(Photo credit: Senaya)

Today on 24th March 2022, R&S service group and Eco-School service group have conducted a collaboration on organizing the recycling room and selling the materials to the Pelawatte recycling center. First, the eco-school group and I cleaned up the recycling room, with half of the group flattening cardboards and other putting paper into rice bags. Then, we loaded the organized bags onto the truck and four of us got onto the vehicle to the recycling center. （LO5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively）After we unloaded the bags to the scrap dealer, the other members arrived by walking, they joined us briefly and spectated our process before going back to school. We asked several questions to the scrap dealer, mainly on the price of the materials and where the recycled stuff will go. The paper are Rs.20 per kilo and the cardboards are Rs.40, which has not changed so much as I expected the economic crisis would have an influence on it. The scrap dealer told us that the recycled solid waste will be sent abroad, though unsure which country, where the companies will convert those into cardboards, paper, or bottles again. Together we earned Rs.2300, which will be deposited into our R&S account. I think this event has successfully marked the end (almost) of the service of this quarter, because I have demonstrated a significant part of our service to more people. It is what my recycling group do consistently, and I think collaborations like this will get more people to be aware of what we do, and gain more knowledge on what we can do for the environment. A lot of the people are unaware of the existence of scrap dealers, and spreading this knowledge can definitely get more people to recycle their waste and manage their resources in a more efficient way. (LO6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance)

This quarter I have done a lot of things with my group, while persisting on our daily recycling routine, I have also led the group to start the biogas plant again and did collaborations with Eco-school for several sessions. I think I’ve achieved my goal of improving the general awareness of OSC community, as well as trying to incorporate more elements into each session. Next quarter I will try to incorporate more collaborations as I realized it is a very effective way of spreading awareness, and since Earth Day is coming up, I will have more plans ahead to continue spreading knowledge on environmental protection around the school. (LO1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth) (LO3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience)