By: Danny Woolums,
Environmental Educator

Working for Bluegrass Greensource is always full of surprises.

Sometimes I get to tour landfills or visit state parks as part of my work. And sometimes I’m working at 4am doing an audit of neighborhood recycling bins trying to beat the recycling trucks. Yep, the Live Green Lexington Recycle Challenge has officially kicked off and Arlington, Harrison, and William Wells Brown Elementary Schools are on their way success.

For anyone unfamiliar with the new program, the City of Lexington has been looking for innovative ways to increase recycling throughout their service area. After identifying key areas with the most room to improve, LFUCG developed a program to help three well-deserving schools each get $12,000 to use for their students. The goal: increasing the rate of recycling in each school district by 50%. LFUCG, working in tandem with Bluegrass Greensource and the STEM Lab teachers from each school, developed the Recycle Challenge curriculum to reach these important goals and secure some seriously great benefits for each participating school.

Recycle Challenge Kickoff:

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The official kickoff event was at the Lyric Theater on October 4th where acclaimed children’s education performer Billy B came and sang about environmental impacts. Our Outreach Specialists have been working with businesses in the area to do waste audits and connect them to the Challenge. Meanwhile, the STEM lab teachers are finding unique ways to incorporate recycling into their lessons such as making instruments out of recycled materials!

How to Get Involved

img_3505The students are getting involved beyond the classroom by doing community walks through their neighborhoods. Kindergarten through 5th grade students marched through their community identifying who had a blue recycling bin, where there was litter, and sharing with passersby about why they thought recycling is important.

Beginning in January and ending the last day of March, LFUCG will begin recording data on how many more people in these three school districts are participating in the recycling program. If you live in the neighborhood or know someone that does, please remember to recycle! It’s great for the planet, but it also helps the schools and students in your backyard!

To learn more about how you can support these students and schools, including partnership opportunities, please visit: https://www.lexingtonky.gov/recycle-challenge