By NANCY HILER
A few weeks ago at Martin Avenue Elementary School, fourth-grader Julianna Pugliese noticed that water bottles were accumulating in classrooms. "I thought if we collect the water bottles and recycle them, and we do it all year, just think how much we could save," the 9-year-old explained.
Martin Avenue Principal Dr. Mark Wiener liked the idea, and the school's site-based team had just discussed starting a school recycling plan, but the funding and logistics were issues. "We'd been talking about getting it going," Wiener said, "but we just didn't know how to work it out, and the pickup was problematic."
Around that time, the district's facilities director, Chris Milano, secured a grant through a state environmental association to help fund a recycling program. "The timing was interesting because then the district got these huge bins for paper and plastic," Wiener said. "The district supplied the smaller classroom bins, which we empty into the larger ones for Town of Hempstead pickup."
The town recently began its school recycling program. "Yours was one of the first school districts to contact us about participating," Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray said when she came to Martin Avenue School recently to kick off the district's recycling effort. "We're very delighted to see children doing this, and we appreciate your leadership."
Town Council members Angie Cullin and Gary Hudes joined Murray that day. Also on hand was the town's assistant sanitation supervisor, Salvatore Saia, who coordinates the town's school recycling program. It's now in 15 schools, including Merrick, Wantagh and Seaford public schools, and Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Elementary School in North Merrick. Murray said she wants to expand the program to as many schools in the town as possible.
A group of North Bellmore children gave Murray a hand-made poster signed by many of their Martin Avenue School classmates, thanking her for helping them to set up the recycling program. "And thank you," Murray responded, "for helping to show others the way. I also hope you share information about recycling with your parents."
Hudes presented the students with a small tree, saying, "For every 10-foot stack of paper you collect, you save one tree."
All six North Bellmore elementary schools are now taking part in the recycling effort, Milano said. "In early fall of 2007, our superintendent of schools, Dominic Mucci, had charged me with the task of formulating a plan to develop a recycling program for the school district that could be successfully implemented this school year," he said. "The Town of Hempstead was very helpful in guiding us with regard to how the pickup process would work, and the type of equipment we would need to start up the program."
The district purchased 96-gallon recycling containers suitable for pickup by the town's automated sanitation trucks. "As you would expect, there were costs associated with the purchase of the containers required by the town," Milano said. "We were required to purchase two containers per building at a cost of $67 each, plus shipping."
At that point, Milano came upon a statewide environmental association, the New York Association for Reduction, Reuse, and Recycling, which offered seed money through a Go Green program for schools. NYSAR provided up to $75 per building toward the purchase of recycling bins. That was still about $300 short. The balance came out of the supplies and materials budget lines.
At Martin Avenue, the children place plastic bottles and paper into containers outside each classroom. Then a group of student volunteers empty the classroom bins into the town recycling containers. Custodians take those to the curb for pickup.
"Recyclables are picked up twice a week," Milano said. "Monday is for paper refuse. Wednesday is for plastics and miscellaneous items."
"We're all stewards of our planet," Murray told the children. "We all have to take care of the Earth."
Comments about this story? Nhiler@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 234.
Photos by Arthur Findlay/Herald
