Students are not the only ones who learned the meaning of the three R’s reduce, reuse, recycle in the South Colonie Central School District.
Over the past year, teachers and employees have joined forces and recycled nearly 20 tons of paper waste since joining recycling efforts with T.A. Predel Recycling Co., a company committed to recycling.
`We all know how important it is to protect the environment and conserve resources,` said Jody A. Paige, manager of T.A. Predel. `For a school district to turn trash into recyclable materials, it not only helps protect our natural resources from being wasted, but it sets a great example for our young people.`
The district recycled 19.82 tons of paper product, broken down into 21,300 pounds of office paper and 18,340 pounds of cardboard in 2008. T.A. Predel estimates that this is equivalent to the district saving about 337 trees, 138,740 gallons of water and 59.46 cubic yards of space at the Colonie landfill.
The district was also able to save money through recycling with T.A. Predel, paying $746.60 to recycle versus paying $1,688.95 to dump the paper and cardboard at the landfill at $85 per ton.
Some employees were honored by the South Colonie Central School District Board of Education for their overseeing recycling efforts at the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, March 31. The employees are: Lisha Kill Middle School special education teacher Shana Marra; Sand Creek Middle School sixth-grade teacher James Brown; Shaker Road Elementary School Principal William Dollard; South Colonie Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds Stephen Benedict; Colonie Central High School English teacher Brigham McCutcheon; Saddlewood Elementary School pre-kindergarten teacher Deborah Gentile; and Roessleville Elementary School pre-kindergarten teacher Lindsay Steenrod.
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