recycling program
BY JOSH EDWARDS
STAFF WRITER
Students get lessons in the traditional Three R's every day, but last week, students at Genesis One Christian Academy got a weeklong lesson in the new Three R's -reduce, reuse and recycle.
The first two R's - reduce and reuse - were easy for the students, said volunteer Carl Grumbles, a veteran science teacher who was teaching the recycling program as part of a mission trip with his church in Illinois. Recycling, however, posed a bit of a stumbling block.
"That's where we hit a brick wall," Grumbles said.
Students could not find an easy, convenient way to recycle in Mendenhall. The closest place to recycle aluminum and paper is at the fire station in Magee and the closest place to recycle other items is in Rankin County, he said.
"That's kind of tough on a fourth- or fifth-grader," he said.
Grumbles said there has been talk of creating a recycling program in Mendenhall, but "like everything in our world, it comes down to money."
City Clerk Judi May said the city scrapped its recycling program about a year ago because the out-of-town company they contracted with was no longer willing to come pick up recyclables.
"It had really become an expense to them," May said.
She said there's a lot of talk about creating a new recycling program, and the city hopes to open one again when the economy picks up and a company will be willing to pick up items.
"The city would like to have something," she said.
Student Bobby Applewhite said he thinks recycling is important, and the recycling program taught him the importance of reusing aluminum, which is mined from bauxite.
"We have to reuse it, or we'll be out of it," he said.
Student Scottlan Hubbard agreed and said that he learned from the program that when a can in recycled it will be back on the shelves in about 60 days.
Students also learned how much waste they create every day during lunch. They got permission to go though the trash when lunch was over and did a tally of how much of certain items were left. Each student was surprised at the amount of edible food wasted during lunch.
"Everybody thinks that their little bit on a plate isn't much to throw away," Grumble said.
The theme for the recycling program was the Kenyan proverb "We do not inherit this world from our ancestors, but we borrow it from our children."
Grumbles was at Genesis One along with several other volunteers from Christ Church of Oakbrook Illinois. Other volunteers from the church are preparing a dormitory on the school campus for orphans from the recent earthquake in Haiti.
Students could not find an easy, convenient way to recycle in Mendenhall. The closest place to recycle aluminum and paper is at the fire station in Magee, the closest place to recycle other items is in Rankin County, he said.
"That's kind of tough on a fourth- or fifth-grader," he said.
Grumbles said there has been talk of creating a recycling program in Mendenhall, but "like everything in our world, it comes down to money."
City Clerk Judi May said the city scrapped its recycling program about a year ago because the out-of-town company they contracted with was no longer willing to come pick up recyclables.
"It had really become an expense to them," May said.
She said there's a lot of talk about creating a new recycling program, and the city hopes to open one again when the economy picks up and a company will be willing to pick up items.
"The city would like to have something," she said.
Student Bobby Applewhite said he thinks recycling is important, and the recycling program taught him the importance of reusing aluminum, which is mined from bauxite.
"We have to reuse it, or we'll be out of it," he said.
Student Scottlan Hubbard agreed and said that he learned from the program that when a can in recycled it will be back on the shelves in about 60 days.
Students also learned how much waste they create every day during lunch. They got permission to go though the trash when lunch was over and did a tally of how much of certain items were left. Each student was surprised at the amount of edible food wasted during lunch.
"Everybody things that their little bit on a plate isn't much to throw away," Grumble said.
The theme for the recycling program was the Kenyan proverb "We do not inherit this world from our ancestors, but we borrow it from our children."
Grumbles was at Genesis One along with several other volunteers from Christ Church of Oakbrook Illinois. Other volunteers from the church are preparing a dormitory on the school campus for orphans from the recent earthquake in Haiti.