The buffet is over for bears at L.V. Rogers.
LVR and nine other schools within School District 8 have received a total of 23 metal bear-resistant waste bins meant to deter local wildlife. The bins were purchased by Nelson Kootenay Lake Tourism following a grant application that provided for 52 such receptacles across the region.
Bears had become regular fixtures at LVR’s outdoor garbage bins and even led to an incident on Oct. 31 when the school was forced to initiate a lockdown during classes.
LVR, Trafalgar Middle School, Kaslo’s J.V. Humphries Secondary and Crawford Bay Elementary-Secondary each received three bins, two apiece went to the elementary schools Redfish, Hume, South Nelson, Rosemont and Blewett, and one was also sent to Kaslo’s Jewett Elementary.
NKLT paid for the bins — each costing $1,500, but with installation and concrete pad fees the actual total was $2,500 per unit — with a grant from the province’s Destination Development Fund. NKLT operations assistant Renée Letourneau said The Ursa Project, WildSafeBC and local conservation officers were consulted on potential locations throughout the region, and bins have since been distributed after coincidentally arriving on Earth Day in April.
Letourneau said public outcry over the number of bears being destroyed — which was just one in 2023 but peaked in 2022 with 17 killed inside Nelson’s city limits — led to the initiative.
“It was an opportunity for us to work on the way that Nelson is viewed for how we deal with our bear-human conflict,” she said. “Everyone who works here is really passionate about getting rid of trash just for the sake of the animals and the community at large.”
In addition to three new metal bins, LVR’s student-led Green Team worked with The Ursa Project to purchase five additional rubber bins that are also bear resistant. The Green Team raised $500 and used reserves to complete the purchase.
“We had like a lot of instances of bears coming onto the property and unfortunately [conservation officers] having to be called because it’s unsafe for them in this environment,” said Green Team member Skyla Jones.
“So as the Green Team we wanted to really stop that not only for us, but also for the bears themselves to just increase safety here at the school and the environment.”
LVR teacher Tim Wooldridge, who is also part of the Green Team, said he’s already personally tested one of the rubber bins at his own home.
“I’ve seen a bear try to get into it. It is the best of the best.”
Students key to green initiatives
Bear snacks aren't the only issue the Green Team has helped solve at LVR.
In September, the group made up of about 25 students began picking up recycling from every classroom once a week. The paper is sorted and contaminants are removed. The work, Wooldridge says, cuts the school’s fees to just $30 per pickup instead of $300 if the material is dirty.
The students tour LVR using carts that can haul up to 150 pounds of paper each, and can finish collection in just 20 minutes.
Recycling became an issue for SD8 in 2020 when local contractor Waste Management stopped accepting several types of paper and plastics. Anything contaminated — food left in a paper box, for example — would be sent to a landfill and cost the district extra.
The Green Team is also collecting cans to pay for a student’s tuition at a new environmentally friendly school in Malawi.
The building by Ascent Soccer is Southeast Africa’s first purpose-built, full-time residential green school paired with a youth soccer academy. Construction began last fall on the eight-classroom campus, which will feature entirely renewable energy, rainwater harvesting, solar irrigation for its agricultural plot and an outdoor education area.
“We’ve got a huge group of people who like things green and being environmental, so we were hoping to build a future bridge with the school,” said Wooldridge.
LVR’s students don’t receive any credits for their work with the Green Team, although they would like to see some of its initiatives adopted at every other SD8 school.
Jones, who was taken to a Green Team meeting with her friends in the winter and suddenly found herself picking up recycling, said making a positive difference is the draw.
“There’s a lot of really good people here who care about the environment and aren’t just doing it because it’s a class you get credits for,” said Jones.
READ MORE: Downtown Nelson bear-resistant bins won’t happen any time soon, mayor says