Students Recycle Over Half a Million Pounds

Pictured is Recycling Ben congratulating Dawnville Elementary School students for their recycling efforts that earned them a heavy duty recycling cart last year.

Students at Cedar Ridge Elementary School learned about recycling during a visit from Recycling Ben and Liz Swafford from the Target Recycling at School program.  They discussed why recycling is important, what happens to the items collected for recycling, and what students could recycle at school and at home.

Students at Dug Gap Elementary School learned about trees and paper recycling during a visit from Recycling Ben and Liz Swafford from the Target Recycling at School program.

Third graders from Brookwood Elementary took a tour of the Recycling Center and Landfill managed by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority.  As part of their visit they learned about trees, an important natural resource, and paper recycling.

DALTON, GA – Students from Whitfield County Public Schools, Dalton Public Schools, and two local private schools collected 627,632 pounds of materials for recycling during the 2010 – 2011 school year with Target Recycling at School. The 314 tons collected is the weight equivalent of 179 compact cars and reflects an increase of 25% over the last school year. If only aluminum cans were collected, students would have recycled the weight equivalent of 21,814,300 cans.

Recyclables collected at the thirty-four participating schools include mixed paper products, and where available, plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Recycling is the process of taking a product at the end of its useful life and using all or part of it to create new products. As a result, recycling helps conserve our natural resources. For example, recycling 2,000 pounds of paper can save 60,000 gallons of water.

Target Recycling at School is a free program for schools in Whitfield County, Georgia providing environmental education and collection of recyclables. Each year a School Recycling Contest is held and the top recycling schools are recognized. Every quarter the school with the highest recycling rate receives a custom award that will help improve their recycling program or beautify the campus. At the end of the school year the top three schools for the entire year are announced. Awards are given out at the beginning of the following school year.

For the 2010 – 2011 school year the winners are:

First Place: Pleasant Grove Elementary School

Second Place: New Hope Middle School

Third Place: Fort Hill Complex

Honorable mention goes to the Learning Tree School, and Dug Gap Elementary School, which were part of the top five schools for the year.

Target Recycling at School is a program managed by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority. For more information call Recycling and Education Coordinator, Liz Swafford at 706-278-5001 or the Target Recycling at School page on their website.

Camp Goers Are Extremely Very Good Recyclers

Pictured are the BWC June campers next to their new tree. Together they collected over 250 plastic bottles for recycling during their four-day camp.

Campers see their group’s tree for the first time. The Dalton Tree Board donated a Japanese Maple Red Dragon and planted it along the walking track near the tennis courts at the Bradley Wellness Center.

Pictured is the Tree Counter poster that the campers used to keep track of their recycling. Each leaf represents one plastic bottle. They exceeded their goal of collecting 100 plastic bottles during the four-day camp in June.

 DALTON, GA – Camp participants at the Bradley Wellness Center in Dalton won their very own real tree for collecting more than 100 plastic bottles for recycling during their four-day camp this June. The Dalton Tree Board donated a Japanese Maple Red Dragon, which they planted near the tennis courts at the Bradley Wellness Center.

Liz Swafford, Recycling and Education Program Coordinator for the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority, launched the summer recycling contest on the first day of camp with a reading of the book “We Are Extremely Very Good Recyclers” which features characters created by Lauren Child named Charlie and Lola. The group learned about the importance of recycling and just like in the book received a Tree Counter poster they could use to keep track of how many plastic bottles they recycled. By the end of the camp participants had collected over 250 plastic bottles for recycling, filled up the tree counter, and earned their own tree.

Backyard Composter Sale this Saturday, May 7

DALTON, GA – Celebrate International Compost Awareness Week on Saturday, May 7 during Downtown Dalton Saturday Market from 9 am to 1 pm with Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful.  You will receive educational materials about backyard composting and have the opportunity to purchase a “Garden Gourmet” Backyard Composter for only $45 (regular retail price $75.99).  A portion of each sale benefits Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful programs like ‘Bring One For The Chipper’, Adopt a Mile, and ‘The Great American Cleanup’.

