Luce recycling efforts lead to television spotlight
By Jeffrey Cattel
Special to the Citizen
When the
students in Eileen Stockus’ fourth-grade class read an article
in the magazine Time for Kids about global warming, they
were shocked and overwhelmed. Most students hadn’t realized the
magnitude and severity of changes that could occur to the planet
in the coming years.
 Led
by students Abbey Mitcheroney, Colleen Smith, Julianna Howlett
and Nicole Ryan, they decided to take action and try to change
their environment, no matter how small the effort. With a paper
recycling program already in place at the Luce School for three
years, they decided to expand and begin an ink cartridge
recycling program.
The paper
recycling program was started by Denise Cassidy, the recycling
coordinator for the school. Every classroom has a cardboard box,
which is decorated with students’ artwork depicting green
environments and the recycling process. Once a week, teachers
and their students bring the recycled paper to one of the larger
recycling bins located throughout the school. The larger bins
are then picked up by Allied Waste and ultimately recycled.
Another box
is located in the lobby of the school for the ink cartridge
program. Students, faculty and parents can place their used
printer ink cartridges in this box, which is picked up by a
company called Cartridge World — a company that refills the
cartridges with ink, so they can be sold again. The company pays
the school anywhere from 50 cents to ten dollars for each of the
cartridges.
After the
paper and ink cartridge programs were started, Cassidy was
contacted by Shaws to see if the school would be interested in
taking part in a plastic bag recycling program. Realizing the
great opportunity to increase the school’s recycling efforts,
Cassidy and the rest of the faculty and students quickly jumped
on the bandwagon.
Now, there
is a complete recycling center in the lobby of the school, which
includes bins for paper, ink cartridge and plastic bag
recycling. They also have posters, made by students, to increase
environmental awareness throughout the school.
For the
schools efforts with the recycled bag program, Shaws bought a
bench made from 30,000 recycled plastic bags.
In addition,
at the end of last school year, the students in Stockus’
fourth-grade class wanted to do something to give back to the
environment with the money they had raised recycling ink
cartridges. After much thought, they decided to plant a tree —
next to the newly donated bench — to remind them of their great
progress in just a single year. The ink cartridge program has
also provided money for extra balls and jump ropes to be bought
for the school, things Principal Robie Peter said are not in the
regular school budget.
Word spread
quickly about all of the students’ efforts, and it eventually
reached David Brown of WCVB Channel 5, the leader of the
television station’s “Going Green” program. Brown, along with a
camera crew from the station, visited students at the beginning
of December to see firsthand what the students had accomplished.
Although the
students admitted they were initially nervous, they were all
excited about the prospect of being on TV. After seeing the
segment on television, many of the students received positive
remarks. “At hockey practice all of my friends were saying,
‘Look, here’s the movie star,’” said Abbey Mitcheroney, now a
fifth-grader.
Peter also
noted the immediate positive response from the community. “Right
after the story aired,” she said, “I got numerous phone calls
from community members wondering if they could bring their ink
cartridges and plastic bags to our school, and I told them all
‘Yes!’”
Though the
students enjoyed their time in the spotlight, they also hope
that the television story will bring more attention to global
warming and efforts that can be done to help the environment.
As for the
future, these fifth graders realize that they will be leaving
the Luce School at the end of this year, but they know the
program will go on. Peter and Cassidy noted that the collection
of plastic bottles is another avenue of recycling they would
like to pursue. In addition, two teachers, Bridget Wade and
Holly Berkowitz, have joined with the program “The Green Team,”
which helps to further educate students about recycling and how
they can tangibly help to lessen their impact on the
environment.
To view
the television piece go to www.thebostonchannel.com and click
“Going Green.”
December 27, 2007
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