Take Me To Post Comment Form Wondering why so many kids in Liberty County are on a recycling plastic bottle kick lately? Students have been seen racing across tracks not to win a meet, but to get to a plastic bottle first! What is this insanity? It's the 3rd annual Return the Warmth Recycling Program brought to our youth by Keep Liberty County Beautiful, the United Way, the Midway Middle School Builders Club and YALL (Young Adult Liberty Leaders).

In 2006 two Liberty County Schools, Liberty Elementary and Midway Middle School placed nationally in this recycling competition. More than anything, actually getting a product back for their efforts, in this case a fleece pullover made of recycled plastics, seems to spur our youth onto greater heights. Liberty Elementary and Midway Middle School placed seventh and eighth respectively in the national recycling effort, with over 500 schools competing nationwide. The Midway Middle School Builders Club, a spur group of the Kiwanis Club of Liberty County, spearheaded the project for both schools.

In 2006 the two schools collected over 3 tons of plastics. In 2007 Bradwell Institute and Liberty County High School joined the fray, upping the total ante to over 5 tons of plastic bottles recycled in a 3 month time span!

“I think that this has been a great project. This is a great group of kids that our community can be very proud of, said Dave Sapp, Liberty County Solid Waste Director. He shared that on average Liberty County throws away some 200 tons of trash on a daily basis, with only 300 tons being recycled in any given year.

This year has seen even more school joining in to do their part to help save the environment. Lewis Frasier Middle School, First Presbyterian Christian Academy and First United Methodist PreK have joined Midway Middle, Liberty County High School and Bradwell to help make this the best year yet for PET recycling in Liberty County.

Pictured are students from Lewis Frasier Middle School. Graduation Coach, Kevin Fulghum, is coordinating the efforts for Lewis Frasier. He has been heard to say, "I can't figure out how this is all happening!" about Lewis Frasier's extreme success in their recycling efforts thus far. On average the school is filling their recycling dumpster up every 1.5 days.

Keep up the good work everybody! We appreciate you.

To learn how to get involved contact Sara Swida at 368.4888 or Leah Poole at 368.4282.