Amy Hughes, Keep Loup Basin Beautiful (KLBB) Project Coordinator invited schools,churches, libraries, etc. across the KLBB area to participate in the Crayon Recycling Program during the 2015-2016 school year. Participants were given collection boxes and information about crayons being composed of araffin wax which contains petroleum, a chemical that is toxic to our environment, and that decomposition of crayons can take decades, which are great reasons to keep them out of our landfills. Crayons were then collected after the school year ended and weighed electronically. In total 87 lbs 7 oz of crayons were collected for recycling or reuse purposes.
On Thursday, December 1, 2016, Amy Hughes, Keep Loup Basin Beautiful Project Coordinator traveled to the Central Valley Elementary School in Scotia to present them with an Environmental Excellence Award in Recycling and some recycle craft books for their excellent environmental stewardship practices.
Central Valley Elementary was one of sixteen schools who chose to
participate in the Crayon Program and collected 12 lbs and 12 ounces
of crayons. The collection of these crayons prevented them from
entering our landfills and causing adverse reactions to our
environment. All participants should be commended in their
environmental kindness and encouraged to continue the great work
during the 2016-2017 school year. In fact, Amy would like to
challenge Central Valley to collect even more crayons this year.
All crayons collected are brought back to the KLBB Office, sorted into recycle facility boxes or reuse boxes. The reuse crayons are then distributed to daycares, hospitals, clinics, restaurants, etc that are in need or show interest. The recycle crayon boxes are then sent to Lake City, Colorado to a National Crayon Recycling Program where they are melted and used to create new handcrafted Crazy Crayons that can be formed into new shapes and sizes.
If you are interested in contributing
to the Crayon Recycling Program there are many area schools that are
collecting. To see if your school is on this years collection list
or if you would like to add your school as a collection location
please visit www.keeploupbasinbeautiful.org
to find the school participation list and the school registration
form.
Keep Loup Basin Beautiful (KLBB) is
grant-funded through the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality
(NDEQ) and Keep America Beautiful; and is a project of the Loup Basin
RC&D Council that promotes litter prevention, waste reduction,
recycling, and beautification. KLBB serves thirteen counties in
central and north-central Nebraska. For more information about
KLBBs education programs, email KLBB at
info@keeploupbasinbeautiful.org,
visit www.keeploupbasinbeautiful.org,
or like them on Facebook. Contact the Loup Basin RC&D office
(308)-346-3393 or stop by the office at the Loup Rivers Scenic Byway
Interpretive Center, 330 South Highway 11 Burwell, Nebraska.
