Kettle Lake Elementary is well-practiced and knowledgeable when it comes to the world of recycling. As the first weeks of Kent County’s Annual Earth Day Challenge get underway, we decided to find out more about the students at Kettle Lake and why they think recycling is so important.
A question that’s always at the core of the issue is, “Why do you recycle?” Individuals have many answers to this question ranging from “It’s good for the earth,” to “I recycle so I don’t have to pay for trash,” to “It’s just the right thing to do.” We all have different reasons that motivate us, but why do students at Kettle Lake recycle? Well, here’s the response!
“We recycle at Kettle Lake so we can help to keep our Earth clean. Currently animals in the ocean are swimming through our plastic garbage. These plastics can hurt the animals and even kill them. When we recycle plastics we make sure they will not end up in our oceans.”
“Recycling allows things to be made into something new that can be used to help others. We recycled toothbrushes and toothpaste containers that were turned into a new playground for children to enjoy.”
“If we do not continue to recycle our world will become one g
iant garbage can with so many dumps. We make too much trash!”
Way to go Kettle Lake! I agree completely. Living in a world that looks and smells like “one giant garbage can” would be absolutely disgusting!
Knowing about recycling is one thing, but that’s not where Kettle Lake Elementary stops. They also work hard to reduce their waste. When asked how, the students responded with multiple great ideas.
- We eat the food on our plate so we don’t waste it.
- We save our scrap paper to use in another way. Check out the beautiful flowers we are making for our “secret garden” in the spring musical using junk mail, juice cartons, and scrap paper.
- I use a lunch box instead of a lunch bag and containers I can wash and use again instead of plastic baggies.
- I turn off the water when I brush my teeth so I don’t waste water.
- I turn the lights off when I leave a room.
- When we went on vacation we turned everything off in our house so we didn’t use electricity.
- When we outgrow or don’t want toys any more we donate the good ones to other kids so they can use them instead of throwing them away.
- My Mom buys big bags of things and we put them in small containers instead of buying little bags so we have more trash.
- We drink out of water bottles instead of buying bottles of water.
- We recycle old paper in the Paper Gator so it can be turned into something new.
- Yogurt containers can be cleaned and used as cups to drink out of or hold small snacks like crackers.
Hopefully the work at Kettle Lake Elementary inspires you to go out and do the same! Just one small change can make a big difference, which you can definitely see when you visit the students of Kettle Lake Elementary.
