Pares Primary School has emerged tops of the three schools participating in the 2012 Inter-schools Recycling Competition.
The school recycled 391 pounds of trash in one month, earning the lead.
The competition, which kicked off on January 9, will run until May 22 and is aimed at encouraging students to get in the habit of recycling.
Since the beginning of the programme in 2002, Environment Education Officer Arica Hill said the division has received an overwhelming response from the schools and the community.
The competition is being held in conjunction with the Antigua & Barbuda Waste Recycling Corporation (ABWREC) and the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA).
Pares Primary is followed by St Nicholas Primary with 321 pounds and Golden Grove with 223 pounds.
“They’re off to a very good start. The students collect the recyclables. They are placed in designated bins or they have designated areas where they store them and then the recycling plant collects them on a weekly basis,” Hill said.
She indicated that students have done extremely well with the collection of items which is mostly plastics, and they should be commended for such good efforts.
Hill said the competitors will also be visiting the recycling plant to get a better understanding of what is done with the collectibles.
“The schools are on-board and I think the children are onboard as well and there are some communities that are also on board.
Community members are also invited to get on-board and support the exciting initiative.
“If you know that a registered school that’s a part of the recycling programme, team up with them help your alma mater,” the environmentalist encouraged.
The competition is divided into two categories – a primary and a secondary schools division.
Participating schools are asked to be very careful in their collection of recyclables by ensuring that bottles have no liquids, and to separate the bottles from the caps placing them in separate bags. All cans are to be cleaned and labels placed on the bags with the school’s name.
The first-place winner will receive ,000, while second place and third place winners will receive 0 and 500 respectively.
An awards ceremony will take place on June 5, which is World Environment Day.
Recyclables are steel cans, aluminum cans, plastic bottles, car batteries, aluminum and copper cuttings, PVC pipes and cardboard.
(Source http://www.antiguaobserver.com/?p=71151)
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