One drop of oil can contaminate a million drops of water. That’s the message student ambassadors with the British Columbia Used Oil Management Association (BCUOMA) were relaying when they visited Parksville recently.
Tiffany Rennick, marketing student at the University of British Columbia, and Amara Janssens, communications student at Simon Fraser University, were hired for the summer to travel the province promoting the recycling of used oil and antifreeze products in order to keep these items out of waterways and landfills.
Their travels have taken them to collection facilities and events in South Eastern B.C., Northern B.C. and all over Vancouver Island to date, meeting with politicians and government officials, and they will continue their work until the first week of September.
Rennick, who is focusing on sustainability within her program, said this summer co-op program is a great opportunity for her.
“It’s really great,” she said. “I never would seen a lot of the province if not for this job and you definitely get to meet with a lot of interesting people.”
While in Oceanside the ambassadors attended the Oceanside Overdrive car show in Parksville with a booth set up to educate people on the program.
The program is funded by the Environmental Handling Charges (EHC), a user-paid levy for the products.
Since the program launched in 2003 recovery rates have seen improvements. And although Rennick said British Columbia has one of the best records for recycling these products, there is still room for improvement.
There are a number of collection facilities to drop off used oil, oil filters, used oil containers, antifreeze and antifreeze containers in the Oceanside area, to find them and more information about BCOUMA visit www.usedoilrecycling.com.
To follow Rennick and Janssens’ blog on their adventures and progress through B.C. visit www.bcusedoil.com.
reporter@pqbnews.com
