SR students set up recyling
SLIPPERY ROCK — Setting up a recycling program, saving a prairie and cleaning up Slippery Rock may seem like lofty goals to accomplish in a few years — but try finishing all three while still in high school.
The Student Alliance for Greener Efforts named these and other goals a few years ago at Slippery Rock High School. So far, the recycling program is past the halfway point in its first year in the district, the group is planning to help with the prairie and members gather a few days outside of school for trash pickup throughout the borough.
Valerie Phipps, a Slippery Rock senior and president of SAGE, is among a group that oversees the sorting of recyclables every other Monday. The group has about 30 members, compared to about eight when it began.
"Until recently, this has been our main focus," she said of the recycling. "We want to put less trash in the landfills."
The district's middle and three elementary schools are just starting to separate recyclables, said Phipps.
"We're trying to organize a presentation for the elementary schools, like a video, that teachers can pass around to each grade level," Phipps said of the group's teaching goal.
Although the proposal to start the recycling program took three years to complete, the work has just begun, she added. SAGE members underestimated the time it would take to educate people. Classmates and even teachers will forget to place papers in the recycling can instead of the regular trashcan, for example, said Phipps.
"It's just a habit we need to break," she said. "It's gotten better. The difference this year has made is amazing."
It was difficult to convince school board members to adopt the program at first, since having recyclables picked up costs the district extra money each year. The board approved a contract last March to continue recycling pickup through Dec. 31, 2008. The cost for all schools combined is $300 per month.
But Phipps said she hopes to eventually decrease the amount of waste that needs to be collected at each of the district schools. That change could save money for the district in the long run, she said.
Before the school year is out, the group plans to expand its focus to include community cleanup work, as well as volunteering to help with preserving a prairie at Jennings Environmental Education Center.
That section of Jennings is slowly becoming overgrown, but the prairie habitat is still needed for several species of wildlife living there, including the endangered massasauga rattlesnake. Each year, a group of volunteers helps to cut back the trees and shrubs and maintain that prairie, said Phipps. SAGE members hope to help this year.
Now that there are 30 members of the group, there is time to plan such activities, she said, instead of sticking to the recycling work.
Adviser Tony Consbruck said the members don't even work at recruiting.
"There's just that innate desire to help," he said. "Nobody has to twist arms."
SAGE was formed at the school about 15 years ago, but the district-wide recycling effort is a new facet, said Consbruck.
"It's a pleasure to finally get the whole district going," he said.
Other officers of SAGE include Chelsie Monn, vice president; Rachael Christie, secretary; Katie Riggs, treasurer; Chad Bruner, recycling director; Seth Drobney, public relations director.
