Caring for watersheds

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/04/2019 (2615 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Grade 10 student at West Kildonan Collegiate is organizing an event to raise awareness of the effects of used oil on a watershed.

Nicholas Kiesman, 15, is organizing a one-day collection of used motor oil, in partnership with Great Canadian Oil Change located at 2470 Main St. His project is part of a proposal for Caring for our Watersheds contest, an educational program that engages students in preserving and improving their local watershed’s health.

While researching issues around watersheds, Kiesman came across the negative effects the improper disposal of used motor oil has on water. He also found out that Manitoba has a 75 per cent overall used oil recovery rate, but he continued to wonder what is happening to the remaining 25 per cent.

“I thought, it’s probably polluting our ground and water in some way, probably through illegal dumping at the landfill or even by occasional dumping down storm drains which run untreated right to Lake Winnipeg,” Kiesman told The Times. “This was something I definitely wanted to take a more in-depth look at.”

Kiesman submitted his 16-page proposal and heard back from the judges in March, saying that he was among the top 10 finalists. However, he said that regardless of being a finalist, he would continue to carry on with his initiative to care for Manitoba’s watershed. 

“I’m hoping to have lots of people come out and pass on the information that our watershed is a very fragile ecosystem, and it is very important to promote rather than being careless, thinking ‘Oh, just dumping this single-use motor oil down the storm drain isn’t going to hurt anything this time.’ That type of thinking isn’t OK, and that’s what I want to show and offer an incentive to get people doing the right thing,” he continued.

The event will take place on April 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Great Canadian Oil Change where Kiesman will be there collecting used motor oil alongside representatives from the Manitoba Association for Resource Recovery. All community members are invited to come by, drop off their used motor oil, and learn more about Manitoba’s watershed. He will also be drafting prizes from Rebel Pizza, Great Canadian Oil Change and Oak Hammock Marsh.

All Great Canadian Oil Change and Canadian Tire stores collect and recycle used motor oil, which can be cleaned and reused as fuel oil or re-refined into lubricants. Motor oil from cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, farm equipment and lawn mowers can be reused and re-refined.