Student starts plastic recycling program at SMS
Student starts plastic recycling program at SMS
By Lucas Knowles
Editor
Meghan Tyson, a seventh grader, remembers seeing milk bottles clogging up the trash at Scarborough Middle School and wanting to do something about it.
“I was wondering why we were not recycling our milk bottles at school,” Meghan said. “I told my mom about it and she said I should try to do something.”
That is exactly what Meghan did.
Meghan did some research and found out, in her words, “how bad (not recycling milk bottles) was for the environment” and “where it all goes if they are not recycled.” She contacted the Environmental Club of Scarborough (ECOS), a group of students at the high school. Members of ECOS painted some bins and provided them to Meghan to use in the Scarborough Middle School lunchroom.
Every Friday, ECOS members will help to collect the milk bottles at SMS. They then wash them out and take them to a local recycling facility. ECOS recycles bottles from the high school, along with batteries, cell phones and paper.
After Meghan received approval from her principal, Mrs. Sizemore, to start the milk bottle recycling program, she wondered how she would spread the word in her school.
I had to think about how to share the new recycling program with the students at the middle school,” Meghan said. “We had all been in the routine of putting our milk bottles in the trash.”
Meghan asked the middle school’s Student Council to help her make more than 25 posters that were hung around the school. She also designed a Power Point presentation that ran during the SMS news program. She wrote announcements and asked other students to read them over the intercom each day for the first week of the program.
With her father’s help, Meghan contacted the Portland Sea Dogs to ask if their mascot Slugger could come and make a guest appearance at the middle school to promote her new recycling program. This week, for the launch of the program, Slugger visited students during lunch time.
Also this week, Meghan organized a competition to see which lunch period could put the least amount of milk jugs into the trash can. She planned to randomly draw names and give out prizes to the winners. To raise money to buy the prizes, Meghan did a bottle drive in her neighborhood. TO her surprise, she raised nearly $170 for her program.
When asked what this experience has taught her, Meghan said it is important to follow through on an idea.
“I have learned you need to pursue what you want and you need to fight for it,” Meghan said.
Meghan said she hopes that the middle school can start its own ECOS club in the future and have the school be a part of the new curbside recycling program, which will be starting this spring in Scarborough.
By Lucas Knowles
Editor
Meghan Tyson, a seventh grader, remembers seeing milk bottles clogging up the trash at Scarborough Middle School and wanting to do something about it.
“I was wondering why we were not recycling our milk bottles at school,” Meghan said. “I told my mom about it and she said I should try to do something.”
That is exactly what Meghan did.
Meghan did some research and found out, in her words, “how bad (not recycling milk bottles) was for the environment” and “where it all goes if they are not recycled.” She contacted the Environmental Club of Scarborough (ECOS), a group of students at the high school. Members of ECOS painted some bins and provided them to Meghan to use in the Scarborough Middle School lunchroom.
Every Friday, ECOS members will help to collect the milk bottles at SMS. They then wash them out and take them to a local recycling facility. ECOS recycles bottles from the high school, along with batteries, cell phones and paper.
After Meghan received approval from her principal, Mrs. Sizemore, to start the milk bottle recycling program, she wondered how she would spread the word in her school.
I had to think about how to share the new recycling program with the students at the middle school,” Meghan said. “We had all been in the routine of putting our milk bottles in the trash.”
Meghan asked the middle school’s Student Council to help her make more than 25 posters that were hung around the school. She also designed a Power Point presentation that ran during the SMS news program. She wrote announcements and asked other students to read them over the intercom each day for the first week of the program.
With her father’s help, Meghan contacted the Portland Sea Dogs to ask if their mascot Slugger could come and make a guest appearance at the middle school to promote her new recycling program. This week, for the launch of the program, Slugger visited students during lunch time.
Also this week, Meghan organized a competition to see which lunch period could put the least amount of milk jugs into the trash can. She planned to randomly draw names and give out prizes to the winners. To raise money to buy the prizes, Meghan did a bottle drive in her neighborhood. TO her surprise, she raised nearly $170 for her program.
When asked what this experience has taught her, Meghan said it is important to follow through on an idea.
“I have learned you need to pursue what you want and you need to fight for it,” Meghan said.
Meghan said she hopes that the middle school can start its own ECOS club in the future and have the school be a part of the new curbside recycling program, which will be starting this spring in Scarborough.
Comments