Pleasant Grove Elementary Named Top Recycler for Third Quarter

DALTON, GA -  During the months of February, March, and April Pleasant Grove Elementary collected 8,690 pounds of recyclables through the Target Recycling program.  That is the equivalent of collecting 57,933 empty cereal boxes or 896,000 sheets of printer paper.  Thanks to the efforts of the staff, teachers, and students, Pleasant Grove Elementary improved their recycling rate of only 2.1 pounds per students during the 1st quarter of the 2009 – 2010 school year to an amazing 15.9 pounds per student for the 3rd quarter.

Recycling Ben, mascot for the Target Recycling program, presented the student body at Pleasant Grove Elementary their award on Friday, May 21st.  The award chosen by school staff is a blue wagon to help collect recycling bins from classrooms and offices.   Students cheered as their mascot Pee Gee accepted the wagon from Recycling Ben.  During the school assembly Liz Swafford, Recycling & Education Program Coordinator for Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority, congratulated the students for all their hard work and highlighted their achievements in recycling for the year.

Target Recycling is a recycling program managed by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority that includes educational opportunities and recognition of participation for City of Dalton and Whitfield County schools.  Since the Fall of 2008 local schools have hosted Target Recycling Containers where they collected mixed paper products like cardboard, paper, office paper, books, cereal boxes, magazines, and newspapers.  Each quarter the school with the highest recycling rate receives a custom award that will help improve the recycling program or beautify their campus.   For more information visit www.dwswa.org, www.recyclingben.org or call 706-278-5001.

Pictured are Recycling Ben, Pee Gee, and some of the fifth graders that participate in recycling at Pleasant Grove Elementary in Dalton, GA.

Celebrating Earth Day with Recycling Ben

To celebrate the 40th Aniversary of Earth Day, Recycling Ben and Liz visited Pre-K students at both Friendship House in Dalton and Mill Creek Child Learning Center in Rocky Face.  The students learned about recycling and reusing by making music shakers with plastic water bottles.

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Pleasant Grove Elementary Targets Recycling

Posted on February 26, 2010 / 

Chattanoogan.com Student SceneSubmitted by the DWSWA

During the month of January, Pleasant

Grove Elementary recycled 3,240 pounds of mixed paper, the equivalent of a stack of newspapers two and a half school buses long! The school was able to move from a very low recycling rate of 0.8 lbs. per student during the month of August 2009 to an astonishing 5.9 lbs. per student in January 2010. They surpassed other high performing schools like New Hope Middle School that reached 5.2 lbs. per student in November 2009, and Dawnville Elementary School that reached 5.0 lbs. per student in December 2009.

Pleasant Grove Elementary began recycling mixed paper with the Target Recycling program managed by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority (DWSWA) last year.

However, their numbers remained stagnant, under 1 lb. per student each month. It took some newfound enthusiasm and leadership from the principal, Mr. Richard Knox, and key staff members, like teacher Chris Harrison, to get the students and other staff motivated to participate in recycling.

What does it take to collect the equivalent of 21,600 cereal boxes in one month? An enthusiastic staff and student body that believes that recycling is good for the environment. Recycling bins in every room collect mixed paper and serve as daily reminders to recycle. Mixed paper includes newspaper, writing paper, office paper, magazines, junk mail, telephone books, cardboard, and even textbooks. For some schools, these paper products can make up over 40% of their waste.

On January 19th Recycling and Education staff from the DWSWA, Michael Foxx and Liz Swafford, visited the school council to discuss taking their program to the next level. They provided additional information for educational resources, mini-posters, and the infrastructure needed to begin a recycling program for plastic bottles. With the addition of plastics, the school’s recycling rate will continue to rise making Pleasant Grove Elementary one of the local leaders in school recycling.

Currently all public schools in the City of Dalton School District and the Whitfield County School District participate in the Target Recycling Program. During the month of January the schools collectively recycled the equivalent of a stack of newspapers 24 school buses long.

To take your school to the next level call Liz Swafford, Recycling and Education Program Coordinator for DWSWA, at 706-278-5001 or e-mail her atlswafford@dwswa.org.

Fort Hill Schools Awarded Recycling Wagon

Submitted by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority, Published in The Daily Citizen

DALTON, GA — Recycling Ben, mascot of the Target Recycling program, presented Pam Massingale, coordinator for North Star, and Lloyd Brochu, director of Crossroads Academy, with a recycling award on Wednesday. 

The Fort Hill Schools have done an outstanding job for the first quarter of the 2009-2010 school year, reaching an average of 14.7 pounds of recyclables collected per student.

They chose the award of a blue wagon to help collect recycling bins from each classroom and office.

Target Recycling is a recycling program managed by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority that includes educational opportunities and recognition of participation for Dalton city schools and Whitfield County schools. Since the fall of 2008 local schools have hosted Target Recycling containers where they collect mixed paper products like cardboard, paper, office paper, books, cereal boxes, magazines and newspapers. Each quarter the school with the highest recycling rate receives a custom award that will help improve the recycling program or beautify the school’s campus. Awards include items like recycling bins for classrooms or benches made from recycled materials.  

To improve the recycling rate at your school, contact Liz Swafford, recycling and education program coordinator, at (706) 278-5001 or e-mail her at lswafford@dwswa.org

Paper recycling in place at every school

 Staff Photo by Tim Barber:

Michael Foxx, right, Recycling Center operations manager at the Dalton-Whitfield Regional Solid Waste Management Authority, punctures a plastic bottle as Matthew Ryerson, 3, and North Whitfield Middle School teacher Jill Ryerson listen for air to be released at recent open house.

By Kelly Jackson
Chattanooga Times Dalton Bureau

DALTON, Ga. -- Recyclin' Ben is becoming more popular in Whitfield County, Dalton and area private schools.

Last November, the improved mascot showed up on the side of a new recycling truck bought by Dalton-Whitfield Regional Solid Waste Management Authority. This year, the authority started picking up mixed-paper recycling at every school in the county, so Ben's getting out and about more than ever.

"We were able to set it up to be a rolling billboard," said Norman Barashick, executive director of the authority.

On Thursday, the authority held an open house to introduce parents, teachers and students to its "Target Recycling" program and other educational programs available for students, including tours at the facility.

Residents who attended the open house had the opportunity to tour the authority's Materials Recovery Facility, nicknamed the "Murf." Mr. Baraschick said the 40,000-square-foot recycling operation opened in 2001.

"Our programs have continued to expand," he said.

Cassie Gallman, a fifth-grade student at New Hope Elementary School, attended the open house and said she's happy to have recycling in her school "because it helps the ecosystem."

Shayla Byrd, a third grader at New Hope, said she was impressed to see all the different materials made from recyclables at the center. She was especially impressed by the bathroom tile made out of recycled toilet seats.

Harvey Levitt, operations manager for the authority, said the agnecy already was picking up recycling at about 25 percent of schools, but county-wide school recycling is "a new program."

"We are in 30 some-odd schools and the 30 schools accommodate 20,000 students," he said.

The authority has implemented a competition and will award schools that have the most recycling per student. A top recycling school will be recognized three times throughout the year, he said, while the top three recycling schools will be recognized on an annual basis.

The authority has worked to have recycling in schools throughout the county for a number of years, he said, but only recently had the $400,000 needed to purchase the new truck and more than 200 containers for all the schools.

To pay for the truck, the authority used a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers program in which developers buy credits to offset any negative environmental impact from their developments.

Money from those credits paid for the recycling truck, Mr. Barashick said.