The eighth annual YP Cares phone book recycling contest for Tuscaloosa city and county school teaches the importance to recycling to students of all ages, but also adds competition between schools.
Beth Curtis, principal at Verner Elementary School, said
recycling is an important habit to teach children. She sends weekly reminders
about the contest, but also promotes recycling all year by having bins for
paper and cardboard outside each classroom.
“Several years ago, we decided to
become service-oriented,” Curtis said.
She said the school has participated
in the contest every year it has been held, as well as in other community
projects, such as Canstruction. They won the $1,000 prize last year which was
put back into the recycling program.
The contest, sponsored by the YP Real Yellow Pages, rewards elementary,
middle and high schools in each system. This year’s contest started on Jan. 20
and will end Feb. 28.
“This is an established program,” said Ashley Chambers, the
City of Tuscaloosa Environmental Coordinator. “We have schools calling us in
the fall asking if we’re doing the contest again.”
Winning schools are based on the total number of books
collected divided by total number of students enrolled. First place winners
receive $1,000, and second and third places receive $600 and $400,
respectively.
Chambers said participation increases every year. She is
happy to see the schools rally to get large numbers of phone books so they won’t
end up in the landfill. She said the books can be turned into new books,
cardboard, animal bedding and much more.
Last year, schools collected more than 25,000 phone books,
which weigh about 31,000 pounds.
Tiffany Craig, a second grade
teacher at Oakdale Elementary School, also sends flyers home with the students,
and well as offers them free homework passes for every five books they bring
in.
She said she enjoys seeing the
students reach out to various people and businesses in the community to get the
old books. Oakdale Elementary also has recycling bins around the school all
year.
“This is something they can take home,” Craig said. “They can
use what they learn here to recycle at home.”
Chambers said the books get picked up after the deadline. She
said the schools are competitive and look to do better every year.
“It’s funny,” she said. “The schools don’t tell us the
numbers, and let it be a surprise.”
Chambers said that she noticed elementary-age students were
easier to get excited about recycling. Last year, she teamed up with city officials
to create individual prizes to get the older students excited, too.
For elementary schools, each student bringing in ten phone
books gets entered for into a drawing for a Playstation Portable. If they bring
in 100 books, they will receive a Little Ricky the Recycling Raccoon stuffed
animal and other prizes from YP Cares. Middle school students get an entry for
Beats by Dre ear buds for every ten books collected, and high school students
get an entry for Beats by Dre headphones for every ten books.
Students from private schools or home school programs are also eligible for individual prizes for collected phone books by contacting the City of Tuscaloosa Environmental Services Department.
Students from private schools or home school programs are also eligible for individual prizes for collected phone books by contacting the City of Tuscaloosa Environmental Services Department.
