In This Issue
AMS: Students With a Goal
Farmer's Market Ribbon Cutting
Great American Can Roundup Registration Ends Dec. 20th


Visit Our Local Recyclers

 
 
Follow Up Links
KALB New Logo

 
 
Green Schools Recycling News
Dear Green Team Leader,

The Athens-Limestone Recycling Board and Recycling Center Staff wish to express our sincere appreciation to the schools for all your recycling efforts. We wish you all Happy Holidays!

Holiday Pickup Schedule
Happy Holidays!
Recycling service for schools will be suspended during the holidays since schools will be letting out.  Pickups for the blue rolling bins for the calendar year will end on Dec. 20th.  There will be a final cardboard pickup on Mon. Dec. 23rd. 
    
The Recycling Center will not pick up at all from Dec. 24-Jan. 5.  If you need a pickup during this time, you will need to call the Recycling Center.  All regular pickups will resume on January 6, 2014.   

SWAG Students at AMS Learn About Recycling
SWAG Students (L to R): Jacob Jinks, Jenny Johnstone AMS Librarian, John Gentilcore, and Jack Garvin

Seventh grade SWAG students, under the direction of Teacher Ashley Randolph, did projects on recycling recently.  SWAG means "Students With a Goal".  Their goal with this project was to learn more about recycling in their community and how they can get involved.  These students listened to a KALB presentation on recycling and then were judged by their teacher and KALB staff when they gave their own.  Each group made a project out of recyclable materials and gave details on their chosen product.  These students showed off their creativity while learning that recyclable materials are a very valuable resource in their community. 
Resolve to Recycle More!
Happy Green New Year!
Reasons to recycle are numerous.  Recycling conserves natural resources, saves landfill space, helps keep our  environment clean and healthy, and creates jobs.  Our local landfill has about 50 years before it has to close so our students will be the ones who have to figure out where our waste goes then.  What will you do to help them save landfill space?

Creating healthy, waste-saving habits is a usually a part of everyone's New Year and recycling is one of the cleanest and most waste-saving habits of all!  Let us at KALB know if you plan to make this one of your classroom New Year's resolutions!  
Farmer's Market Ribbon Cutting Kicks Off New Environmental Education Opportunities for Area Students
Sparky and Santa at Farmers Market Ribbon Cutting
KALB mascot, Sparky, (played wonderfully by Athens High student, Lily Jackson) speaks with Lynne Hart, KALB Executive Coordinator at the December 7 ribbon cutting at our new and improved Farmer's Market on Green Street in downtown Athens. 

Sparky introduced new environmental education opportunities to be held at the Farmers Market.  The program will be kicked off during Spring Break and will focus on gardening for preschool through age 12.
Holiday Recycling Tips
For school recycling instructions always contact us for specific details.


But here are some tips that may help:
  • Boxes (flattened, empty) all boxes 
  • Wrapping paper:  No foil wrapping paper or cellophane.  Rule of thumb:  If it tears, we recycle it.
  • Bows and ribbons:  Use cloth ribbons or save and reuse for birthday and other gifts.  The ribbon material is not recyclable.
  • NO Christmas trees 

Reduce, reuse, and recycle, the three Rs for waste management, are effective measures that serve as alternatives to disposing waste in landfills. 

 

Recycle Bowl Complete
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 KAB's Recycle Bowl ended on America Recycles Day-November 15. Your weights were emailed separately.  There was some increase of recycling weights during the Recycle Bowl period as compared with other four week periods.  Good job, Green Team Leaders!!
    
We have reported your school's weights to KAB. 

Winners will be announced Monday, February 11, 2014.

  Stay tuned to see if your school is a winner!   

 

EE Lesson: County 4H Students Learn "All About Metals" Recycling
KALB Education Coordinator Gives EE Lesson to
Tanner Sixth Grade Students
Thanks to a partnership with the Limestone County Extension Office, during the month of November, 4H students across the county learned the importance of metals and recycling them. The lesson covered the process that metals must go through to become the products we use everyday.  A hands-on activity using play dough helped students understand metals fabrication and what happens when you "throw away" your raw materials.  Students across the county were encouraged to participate in the Great American Can Roundup School Challenge by recycling aluminum cans. 
Great American Can Roundup
School Challenge - Registration Ends December 20! 
Your school only has until December 20 to register for the Can Challenge.  Please let me know now!  Your invitation is below.
    