Gardeners refer to composting as “turning your garbage into gold” because it saves landfill space, conserves natural resources, and improves soil quality.  Items that can be added to your compost pile include coffee grounds, tea bags, fruit and vegetable scraps, leaves, hair and grass clippings.  The “Garden Gourmet” backyard composter is an attractive bin that fits neatly into almost any backyard space thanks to its efficient design.  This easy to assemble bin is made from 51% recycled plastic and includes convenient features like a sliding bottom door to remove compost.  This is an ideal choice for beginners since it includes a basic composting and user guide.

For more information about Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful visit www.keepdaltonwhitfieldbeautiful.org or call 706-226-6211.  For more information about International Compost Awareness Week, visit the US Composting Council at www.compostingcouncil.org.

GA-SWANA Scholarships Awarded to Dalton and Chatsworth Students

Kasey N. Hendrick receives her scholarship award from Mr. Harvey Levitt, Treasurer for GA-SWANA and Operations Manager at the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority.  (Not pictured is Nathaniel B. Hammontree.)

The Georgia Chapter of the Solid Waste Association of North America has awarded five Academic Scholarships this year to outstanding High School seniors and College students in the Environmental Science field.   Two of the scholarships were awarded to students in Northwest Georgia.

Dalton resident Kasey Nicole Hendrick, who attends Southeast Whitfield High School, was awarded a scholarship in the amount of $1,500.  She has been accepted to Piedmont College and plans to study Nursing.

Chatsworth resident and Murray County High School student, Nathaniel Blake Hammontree was awarded a scholarship in the amount of $1,000.   Hammontree has been accepted to the University of West Georgia and plans to study Environmental Science.

SWANA maintains that the education of students and the general public is an important step in eliminating some of our biggest solid waste management problems.  The scholarship program aims to support the growth of knowledgeable and responsible solid waste management professionals for the future.  For more information about the GA SWANA Scholarship program visit www.gaswana.org. 

Community Pride Day on April 16, 2011

Annual Bulky Waste and Electronics Collection Day for Whitfield County

DALTON, GA – Community Pride Day during the Great American Cleanup will be on Saturday, April 16 from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm.  Community Pride Day facilitates Spring Cleaning by inviting Whitfield county residents to dispose of bulky items and electronics without paying disposal fees at select drop-off locations.  The Old Dixie Hwy. Landfill and Convenience Center is the Main Location for this event.  Community Locations include three middle schools, Westside Middle School, Eastbrook Middle School, and North Whitfield Middle School.

To download the event ad, click on the image to the left.

All four locations will be accepting bulky items for disposal and electronics for recycling.  Bulky items include furniture, household equipment, and appliances.  Electronics include computers, digital cameras, cell phones, printers, scanners, and laptops.  There is a limit of one television accepted per vehicle.  Small electronics collected this year will benefit the 2011 Relay for Life of Whitfield County.

The Old Dixie Landfill and Convenience Center is the only location accepting Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) that includes household pesticides, pool chemicals, varnish and latex paints.  For a complete list of HHW please visit www.DWSWA.org or call 706-277-2545.

Community Pride Day is open to residents of Whitfield County only.  Only residential or household waste will be accepted.  No business, commercial, construction or demolition waste is accepted.  Tires are not included in this event and should be disposed of at a Convenience Center for a minimal fee.  Household hazardous waste and tires will not be accepted at the school locations.

If you are unable to attend the event this year, please keep in mind that Household Hazardous Waste is accepted at the Old Dixie Landfill and Convenience Center on the third Saturday of the month from 7 am to 2 pm.  Electronics are accepted year round at the same location, Monday thru Friday 7 am to 6 pm, and Saturday 7 am to 3 pm.

Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful, the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority, and Whitfield County Public Works organize this annual event.  For more information or to volunteer, call Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful at 706-226-6211, visit www.keepdaltonwhitfieldbeautiful.org, or e-mail lswafford@dwswa.org.