The University of Tennessee gave Valley View Elementary School in Cleveland, Tenn., an award for the effort students, faculty and staff have put forth to launch and maintain a recycling program.
Valley View Elementary School was one of only 10 schools in the state to receive the university’s Good Sports Always Recycle Award for 2014, the Cleveland Daily Banner reported.
The award was co-sponsored by chemical company Eastman and provides recognition to schools that have established recycling programs and have encouraged their local communities to get involved with them.
As part of the program, Kindergarten classes collect tabs from soda cans as part of a curriculum unit on counting. The classes give the tabs to the Ronald McDonald House charity, which recycles them for money.
In addition, the schools partners with Coca-Cola Refreshments to host a set of five large bins to recycle paper, plastic and aluminum. The bins are located outside the school, which allows the school and those in the surrounding community to recycle.
Since 2012, the school has collected about 56,000 pounds of recyclable materials in those bins, and he noted the school’s recycling area has been providing a service to those living in the vicinity of the school, according to the Cleveland Daily Banner.