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Remarks prepared for:

The Honourable Laurel Broten
Minister of the Environment

Fluorescent Lamp Stewardship Pilot Project Launch

Leslieville Public School
Toronto, ON
Monday, January 29, 2007 11 a.m.

(Check against delivery)

 

Good morning, everyone.

Thank you Jo-Anne, for that kind introduction.
(Minister introduced by Jo-Anne St. Godard, Executive Director, RCO)

I’d also like to thank Chair Sheila Ward and Gerry Connolly from the Toronto District School Board for joining us today.

Today is a great day for the environment, and I’m glad to be here at Leslieville Public School to celebrate it with you.

Now, I know everyone is very familiar with the three R’s: reduce, reuse and recycle.

Of course, the Blue Box is a regular part of our daily routine here in Ontario.

The Blue Box is just one way we can all help to protect our environment by taking waste that might otherwise go to landfill, and finding new uses for it.

As Ontario’s Minister of the Environment, I spend my days working on ways to make our environment better.

It’s a job that I really love. And I take it very seriously.

But there’s a personal reason for doing what I do. Two very good reasons in fact!

I’ve got twin one-year old boys, Ryan and Zachary, and I want to make sure they grow up in a clean and healthy Ontario. I want to be sure that when they eventually go to school, they’ll benefit from projects like the one we’re here to talk about today.

I know that the students here at Leslieville School are already helping by being part of the eco-schools program.

La boîte bleue est l’un des moyens que nous avons de protéger l’environnement, car les déchets qui finiraient autrement dans une décharge sont recyclés.

En ma qualité de ministre de l’Environnement de l’Ontario, je travaille tous les jours à améliorer l’environnement.

J’aime vraiment beaucoup mon travail. Et je le prends très au sérieux.

Mais je fais ce travail pour une raison bien spéciale et personnelle. Deux très bonnes raisons en fait!

Ce sont mes jumeaux d’un an, Ryan et Zachary. Je veux m’assurer que mes enfants grandissent dans un Ontario propre et sain. Je voudrais que, lorsqu’ils iront à l’école, ils puissent bénéficier d’un projet comme celui dont nous parlons ici aujourd’hui.

Je sais que les élèves de l’École Leslieville font déjà leur part en participant au programme Eco-Schools.

I was talking earlier with these great student ambassadors — and I was really impressed with all the environmental projects that are going on here.

Excellent work!

Programs like eco-schools and other school programs help our kids learn how to become good stewards of the environment.

Starting today, this school and many others across Toronto are going to be involved in a new recycling pilot project.

Here’s what it’s all about. Up until now, when a fluorescent lamp burned out, it went into the garbage.

These bulbs contain mercury, which, when it’s contained in an intact bulb, isn’t harmful.

But, if that mercury is released, because of a broken or damaged bulb, it is extremely dangerous to people’s health, especially to children.

We need to ensure that fluorescent bulbs can be disposed of safely so they don’t end up harming us and our environment.

That’s why in December, I officially directed our partners at Waste Diversion Ontario to develop a comprehensive new program to get common household products, like fluorescent bulbs, paint, batteries and aerosol cans, disposed of safely and conveniently.

Now, thanks to this pilot project, fluorescent light bulbs from schools in the Toronto District School Board are going to be properly collected, stored and recycled.

This is really great news, not only for Toronto schools, but because it is also going to help us learn how this kind of recycling program might be put in place across Ontario.

I would like to thank the Recycling Council of Ontario, for setting up this very important pilot project.

Also, I want to recognize that without the support and stewardship of Osram-Sylvania, Wolf Electric and Fluorescent Lamp Recyclers Inc. — this project would not be possible.

Programs like this one are great examples of how manufacturers, distributors, schools and businesses can all work together to do what’s right and reduce our environmental footprint.

I believe that when we all get involved and take action — we can make a real difference.

By working together, and by being good stewards of our environment, I know we can make our great province cleaner, greener and healthier.

We can build a better future for all of us and for generations to come.

Thank you.

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