'Green Team' leads recycling effort at Rochester school

By Robin Schwartz
Fox 2 News Reporter

ROCHESTER, Mich. (WJBK) -- It's a hands-on lesson educators hope will last a lifetime.  The Green Team at Living Green Lutheran School in Rochester is made up of sixth graders that are serious about recycling and it shows.

"What we do is we get plastic, paper, cardboard, really anything that we could recycle, and we put them in big boxes," said Sailor Mayes.

"I take the recyclables in the fourth grade room, which is my sister's classroom, and then we put them in the recycle bins outside," said Claire Fessler.

"We don't use up as many resources because our planet only has a limited amount of resources," said RJ Beckeman.

Three times a week the Green Team visits every classroom and the cafeteria collecting and sorting everything students recycle.  It's an effort that has been growing for four years.  The school has about 100 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, and they're proud to have emerald status as a Michigan green school.

When the bins are full, the recycling company comes out and empties them.  The school pays $16 a bin for each pickup.

"The amount of trash that we've reduced our building down to has been amazing.  It's something that I'm very proud of our school and our students for the effort that they've given," principal Stacy Hoeft told us.

It does take some doing, but the principal says these students handle their recycling jobs with a smile, and they've learned so much about the materials that can be reused instead of thrown away.  Now they're eager to share the message and their enthusiasm with the community.