HOB recycling program lauded
H.O. Brittingham fifth-grader Carlos Lessner puts it simply when it comes to recycling.
“If we didn't recycle, the world would be trash,” he said.
Mariner sixth-grader Makayla Pierce has a similar world view.
“It's really important to recycle, and if we didn't, the world would be pretty dirty,” she said.
Makayla and her former class of fifth-graders at HOB were honored Nov. 29 when state dignitaries converged at the Milton school to celebrate its recycling success.
“We all can benefit from recycling,” said Gov. Jack Markell. “We have a responsibility to leave the Earth better than we found it.”
Markell was joined by Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary David Small, Superintendent Robert Fulton, and other state and school officials.
Markell said Delaware has made great strides in recycling, now diverting nearly 43 percent of recyclables from landfills – nearly 8 billion pounds of trash.
Small said the recycling efforts have paid off for Delaware.
“We worked through a complex set of issues and got to a great place,” he said. “Delaware is much, much better for it.”
HOB teacher Chrissie Maughan said she brainstormed with her students last year on ways they could recycle. Perusing the classroom, she said, students quickly realized that recycling plastic water bottles was a great start.
“We looked around our room and every kid had a water bottle,” she said.
All HOB students get one water bottle a day in the school cafeteria. Calculating 590 bottles a day based on the total number of students, Maughan said, her class figured they would recycle about 3,000 bottles a week and more than 100,000 a year.
Students used iPads to graph the number of bottles they saved from landfills, and also made movies about the importance of recycling.
“It made me a person who recycles,” said Holt Baker, a Mariner sixth-grader who helped initiate HOB's recycling program. Holt quietly added he didn't really recycle before participating in the school project.
For HOB's part in recycling, the school earned a $1,300 state grant. HOB will use the money to purchase 58 recycling bins, a 35-gallon rolling recycling bin, and in a move that could end the need to recycle any more water bottles, the school is buying 600 reusable water bottles.
“We'll put HOB logos on them. They'll be a great help,” said Assistant Principal Patti Seabolt.
Maughan said she is proud of what her students accomplished.
“Look at what you can do. You can change your community and make it a better place,” she said.
In addition to HOB, the state handed out more than $700,000 in recycling grants to schools, businesses and communities across the state.
Nearly $300,000 was divided by 13 schools and school districts; another $270,000 was split by nine companies including Mountaire Farms of Delaware in Millsboro and Perdue Farms in Milford; and $150,000 went to Milford and Rehoboth Beach.
The City of Rehoboth Beach received a reimbursable grant of about $25,000 to set up a single-stream recycling center where people can bring their recyclables. This is in addition to curbside recycling pickup already done for residents.
