Some area schools this fall are teaming up with a local waste management company to help recycle hundreds of pounds of residential, classroom and cafeteria waste.
Students and faculty members at Mississippi University for Women, Mississippi State University and Columbus” Annunciation Catholic School during the past few days have been working to reuse many items typically tossed in a dumpster or a trash can each year.
“This is really only the beginning of the program for us, but it”s been going very well for us so far,” Annunciation Principal Barbara Calland said Tuesday. “Next week, we are actually taking the kids out to the plant to show them how the whole recycling process works.”
The recycling programs at the three schools are part of a project sponsored by Columbus-based BluBox Recycling on Highway 182 West.
Through the project, BluBox is placing dozens of recycling bins across the Annunciation and MUW campuses in an effort to encourage “green” practices by the schools” students, explained BluBox Sales and Marketing Director Karen Stanley.
The company Aug. 8 also provided large recycling receptacles for MUW and MSU students to use during the schools” move in days.
“We had a great weekend with the move in days. There were really a lot of participants,” Stanley said. “The W actually offered recycling bins exclusively during their move in day, because if you think about it, there”s really no actual trash involved in moving in somewhere.
“At Annunciation, we are focusing more on providing a lot of education to the students, and even the parents,” Stanley added. “Green practices are still very new to a lot of people, so we want to help people learn any way we can.”
Through the program, BluBox will share a portion of the profits generated by recycling the material with the schools, Stanley explained.
“We will have recycling containers in every building at the W,” Stanley explained. “At Annunciation, we will also have containers in every room and in the school cafeteria.
“Annunciation will also keep a bulletin board that will let the students track how many trees and barrels of oil they have saved through recycling,” Stanley added. “The kids take hold of these programs and don”t let them go. It”s amazing to watch them learn about recycling.”
Although BluBox already has placed the recycling receptacles at Annunciation and MUW, the company still is working to reach an agreement with MSU officials, Stanley explained.
By participating in the move in days and recycling programs, school officials are able to give students a “hands-on” lesson in preserving the planet, they said.
“The children love doing that kind of hands-on kind of thing,” Calland said. “And it all ties into our responsibility to take care of the planet as Christians.”
MSU and MUW officials said the program signifies a step toward more environmentally friendly campuses.
“The W is committed to providing our students the option to recycle on campus,” said Sam Wise, MUW”s director of facilities management. “We have placed permanent recycling bins throughout our campus for recycled materials to be collected year round in all buildings and dorms.”
“This is one of many options we will make available to our students as we work to reach the green initiatives throughout our campus,” said Jeremiah Dumas, director of the MSU environmental collaborative office.
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