By Adam Eisenbarth
When Melinda and Paul McLauchlin ordered 2,700 tree seedlings to restore a piece of their land they were starting to dread the work ahead.
So they thought of a better way to do the work.
“I’ve planted thousands and thousands of trees over the last seven years and I’m getting really tired of it. So I said we should really phone the school and see if they would like to do a fundraiser and we will offer a contribution to the school,” said Mrs. McLauchlin.
On May 7, 13 outdoor education students climbed aboard the school bus and headed out for a day of learning and hard work.
Principal Nolan Krauss, who joined the Grade 9 students for the day, said it was a positive experience for the students.
“They taught us how to put in these seedlings and reclaim this land that was levelled to become pasture. They spoke to the kids about how this is going to, in the future, eat up a lot of carbon dioxide.”
The McLauchlins also showed the students around their office next to their home where they run their business, MCA Environmental Management. The office is solar-heated and windmill powered.
Mrs. McLauchlin says these methods are less expensive for them and are starting to become more popular.
“It saves money and it saves fossil fuel. Anything that can save people money and reduce energy consumption, I think people really like.”
Wind turbines however, may not make economic sense for everyone yet.
“It’s still one of those things that is questionable as to whether or not it makes economic sense for everybody. Because we have an office here and we’re running our businesses here it makes sense for us to do everything we can to offset our power use because we probably use more than the average.”
While the environmental consultants work inside their environmentally friendly office, the work outside is just as important and they are no strangers to planting trees.
“We’ve ordered trees for seven years now. We’ve probably planted close to 10,000 trees.”
The section the students planted trees on had been used as pasture for cattle.
“The quarter became degraded from 12 years of cattle grazing and we don’t have cattle so we thought if we can’t farm that land or do anything productive with it, we could put it back to a more suitable habitat so we can draw in that wildlife and just try to bring it back up to a nicer natural state,” Mrs. McLauchlin explained.
While it was a tough day in the field for the students, it was also a chance to learn and contribute.
“Some came without boots so maybe that’s a good learning experience,” said Mrs. McLauchlin with a laugh. “But I think that they’re a pretty smart group of kids and they understand the benefits of habitat restoration.”