Diane Davis has raised more than $1,800 over the past few years for several charities of her choice by collecting items that would otherwise end up in the landfill.
The local woman sends the materials to TerraCycle Canada, an independent recycling agency specializing in diverting from landfill products municipalities deem “non-recyclable.”
Davis donates funds to the Northern Sliders Sledge Hockey Team, Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children and the Starlight Children's Foundation.
She does this in memory of her son, Joel, who lived with a complex lung and heart condition, and passed away in 2011 at the age of 18.
École Jean-Paul II in Val Caron, where she works as a lunch lady, is also a beneficiary. Many of the items she collects for TerraCycle come from waste produced by the school.
Davis recently added another $50 to her total by coming in 20th place in TerraCycle's Febreze Frenzy contest, which rewarded those who collected the most items such as trigger heads and spray bottles.
“I'm not making big bucks, but every little bit helps,” she said.
“Any time you win money for a charity, it's fun. You're helping somebody else and you're preventing it going into the landfill. The landfill is getting overwhelmed by garbage. It's a disposable world.”
Right now, Davis is collecting items such as lunch kit containers, cookie and cracker wrappers, cereal bags, snack pouches, Febreze products, cigarettes and e-waste.
Visit www.terracycle.ca to find out specifically what can be recycled. E-mail Davis at [email protected] if you're interested in donating items.
