43
Cash for Cans contest means cash for schools
By christine Keeling
A contest lets schools collect cans for cash.
The Cash for Cans contest gives schools the money from the actual cash value of the aluminum cans they collect.
Sponsored by the Recycling Division of the Mahoning County Green Team, it’s in the 23rd year and also offers children a way to learn the benefits of recycling.
“Over the years, we have had 20 to 30 schools participate each year,” said Jim Petuch, director of the Green Team. “Thousands of dollars can be gotten.”
Last year, 24 schools collected 18,339 pounds of beverage cans and earned $10,888.27.
Ellsworth Elementary school was the No. 1 per-capita school winner.
Its 258 students collected 2,001 pounds of cans and received $1,158.55.
Canfield Village Middle School took top honors overall. Its 934 students collected 2,971 pounds of aluminum cans.
“We have been participating since 2005,” said Vicki Latimer, seventh-grade teacher at the Canfield middle school.
“The students wanted to build a track, and we tried to come up with a way to raise money that would be beneficial for the community.”
The students are less than $100 away from being able to afford the track’s $21,850 price tag.
The school received $5,000 from the National Councils of Mayors each time it won first and second place in the nation for the most- innovative way to recycle cans, in 2010 and 2009, respectively.
The rest of the money has been raised from Cash for Cans.
It takes about 32 cans to make a pound and, since the school began the contest, the price for aluminum has averaged between 30 and 75 cents a pound, Latimer said.
“The community is invited to bring in as many cans as they can,” she said.
A trash bin is located to the left of the school’s main circular driveway and is where people can drop off beverage cans only, Latimer said.
Pete Morabito, principal at Ellsworth Elementary, said the Cash for Cans program lets the community get involved and allows him to meet new people.
“I have parents, grandparents, neighbors and businesses providing support,” said Morabito. “The best part is, we are investing back into the environment.”
The school uses the money it raises to buy programs and materials the kids need, he said. It has allowed the school to have science programs, such as COSI in Columbus and Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, visit the school, Morabito said.
He said the school collects a lot of cans after the Super Bowl.
Americans drink an average of 380 beverages in aluminum cans each year, according to the Can Manufacturers Institute’s website.
Recycling one can save enough energy to run a television for three hours, it said.
Cash for Cans runs from October to April, so it’s not too late for other schools to join, said Petuch.
He said such contests are important for kids because they teach them to reduce, reuse and recycle.