Green County High School FBLA leads local recycling
August 19, 2012 by clackey
Zack Leftwich, Annette Dangerfield and Emily Green (FBLA president) accepted the PRIDE Environmental Education Project of the Month Award on behalf of the Green County High School chapter of FBLA. PRIDE’s Tammie Wilson presented the plaque.
For launching an effective recycling campaign, the Green County High School chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) has earned southern and eastern Kentucky’s PRIDE Environmental Education Project of the Month Award.
“The FBLA members reached out to fellow students and the entire community, sharing the reasons to recycle and creating the means to recycle,” said Tammie Wilson of PRIDE, a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental cleanup and education in a 38-county region.
“This project showed the transformative power of volunteerism and education — which are the core values of PRIDE,” Wilson said. “We thank the students, as well as the teachers and local officials who supported them.”
The FBLA chapter started its recycling campaign last fall as its 2011-2012 Community Service Project. The members set the goal of “education and involvement of the schools and community in a campaign of environmental friendliness.” Students Zack Leftwich, Annette Dangerfield and Wesley Burris led the project.
First, FBLA members created a recycling program at the high school. During the project’s “Initiation Week,” they used announcements and flyers to raise awareness and invite participation. They placed boxes and barrels, which were donated, throughout the school for paper, aluminum cans and plastic bottles. FBLA members volunteered to gather the recyclables daily and store them for collection by Waste Management.
Next, they expanded the recycling program into all Green County Schools. They partnered with Greensburg officials to provide recycling bins for every classroom and storage containers for each school. The FBLA members developed education materials for each school, including a recycling commercial that featured a Justin-Bieber look-alike.
Finally, the FBLA members worked with Mayor Lisle Cheatham, Judge-Executive Misty Edwards and Greensburg PRIDE Coordinator Jerry Cowherd to offer community members the opportunity to recycle. Together, they launched “Green County Goes Green” recycling drop-off events on the fourth Saturday of the month, starting in January 2012. They promoted the events heavily, emphasizing the benefits of recycling, such as reducing the demand for natural resources and cutting the energy required during manufacturing processes.
For its ambitious, successful recycling campaign, the GCHS FBLA chapter placed 2nd at the FBLA National Leadership Conference in Community Service.
The PRIDE Environmental Education Project of the Month Award rewards creative, effective ways of promoting environmental awareness and stewardship. Jerry Cowherd, who is the City of Greensburg’s PRIDE Coordinator, nominated the GCHS FBLA for the award.
“We give awards to thank people and to showcase the great things going on in our region, so please contact us if you want to nominate a person, school, business or organization that is helping our environment or inspiring others to care for nature,” Wilson said. “Our toll-free number is 888-577-4339, or you can contact us through our web site.”
Nomination forms: http://kypride.org/nominate/
Recycling resources (brochure, guidebook, recycling bin labels): http://kypride.org/2012/01/how-to-be-a-prideful-recycler/.
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