Gaining weight in the paper chase
Girl Scout project improves recycling in Millstone school
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Staff Writer
The Millstone Township Elementary School gained 177.5 pounds this year thanks to local Girl Scouts.

JEFF GRANIT staff Shannon Donnelly (l-r), Cara Pesciotta and Jessica Corbett, of Millstone Girl Scout Troop 1231, empty a box of paper into a central waste bin at the Millstone Township Elementary School on June 2 as part of the troop's recycling project.

No, Thin Mints and Somoas didn't have anything to do with the weight gain. Troop 1231 helped the school generate more pounds of recyclables by reducing the amount of paper going into classroom waste bins.

Inspired by a program about conservation that they recently attended at the Philadelphia Zoo, the nine Scouts started the "Save a Tree" project in their school to reduce paper use and increase the school's recycling rate.

The troop asked Staples and other local businesses to donate boxes that they could recycle into bins for recyclable paper waste in each classroom. The school has recycling bins, but they look almost identical to regular trash cans, oftentimes causing recyclable materials to get mixed in and thrown away with regular trash.

Above: Keely Allen (l-r), Stephanie Konya and Sydney Peake, of Millstone Girl Scout Troop 1231, carry a box of paper to a recycling bin at the Millstone Township Elementary School on June 2. Below: Cara Pesciotta (l-r), Jessica Corbett and Shannon Donnelly, of Millstone Girl Scout Troop 1231, collect a box of recyclable paper from a classroom.

To make their recycling bins stand out, the Scouts collaborated with art teacher Judy Mazzucco, who had her classes create artwork for them. The Scouts decorated every box with the students' art.

Principal Brandy Worth helped the Scouts deliver a box to each classroom, where they provided students and teachers with a presentation about how to recycle and the importance of doing so. Scouts also promoted conservation and encouraged the use of both sides of each piece of paper, paper scraps and the backs of handouts.

Girl Scout Jessica Corbett said, "If there are no trees, there's no more paper and we won't be able to breathe. Trees produce oxygen and clean the air."

Girl Scout Stephanie Konya said, "We only have one Earth and we can't have another."

The Scouts also took responsibility for emptying any full boxes of recycled paper into a central recycling bin.

Girl Scout Alexa DeSantis said, "We were impressed by how much one school can recycle. A lot of schools don't recycle. Imagine if other schools recycled."

Girl Scout Troop 1231 leaders Anne Pesciotta and Tracy Corbett helped the Scouts gauge their impact on the school's recycling by weighing the school's trash before and after the project. The school's trash weighed 114 pounds on April 16 and 78 pounds May 14. The weight of recyclable paper increased from 16.5 pounds to 194 pounds in that same time frame.

Third-grade teacher Sara Stofik witnessed the Scouts' project improve recycling in her classroom.

"We needed a second box at one point," she said.

Stofik said any program that teaches students to reduce, reuse and recycle is important." They are our future," she said. "We need to teach them to take care of the Earth the way we were taught to take care of the Earth."

Pesciotta said, "The girls were really able to see just what a huge impact our project has had in their school and you could see in their faces how amazed and proud they felt at their accomplishment."

She continued, "We're so proud of what they accomplished and hope they continue

this interest

this interest into their Junior years of Scouting." The Scouts plan to continue their partnership with the elementary school and have plans to create an additional 25 "Save A Tree" bins for school offices and rooms

that did not receive one earlier this year. They would also like to work with Worth to create other recycling and conservation programs in the school.

Cara Pesciotta, Shannon Donnelly, Keely Allen and Sydney Peake are also members of Troop 1231.