2011 "Telephone Book Recycling Contest" A Success
Eagleton Elementary Safety Patrol left to right are as follows: Cade Depew, Brittany Alexander, Abigail Simpkins, and Bailey Kemper. They are in charge of recycling at the school.
Maryville -- The 2011 Telephone Book Recycling Contest hosted by Keep Blount Beautiful has come to a close, and the result was an overwhelming success. Over 15,700 phone books were recycled, and $1,250 in prize money was donated by Keep Blount Beautiful to local schools. This is equal to 255 trees conserved and 7.9 tons of waste diverted from our community landfill.
Nearly every school in Maryville, Alcoa, and Blount County participated in this year's contest, and their efforts were tremendous. New Horizon Montessori School was the first-place winner, collecting over 7 phone books per student enrolled, they received $550 for their school. Second-place winner Townsend Elementary received $150, third place winner Alcoa Middle received $100 and forth place winner Porter Elementary received $100.
Along with the top-collecting schools, Union Grove Elementary, Walland Elementary, Eagleton Elementary, Mary Blount Elementary, Maryville Christian School, Union Grove Middle, Rockford Elementary, John Sevier Elementary and Friendsville Elementary each received $50 for collecting more than one directory per student enrolled. For a complete list of participating schools and directories recycled please visit www.keepblountbeautiful.org.
"The annual Telephone Book Recycling Contest helps us meet our state requirements for landfill waste reduction. It is also an excellent way to educate Blount County students about the importance of recycling," remarks Sam Holloway, Blount County Director of Solid Waste.
Charlene DeSha, Coordinator Keep Blount Beautiful explains, "Once the directories are collected, they are recycled into animal bedding, home insulation, bathroom tissue, cereal boxes, roofing shingles, and even new phone books." Consumers need to buy recycled in order to complete the cycle.
The program would not be possible without the assistance of Spectra Recycling for providing pallet delivery and pick-up, in-kind recycling, and hauling services. Keep Blount Beautiful is responsible for the promotion and management of this program.
Keep Blount Beautiful is an award winning 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization located in the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Their mission is to improve our community by encouraging litter prevention, waste reduction, and beautification. For more about their organization and to see how you can get involved visit www.keepblountbeautiful.org.
Published March 2, 2011
