Each day during lunch a group of students who call themselves the “Green Team” scurry around campus emptying recycling bins full of materials. The team is proud of the fact that they are making a difference by reducing the amount of trash that ends up in our landfills. 

Collin Duffel, an eighth grade student at Harry Hurst Middle School stated, “Recycling is a necessity that everyone needs to take advantage of.”

Harry Hurst Middle School has partnered with Phoenix Recycling to engage the whole school community in recycling as a part of making the school campus a “green” community. So far, students have collected approximately 1,698 gallons of paper, plastic, aluminum and cardboard. This is approximately four weeks of collection. These materials are the waste that is generated on a daily basis within the boundaries of the school campus. 

As participants in this organization, the “Green Team” has become the voice of change that has helped to jumpstart this program. Members daily instruct their peers as well as the faculty and staff as to what should be recycled and what is considered regular waste. 

In addition to the recycling program, students are also brainstorming additional ways to promote environmental awareness. Students in the Talented Drama program have written and produced a video to promote recycling that will be used to help further educate their fellow

students. In addition, other students are working on posters that

illustrate the need for recycling. 

The organization is also researching additional ideas that can be incorporated in the coming months that will further move the entire school community toward being “Green.” 

Another focus of the team is to promote local awareness of recycling within the community. The partner, Phoenix Recycling offers curbside recycling to the New Orleans region including Destrehan. When someone signs up for service and indicates that they heard about it from Hurst, Phoenix will contribute $5 toward the future cost of recycling. 

“This project has challenged me to recycle at home.” stated Harry Hurst science teacher and Green Team Project coordinator Julie Rexford, ”My family has reduced by half the amount of regular waste that we put out in a normal week. Imagine if every household did this- think of the amount of landfill space that would be saved.”