Maricel Giorgioni from Aspen Medical is working with her colleagues and local schools to raise money for charity by collecting and returning drink containers through the ACT Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) and supporting different not-for-profit organisations.
“The ACT CDS covers multiple social impacts I believe in. It increases awareness about climate change and encourages others, particularly children, to recycle and at the same time support others who are in need,” she said.
Maricel began collecting and returning containers with help from her co-workers at Aspen Medical, as well as local schools.
“Colleagues at Aspen Medical bring their containers to the office, and once the container returns bin is full, I take it to an ACT CDS return point and donate the proceeds to a charity. Aspen Medical has a matching program where they match a certain amount of what I donate from collecting bottles,” said Maricel.
“So far, I have collected 36,139 bottles and donated $3,613.90. At the moment, it’s challenging because many people work from home. I send out emails to keep people updated on how many bottles and cans we have collected and how much we’ve raised for charity.”
Maricel’s current charity is Global School Partner, a small charity which supports children and teachers in Africa.
Kathy Laudenbach, a teacher at St Jude’s Primary School works with Maricel to organise container collections at the school.
The Year 5 students work hard to educate and encourage their peers. “We had a number of assemblies where the Year 5 children spoke about the scheme and how the money we raise here does so much for our partner school in Kenya,” she said.
The container collections have also become part of her teaching. “We talk about the impact all these containers have on the environment and our responsibility as global citizens to reduce landfill as part of our Science, Religion and Business and Economics programs,” Kathy said.
“It’s a good activity for the students to learn about recycling and to reach out to other children in need,” added Maricel.
Interested in fundraising through the ACT CDS? Find out more on our Fundraising page.
The ACT CDS is a partnership between the ACT Government, scheme coordinator Exchange for Change and network operator Return-It.
