Mrs. Shepard’s first grade helps load the truck with their textile donation.
Julie Baran Guidance Counselor at Lake St Elementary school showing some of the 2,030 pounds of textiles collected.
(Chittenango, NY – May 2015) Anyone visiting Lake Street School in Chittenango during the week before Earth Day would be in for a big surprise. The main hallway was filled to the brim with bags and bags of clothing, blankets, sheets, and various other textile items. That’s where the school’s Principal, Mr. Benjamin New, gave permission for students to store their haul of textiles for the big Earth Day textile collection event on April 22.
The entire school celebrated Earth Day by participating in a Textile Collection sponsored by the Madison County Dept. of Solid Waste and Sanitation. Students and their families in grades K-2 brought in all sorts of textiles collecting a grand total of 2,030 pounds. “This has been a great experience, the kids were talking about it all week,” said Elizabeth Shepard, first grade teacher at Lake Street School.
Classes participated in a school wide challenge to see which class could bring in the most textiles. “The challenge started the week before Earth Day when, each day, the winning class had the honor of hosting the ‘Recycling Ranger’ Teddy Bear for the day,” explained Guidance Counselor Julie Baran. Classes took turns weighing their daily collection. The class with the highest total by Earth Day, got to keep the ‘Recycling Ranger’ Teddy Bear as a permanent resident in their classroom and was treated to a popsicle party. The overall top honor went to Mrs. Shepard’s First Grade coming in at 588 pounds. The winning class at the Kindergarten level was Mrs. Kleine’s class at 150 pounds; for second grade, Mrs. Lanphear’s class came in first with 112 pounds.
“We want to extend special thanks to all the staff, students and families that participated in the Textile Collection,” said James Zecca, Director, Madison County Dept. of Solid Waste. “Community involvement is the key to the success of any recycling program and the Lake Street Elementary School went all out to help.”
“What a great way to encourage recycling for the children while at the same time doing a good deed for the community.” stated Mary Bartlett, Recycling Coordinator at the Madison County Dept. of Solid Waste and Sanitation. Textiles collected were donated to the Syracuse Rescue Mission who will sort the donations and sell usable items in its Thrifty Shopper stores. Textiles that cannot be sold are baled and sold on the textile recycling market.
The ‘Recycling Ranger’ Teddy Bear was a great motivator for the collection, but students were also excited about the fact that they are doing something good for the earth and recycling. “This is a nice addition to our teaching about recycling,” said Elizabeth Shepard, first grade teacher at Lake Street. Students are melting used crayons to make new ones and making new paper with used worksheets. The students are also working to increase recycling in the cafeteria. “These kids really get it.” stated Bartlett. “When I visited the class, they shared a list of reasons why recycling bins should be placed in general areas of the school, not just the classrooms.”
The grand finale took place on April 23, when the big truck from the Madison County Dept. of Solid Waste came to pick up the donation. The entire first grade got to help load the truck and watched while their donation went on its way to be included in the grand total of 12,789 pounds of textiles collected county-wide on Earth Day.
For more information on the Earth Day textile collection and recycling programs at the Madison County Dept. of Solid Waste, call the Recycling Hotline at 1-800-721-2208.