KEEP MANDEVILLE BEAUTIFUL KICKS OFF SCHOOL RECYCLING PROGRAM
(AUGUST 9, 2010) – The beginning of the 2010 school year marks the beginning of a new initiative for some Mandeville schools. Keep Mandeville Beautiful (KMB) is proud to kick off a school paper recycling program at four Mandeville schools. Woodlake Elementary, Mandeville Elementary, Pontchartrain Elementary and Mandeville Junior High take the lead role in recycling by participating in the first program of its type in St. Tammany Parish.
KMB received a $10,000 Keep Louisiana Beautiful Community Grant to implement the paper recycling program. The program will focus on recycling white paper only. Each month, thousands of pounds of paper are being thrown away, ending up in landfills instead of being recycled. The grant covered all start up costs associated with the program. Recycling containers were purchased for each classroom to collect the paper. Large rolling carts for the hallways will collect the classroom paper and allow for ease in transporting it to the paper dumpster. Color recycling posters are hung in each classroom to encourage participation and to remind the students to recycle and recycling fliers are being distributed to each student. Southeast Paper Recycling will service the dumpsters weekly free of charge.
“Our long-term goal is for this effort to serve as a pilot program for the entire parish. We would love to have such success in the Mandeville schools that it expands to schools in our neighboring cities,” states Becki Martin, KMB recycling volunteer coordinator. Martin is a retired teacher and a key volunteer in planning and implementing this program.
“We are excited to offer our children the opportunity to put into practice what they are learning in the classrooms about being good stewards of the environment and their community. Recycling takes a little time, effort and coordination but in the long run the payoff is worth it,” states Susan Russell, Director of Keep Mandeville Beautiful.
The program has been made possible by the overwhelming cooperation of Woodlake Elementary, Pontchartrain Elementary, Mandeville Elementary and Mandeville Junior High. “When we initially meet with the teachers and the principals, I was so impressed by their overall excitement and can-do attitude. They see this program as an extension of the classroom. It gives the students hands-on application of the lessons they are learning at school, explains Russell.
For more information contact KMB at (985) 624-3165.
