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Help this Sudbury lunch lady save the planet

A local woman hopes to win $3,000 for two charities in her teenage son's memory by collecting home cleaning waste.
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Diane Davis is collecting home cleaning waste in an attempt to win $3,000 for two charities in a contest put on by TerraCycle Canada. Photo by Heidi Ulrichsen.
A local woman hopes to win $3,000 for two charities in her teenage son's memory by collecting home cleaning waste.

The Febreze Frenzy Contest — on until the end of April — is put on by TerraCycle Canada, an independent recycling agency specializing in diverting from landfill products municipalities deem “non-recyclable.”

Diane Davis is collecting the following products as part of the contest: used plastic air fresheners and plug-in refills, air and home care trigger heads, pumps and caps, and flexible home cleaning wipe packs of any brand.

“It's really easy to give,” she said. “It's not costing you anything. You're going to throw it out. Plus, you're saving the planet.”

She receives donations of items from friends and family, as well as the children, staff and parents of École Jean-Paul II in Val Caron, where she's a lunch lady.

The contest's winner is able to donate the funds to the charity of their choice. If she wins, Davis said she'd donate the money to the cardiac ward at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children and the Starlight Children's Foundation.

Her son, Joel, who was born with a complex lung and heart condition, passed away in January 2011 at the age of 18. Joel was treated at SickKids, and Starlight granted his wish before he passed away.

It was Joel who originally started collecting recyclable material for TerraCycle to raise money for SickKids.

After his death, Davis decided to take up where her son left off. She's collected a wide variety of recyclable material, and has earned a total of $1,469 for various charities.

“When you grieve, you go through this whole process, and by me doing this, it's helping me,” Davis said. “I know he would do this.”

Besides the home cleaning waste, Davis said she also collects items such as Lunchables and Kool-Aid Jammers containers, cereal bags, ink cartridges, cell phones and laptops.

TerraCycle Canada also allows participants to trade in recyclables for various prizes, so Davis said she's looking at getting movie passes for the kids at École Jean-Paul II because they've been so good about donating.

“Diane is one of our top collectors, and has diverted more than 100,000 units of waste from Canada's landfills,” said Vanessa Farquarhson, communications manager for TerraCycle Canada, in an email.

“It's very inspiring to see her using our programs to fundraise for charity while also making a tangible difference to help the planet. Her son would be incredibly proud if he could see what his mom was doing today.”

Those interested in donating items are asked to bring them to École Jean-Paul II, where there's a donation bin located outside of the school.

For more information, visit www.terracycle.ca.

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Heidi Ulrichsen

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