Press Release:
Bartow Beautiful has announced the winners of the 2018-19 School Recycling Contest, and it should come as no surprise to those folks who have been following past winners and recycling trends. In what is becoming somewhat like the New England Patriots winning the Superbowl, or at least always being top contenders, Euharlee Elementary again posted a big win, collecting 123,322 pounds of recycled materials, which comes out to 258.5 pounds per student. Top prize in the Elementary Schools division is a wildlife show from Wildlife Wonders, or $500.00, whichever the school chooses.
Other Elementary level winners include Mission Road Elementary, Second Place-$300, with 75,740 pounds, or 162.5 pounds per student; Taylorsville Elementary, Third Place, $250, 25,500 pounds or 49.9 pounds per student; and White Elementary, 4th place-$200, 20,640 pounds, or 37.4 pounds per student.
In the Middle/High School Category, Woodland Middle received first place-$500, with 43,180 pounds, or 60 pounds per student. South Central Middle came in second, winning $300, with 21,440 pounds, or 34 pounds per student. Cass High leads all the high schools with their third place-$250 win of 44,540 pounds, or 29 pounds per student. An additional award for overall tonnage $100, will be received in that division by Cass High. Adairsville Middle came in fourth, with $200 for 14,840 pounds, or 18.8 pounds per student. All awards are based on total tonnage, collected from the beginning of school each August, through March 31 of that same year. End of year totals are divided by the number of students, based on that year’s October FTE count.
This year, the overall total for collections was over 550,000 pounds from 26 sites, including Bartow County Central Office.
Last year, it was determined that the program had been in place long enough (14 years) to include the requirement that schools must first meet a 10,000 pound collection by the end of that school year to be eligible for prize money. Most of the schools meet that standard, which Keep Bartow Beautiful considers the “break-even” point for the county’s contribution to the recycling effort in the schools: large outside recycling bins on each campus, maintenance and hauling services provided by Bartow County Solid Waste, inside bins and education resources provided by Keep Bartow Beautiful, as requests come in and their budget allows. Most of the schools, 18 out of 25, meet or exceed that 10,000 pound limit each year. All proceeds received through the program (sales of recyclable materials) go to Bartow County’s General Fund, which in turn helps support county services such as Bartow’s award-winning (2008, Georgia Recycling Coalition Green Awards, Best Government Program) recycling program. While not part of the contest totals, recycling collection continues throughout the school year. Thanks to Bartow County School System, Cartersville City Schools, Excel Academy, and Bartow College and Career Academy for their contributions to this annual effort.
For more information on school or community recycling, contact Sheri Henshaw at henshaws@bartowga.org, or call Keep Bartow Beautiful at 770