Not every one of us knows what to do with our old batteries once we’ve used them. Many Ontarians keep them at home, in a bag in a random drawer where they may eventually rust or leak.

Others might just toss old batteries in the garbage, sending them to landfills where their metal and chemical components may cause harm to the environment.

While properly recycling our batteries is important and can be done through over 10,000 Call2Recycle drop-off locations in Canada, it's now also a fun activity for elementary school students – a chance to collect batteries for proper recycling and protect our environment in turn.

This year, Call2Recycle and Earth Rangers are bringing their long-running Battery Blitz Collection Contest to Ontario for the first time.

This contest challenges elementary schools to collect the highest volume of used household batteries over a month, all while helping the kids in our province learn lifelong habits that protect our environment.

At the end of the contest, the schools weigh their collected batteries to see if they're provincial winners, passing them over to Call2Recycle for proper battery disposal.

This April, Earth Rangers will also help registered schools celebrate Earth Month as they teach students the importance of battery recycling in a fun and interactive way

Since 2015, Call2Recycle and Earth Rangers have been running the Battery Blitz Collection Contest in several provinces, including BC, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and PEI. Last year the students in all the participating schools collected over 13,700 kgs of used batteries.

While recycling batteries means their materials can be recovered easily and made into new products, discarding old batteries in landfill can introduce potentially harmful materials into the solid waste stream.

Battery recycling helps keep our neighbourhoods, parks, and waterways clean and free of waste that might be caused by improper disposal. By engaging children in the process, the entire community works together toward a safe, healthy, and clean environment for future generations.

The first round of the Ontario Battery Blitz contest is kicking off on Monday, April 3, with the support of the Ontario Minister of the Environment David Piccini, and runs until Friday, April 28, with over 50 schools participating in this launch.

At the close of the competition, the top participating Ontario schools will be eligible to receive one of seven cash prizes. And while the prize is definitely an incentive, the real win comes from hundreds of students making a difference for the planet.

Registration for the first round of the contest ends on Monday, April 3, and there will be a second contest starting in October 2023 — which is Circular Economy Month.

Are you part of an Ontario elementary school looking to sign up for the Battery Blitz Collection Contest? You can contact Earth Rangers at lgalati@earthrangers.com to register your school for the fall edition in October.

If you’re concerned about the used batteries you have lying around and want to recycle them properly, you can find your nearest local battery drop-off location by visiting RecycleYourBatteries.ca.