This is an invitation for all schools in Limestone County to join others in the state for the Great American Can Roundup School Challenge and the opportunity for your school to win up to $6,000.  The Can Manufacturer's Institute (CMI) is offering $1,000 to the school in each state and District of Columbia that recycles the most aluminum cans per student enrollment.  The school that emerges as the national champion recycling school receives an additional $5,000.  Last year eight schools from Alabama competed with Holy Family Regional School from Huntsville which became the top state recycling school winning with 1,011 pounds for a per capita rate of 1.67 pounds per student.

Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful will register your school and track your pounds per student.  All your school has to do is participate by promoting the event at your school and recycling cans.  If you participate, cans must be separated from bottles!   You have two options to recycle cans with us:

 

·  The Athens-Limestone Recycling Center (ALRC) can provide a blue outdoor recycling barrel (no wheels) to place cans in and we will service the barrels and take a 5 cents per pound commission off the can price before cutting a monthly check to your school  OR

 

·         A school representative can bring them to the ALRC and get the full can price for your school directly from Metal Exchange.  When your school representative comes, just have them drive around behind our building and through the gate to the scales.  When you bring cans to sell, you must tell Metal Exchange the name of your school so that you will get credit for the weights. 

 

BONUS Pizza Drawing:  To encourage you to recycle cans monthly, there will be monthly drawings for $50 pizza cards.  Drawings are held every month for those with weights turned in to CMI.  The ALRC will take care of posting your weights for you.  All you have to do is recycle!

Please visit www.cancentral/roundup  for curriculum ideas and other ways to promote the roundup.

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

Now to December 20, 2013 - Send me a courtesy e-mail me to let me know to register your school

November 15, 2013 to April 22, 2014 - Aluminum can contest period

22nd of Dec, Jan, Feb, March, April - Dates I will submit report data for monthly $50 pizza gift card drawings

April 22, 2014 - last day to bring cans to the ALRC to count for the roundup

May 2014 - Winners will be notified

 

Please let me know to register your school!  

"Top Dog"  and Top Five Recyclers for October/November
October :
Top Dog was Brookhill at 7.18 pounds per student and Owens at 5.27 pounds per student.   Top Five were Brookhill, Owens, Athens Bible (4.14 pounds per student), Athens Middle (4.06 pounds per student), and Cowart Elementary (3.87 pounds per student).

November:
Top Dog  was Brookhill at 5.92 pounds per student and Owens at 5.75 pounds per student.

Top Five were Brookhill, Owens, Johnson (4.52 pounds per student), Blue Springs (3.69 pounds per student), and Athens Bible School (3.66 pounds per student).

   
Congratulations!  Way to recycle!!

Look for new incentives personalized for your school coming for the New Year!

Lunchroom Winners for Recycling!
Owens Elementary School lunchroom staff with administrators: 
The lunchroom winners for the second nine weeks are as follows:

Athens Intermediate School-160 pounds of steel cans (.32 pounds per student)
and Owens Elementary -480 pounds of steel cans (1 pound per student).

Owens lunchroom staff recycles in honor of Claire Goodin who used to work in the lunchroom.  She battled colon cancer for nine years but worked as much as she could during that time.  She started the CNP ladies recycling, and they have continued in her honor.  She passed away in 2009.

These workers are served breakfast by KALB staff and are in the running for the $200 grand prize at year end.  Congratulations!
Classroom Recycling Stations
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     Kudos to Limestone County Career Tech School teachers for giving me this idea to pass on to other classrooms.  A great tool for recycling success is a classroom recycling station.  A recycling station consists of a trash can and recycling bins for plastic/cans and paper.  No special boxes needed!  Just make sure your bins are labeled (KALB provides these) and that you have trained your students in how to use them. 
    
Thank you for recycling!
 
Sincerely,
 

Tammy Haymon, Education and Communication Coordinator 
Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful
Recycling Center 256-233-8746