Winners Announced - 2010 America Recycles Day Billboard Contest

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 Winners of the first ever America Recycles Day Billboard Contest were announced today at the City Hall in Dalton, Georgia. The 2010 contest was hosted by Target Recycling at School, a program managed by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority which supports recycling efforts in 35 schools in Whitfield County. Liz Swafford, Recycling and Education Program Coordinator, congratulated all the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders that participated. "Designing artwork for billboards is very different from creating a typical piece of artwork.

Billboards are seen by people in moving vehicles and need to have a clear, concise message typically made up of six words or less." The winning design was created by Dalton Middle School 7th grader, Esmeralda Perez. Swafford added, "This year's billboard design simply states, "I will recycle" and "I Recycle" which is the America Recycles Day slogan."

In addition to an overall winner, each grade also had a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner. The nine students will be receiving goodie bags and a certificate of participation. The results and student's artwork are listed below. It will take about two to three weeks for the billboard to be made and revealed to the public. We will keep you informed and have an official unveiling date soon.

Pleasant Grove Elementary Named Top Recycler for Third Quarter

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DALTON, GA -  During the months of February, March, and April Pleasant Grove Elementary collected 8,690 pounds of recyclables through the Target Recycling program.  That is the equivalent of collecting 57,933 empty cereal boxes or 896,000 sheets of printer paper.  Thanks to the efforts of the staff, teachers, and students, Pleasant Grove Elementary improved their recycling rate of only 2.1 pounds per students during the 1st quarter of the 2009 – 2010 school year to an amazing 15.9 pounds per student for the 3rd quarter.

Recycling Ben, mascot for the Target Recycling program, presented the student body at Pleasant Grove Elementary their award on Friday, May 21st.  The award chosen by school staff is a blue wagon to help collect recycling bins from classrooms and offices.   Students cheered as their mascot Pee Gee accepted the wagon from Recycling Ben.  During the school assembly Liz Swafford, Recycling & Education Program Coordinator for Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority, congratulated the students for all their hard work and highlighted their achievements in recycling for the year.

Target Recycling is a recycling program managed by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority that includes educational opportunities and recognition of participation for City of Dalton and Whitfield County schools.  Since the Fall of 2008 local schools have hosted Target Recycling Containers where they collected mixed paper products like cardboard, paper, office paper, books, cereal boxes, magazines, and newspapers.  Each quarter the school with the highest recycling rate receives a custom award that will help improve the recycling program or beautify their campus.   For more information visit www.dwswa.org, www.recyclingben.org or call 706-278-5001.

Pictured are Recycling Ben, Pee Gee, and some of the fifth graders that participate in recycling at Pleasant Grove Elementary in Dalton, GA.

 

Celebrating Earth Day with Recycling Ben

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To celebrate the 40th Aniversary of Earth Day, Recycling Ben and Liz visited Pre-K students at both Friendship House in Dalton and Mill Creek Child Learning Center in Rocky Face.  The students learned about recycling and reusing by making music shakers with plastic water bottles.

WDNN TV has a feature story on their website this week only.  To see the video after this week, please contact WDNN TV.

 

New Hope Middle awarded recycling cart

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DALTON — Recycling Ben, mascot for the Target Recycling program, presented the seventh-grade class at New Hope Middle School an award for having the highest recycling rate during the second quarter of the 2009-2010 school year.

The award chosen by school staff is a two-level cart to help collect recycling bins from classrooms and offices. Cheering students had the opportunity to also win Recycling Ben hats and T-shirts by naming items that are recyclable. Thanks to the efforts of local teacher Janet Crumley and an enthusiastic team of seventh-graders, New Hope Middle School practically doubled their initial recycling rate of 5.5 pounds per student during the first quarter of the school year to an amazing 10.5 pounds per student during the second quarter of the school year.  

Target Recycling is a recycling program managed by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority that includes educational opportunities and recognition of participation for city of Dalton and Whitfield County schools. Since fall 2008, local schools have hosted Target Recycling containers where they collected mixed paper products like cardboard, paper, office paper, books, cereal boxes, magazines and newspapers. Each quarter the school with the highest recycling rate receives a custom award that will help improve the recycling program or beautify its campus. Awards include items like recycling bins for classrooms or benches made from recycled materials.  

To improve the recycling rate at your school, contact Liz Swafford, recycling and education program coordinator, at (706) 278-5001 or e-mail lswafford@dwswa.org.

 

Pleasant Grove Elementary Targets Recycling

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Posted on February 26, 2010 / 

Chattanoogan.com Student SceneSubmitted by the DWSWA

During the month of January, Pleasant

Grove Elementary recycled 3,240 pounds of mixed paper, the equivalent of a stack of newspapers two and a half school buses long! The school was able to move from a very low recycling rate of 0.8 lbs. per student during the month of August 2009 to an astonishing 5.9 lbs. per student in January 2010. They surpassed other high performing schools like New Hope Middle School that reached 5.2 lbs. per student in November 2009, and Dawnville Elementary School that reached 5.0 lbs. per student in December 2009.

Pleasant Grove Elementary began recycling mixed paper with the Target Recycling program managed by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority (DWSWA) last year.

However, their numbers remained stagnant, under 1 lb. per student each month. It took some newfound enthusiasm and leadership from the principal, Mr. Richard Knox, and key staff members, like teacher Chris Harrison, to get the students and other staff motivated to participate in recycling.

What does it take to collect the equivalent of 21,600 cereal boxes in one month? An enthusiastic staff and student body that believes that recycling is good for the environment. Recycling bins in every room collect mixed paper and serve as daily reminders to recycle. Mixed paper includes newspaper, writing paper, office paper, magazines, junk mail, telephone books, cardboard, and even textbooks. For some schools, these paper products can make up over 40% of their waste.

On January 19th Recycling and Education staff from the DWSWA, Michael Foxx and Liz Swafford, visited the school council to discuss taking their program to the next level. They provided additional information for educational resources, mini-posters, and the infrastructure needed to begin a recycling program for plastic bottles. With the addition of plastics, the school’s recycling rate will continue to rise making Pleasant Grove Elementary one of the local leaders in school recycling.

Currently all public schools in the City of Dalton School District and the Whitfield County School District participate in the Target Recycling Program. During the month of January the schools collectively recycled the equivalent of a stack of newspapers 24 school buses long.

To take your school to the next level call Liz Swafford, Recycling and Education Program Coordinator for DWSWA, at 706-278-5001 or e-mail her atlswafford@dwswa.org.