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Volume 26, No. 1
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digest listing.
Selected Articles:
City of
Springfield Announces Curbside Recycling
A Red-"Litter" Day
City of
Springfield Announces Curbside Recycling
SPRINGFIELD, KY
(April 26, 2005) - - The City of Springfield
announces a new voluntary Curbside Recycling Program to
begin May 2nd. A special kick-off celebration is planned for
Tuesday, May 10th, 2005, at 11 a.m. at the Springfield City
Hall, 127 W. Main Street.
The new endeavor is the result of partnerships the city has
created with New Pioneers for a Sustainable Future, the
Kentucky Business Industry Recycling Program (known as
B.I.R.P.), and the Washington County Recycling Center. At
the kick-off celebration, Mayor Mike Haydon will be
presented with a $4000 check from B.I.R.P. to help support
the new program.
The featured guest speaker for the kick-off event will be
LaJuana Wilcher, Secretary of the Kentucky Environmental and
Public Protection Cabinet. Other invited guests are Kentucky
State Senator Dan Kelly; members of the Springfield City
Council; Washington County Judge Executive John Settles;
Washington County Magistrates; George Ann Palmer, Washington
County Solid Waste Coordinator; and Sister Claire McGowan of
New Pioneers for a Sustainable Future, Inc. All interested
citizens are invited.
“The City of Springfield will benefit greatly from our new
Curbside Recycling Program,” says Sister Claire McGowan. “We
are grateful to have the statewide support of B.I.R.P. and
national support from the American Beverage Association.”
Special recognition will be given to Tyler Gerard, a 5th
grade student at Washington County Elementary school who won
the student design contest for the new Springfield recycling
logo. Tyler’s winning design will be on display at the
kick-off celebration. Washington County High School DECA
students will also be recognized for their work on recording
a radio public service announcement to educate the community
about the new curbside recycling program.
* * *
New Pioneers for a Sustainable Future, Inc. creates hope by
helping rural Kentuckians work together to create a
sustainable future for their county. For more information
email
NewPioneersSF@aol.com.
* * *
B.I.R.P. is a coalition of concerned citizens, businesses
and trade associations across the Commonwealth working to
promote recycling and “buy recycled programs”. Visit
www.birp.org to learn more.
* * *
The Kentucky Beverage Association represents companies that
manufacture and distribute non-alcoholic beverages in
Kentucky. It was founded in 1917. For more information visit
www.kysoftdrink.org.
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More Pictures
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LaJuana Wilcher, Secretary of
Kentucky Environmental & Public Protection Cabinet, Lee
Hinson, BIRP, and Dan Kelly, Kentucky State
Senator. |
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Lee Hinson, Birp standing next to
the recycling demonstration. |
| Left to Right:
Sister Claire McGowan, New Pioneers for a Sustainable
Future, Inc., Tyler Gerard, 5th grade student at
Washington County Elementary School, Springfield Mayor
Mike Haydon. Tyler Gerard received special
recognition for winning the student design contest for
the new Springfield recycling logo. |
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A Red-"Litter" Day
Frankfort, Ky. - Lisa Davis, park manager at Carter Caves
State Resort Park near Olive Hill in Carter County, was
thinking about the problem of litter a while back and came
up with a simple idea - ask schoolchildren to lead a
campaign to ask friends and family to sign a pledge not to
litter for one year.
She shared the idea with Carter County school officials and,
over a two-week period in early May, students at eight
Carter County schools collected signatures from folks who
pledged not to be litterbugs.
"I had it in the back of my mind that we would collect
7,000 signatures," Davis said.
Boy, was she wrong. When all the sheets were tallied,
exactly 26,542 people signed on the dotted line. The
entire population of Carter County is 27,144.
"I was astounded," Davis recalled.
One class alone, having just 21 students, collected 2,122
signatures. The idea really took hold in her class,
said Jo Ann Dunfee of Eastern Carter Middle School.
Being the class that collected the most signatures was a
matter of pride, Ms. Dunfee said.
"They really wanted to do it," she said.
One student collected pledges in Ohio, while another took
along pledge forms on a visit to Ashland, 30 miles away.
The campaign had the added benefit of teaching
schoolchildren about the environmental impact of litter, she
added.
A sheet that accompanied the information packet sent to
teachers noted that a discarded cigarette butt takes 12
years to decompose. For a glass bottle, the
decomposition rate is 1 million years. A plastic
bottle is believed to literally never break down.
On May 26, Ms. Dunfee and her students visited Carter Caves
to hear words of praise from Park Manager Davis and to enjoy
a free field trip to Cascade Cave as part of their reward
for being the class collecting the most pledges. The
kids also earned a picnic lunch after the field trip, plus a
free swim pass for their next visit to the park.
Also on hand was Dorothy Callihan's class at Olive Hill
Elementary School, which came in second place with 1,020
pledges. They, too, got a free cave tour and picnic.
Other schools participating were Prichard Elementary,
Heritage Elementary, Carter Elementary, Star Elementary,
Upper Tygart Elementary, and East Carter High School.
Davis said she plans to expand the campaign throughout the
school system next year. Meanwhile, Parks Commissioner
George Ward is evaluating how the anti-litter effort can be
rolled out to other state parks.
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