Twine recycling collection pays big for local 4-H club

By Alexandra Noad - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on February 12, 2025.

Submitted photo Chase Guliker, alongside his father Ben, stand next to the collected twine to be recycled. Chase was the winner of the first of four $3,000 prizes for the Great Twine Round Up Contest.

A local 4-H club won $3,000 for collecting twine from local farms to be recycled.

Northern Lethbridge 4-H Beef Club won the first of four cash prizes of equal amount as part of the Alberta Ag-Plastic Recycle it! Program which is in partnership between Alberta Plastics Recycling Group (APRG) and Cleanfarms.

Treena Van Hierden, leader of the Northern Lethbridge 4-H Beef Club, says they had multiple entries collecting about 50 bags as a group.

“A lot of our members were working hard to collect twine from farms for the Cleanfarms competition, just one of our members’ entries happened to win.”

With many of the participants living on farms, Van Hierden says many of them collected twine from their own farms, but other farmers were enthusiastic to help the youth out.

Youth who are in Northern Lethbridge 4-H Beef Club participate in a yearly project where they raise a beef steer from calf to finished market weight alongside other projects such as public speaking engagements and community involvement such as the twine recycling contest.

While it was one member who won the draw, the money goes to the 4-H Club to use.

Van Hierden says they plan to use the money to help further the club’s programs in whatever way the club needs.

Two of the three remaining prizes will be given to 4-H Clubs and the last prize will go to an independent’s ag. charity of their choice.

The contest closes on May 31 and more information on how to enter can be found at greattwineroundup.ca