers for recycling from his store alone.

"We cannot put this off any longer," he said. "We hope by starting with soft drink cans, this will escalate so people will be aware of the plastic bags that are still around, the plastic bottles, the glass bottles and certainly refuse in general. But we're starting with the number one velocity item in our store and we really hope people will take an extra effort when they realize the number of cans."

Ian Ross, Cape Dorset's Northern's store manager for the past seven years, said the store is trying to do something that will have a long-term positive impact on the community.

"It's not just a case of the kids picking up plastic and taking it to be recycled," he said. "We really want them to buy into the whole environmental impact of plastics and everything else."

The store will set up a plastic drop-off box and provide money and supplies towards the project. Ross said they will teach the children about the environment, the impact people have on it and what can be done to improve it. The project's education component is going to be the key area, he added.

"It's all very well telling the kids 'take down the plastic and drop (it) off,'" he said. "But they need to know every step of the way – why we're doing it, what happens to the plastic, where it goes, what happens if we don't do it. You can't just tell anybody to do anything unless you explain why you're doing it."

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