Fairfield Elementary enjoyed a successful student-run recycling program several years back. Changes in county hauling contracts, however, scuttled those efforts, and schools stopped recycling. This change did not sit well with the school’s fifth graders. With a little help from Boxerwood, the students devised a brilliant work-around.
The students started working on reviving a school-wide recycling system last fall, with help from their teachers Cathy Whitesell and Kaitlyn Nicely. The students had worked out collection routes and roles within the school. They also determined the destination for the many pounds of collected paper each week. The missing link was a reliable method for transporting their weekly haul to the center.
To move the project forward, Boxerwood put the 5th grade in touch with the Northern Rockbridge Women’s Club whose members, we knew, were looking for a way to become more environmentally active. Success! Working as a team, the FES students collect the paper then toss it to the Women’s Club for the recycling slam-dunk. Thank you to Club members who haul the recyclables to the center every Wednesday.
As a result of this intergenerational partnership, the children have recycled more than 670 pounds of paper since winter. Equally important, every person at Fairfield Elementary now has an opportunity to put their earth care values into action – and strengthen them. And the project keeps growing. Mrs. Whitesell reports, “Fifth graders are planning to add plastic from lunches at FES to our recycling bundles. We also hope to encourage plastic recycling at the YMCA. Our goal is to decorate boxes for plastic recycling to leave at the YMCA, and to set up a plan for people to gather and turn in the recycling on a regular basis. This may be a long term goal into future years.”
