Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority Hosts Partner Appreciation Evening

by Bob Montgomery

The Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority hosted its annual Partner Appreciation night on Thursday night at the Ironwood Golf Course.

The Conservationist of the Year Award was presented to Michael and Lindsay Groot and Family of the Crediton area. The Groots grew up on conventional farm operations but they have introduced innovations onto their farm operation and their goal is to feed the community while also investing in ecological and long-term health improvements for everyone.

The keynote speaker for the night was in fact several speakers – members of the Eco Exeter team. Teacher Amanda Keller says Eco Exeter started with her grade nine science class in the spring of 2019 and the students wanted to go beyond just learning about different eco-systems, they wanted to get involved and take action to make a difference in their community.

“So we started doing presentations in the community. We went to Hansen's Grocery Store to give out some re-usable produce bags and stainless steel straws and then we had our very first bring your own mug event that year at Tim Hortons and bought drinks for everyone who brought their own mug.”

Keller says one of the challenges was keeping Eco Exeter going. The original grade nine students have all graduated and they were bringing in new kids every year to keep it going. And then COVID arrived and that created its own problems and they were kept busy with collecting boxes from all over the community that were filled with things like used masks, so they didn't go to the landfill. She says now with COVID out of the way they have a very strong group of grade twelve and grade eleven students, and they're working hard to pull in some of their siblings in grade nine and ten so those students can take over as the older ones graduate.

Keller admits when she looks back at some of the things they've achieved, she never expected it to go this far. “I love nights like tonight where we got to see all of the work in a slide show altogether because I think it brings home the point that we really have done a lot since we got started.” She says sometimes they feel they haven't done enough or they have to do more but when they get a chance to see the big picture they can be very happy with what they've done and they want to keep doing that.

Members of Eco Exeter team