Recycling, Reusing… and Babybel Cheese: Some Great Earth Day Ideas!

Did you know that there’s a program in place to recycle the packaging used for the Babybel cheese minis that your breakfast program may be receiving? And Pierrefonds Community High School in Pierrefonds, QC, has also found a very clever way of turning the protective wax into something useful! 

To recycle the various items used to package the cheese, all you have to do is sign up for the free program run by TerraCycle and collect whatever is left over after the cheese itself has been enjoyed. For more information go to https://www.terracycle.com/en-CA/brigades/babybel-en-ca. 

You can also opt to reuse the wax that encases the cheese and turn it into tea light candles. Pierrefonds Community High School (Pierrefonds, Quebec) recently sent us pictures of some of the candles that their students made, with their teachers’ help, using the Babybel wax retrieved from their breakfast program. This is an ingenious way of doing something helpful for the environment while making a beautiful gift for Mother’s Day in May.  

This initiative was proposed by John – a student at the school – and the whole crew of student volunteers pitched in for this activity!

Read on for the exact instructions, which were shared with us by Pierrefonds Community High School. 

Ingredients: 

– Babybel protective wax, torn or cut into strips  

– Baking sheet 

– Metal tea light holders or a candle mould  

– Candle wicks 

– Small saucepan 

– Water 

– Glass measuring cup (1 or 2 cup size) 

– Optional: Essential oils (to make scented candles).  

Note: You can add extra wax if you don’t have enough Babybel wax. We combined ours with soy wax.  

Instructions: 

1) Remove the paper pull tab from the wax.  

2) Place the tea light holders on a baking sheet to catch any melted wax that might overflow.  

3) Place the wicks in the middle of the tea light holders.  

4) Boil a small amount of water in the small saucepan and place the glass measuring cup inside, making sure the cup doesn’t come in direct contact with the saucepan.  

5) Add enough of the wax strips to the measuring cup to reach the 1 cup (250 ml) line.  

6) Stir as the wax melts, until it liquefies completely.  

7) Add 4 drops of essential oil if you wish to create a scented candle.  

8) Keep stirring.  

9) Carefully pour the hot wax into the tea light holders, making sure the top of the wick isn’t covered by the wax (without burning your fingers).  

10) Let stand for 24 hours.  

Do you have any earth-friendly ideas to share with us and other breakfast programs around the country? Let us know: testimonials@breakfastclubcanada.org.