Lunchtime lesson

CEDAR RAPIDS - A new “Star Wars” lunchbox is in 6-year-old John Maloy's future, but the space enthusiast's lunchtime excitement Monday centered around a closer-to-home initiative to benefit planet Earth.

“Reduce, reuse, recycle,” the Garfield Elementary School kindergartner recited after dropping his milk carton and plastics in recycling bins in the school cafeteria.

“It usually goes in the trash,” he said about the materials being recycled with the help of Green Iowa AmeriCorps.

Monday was a test project of AmeriCorps' Garbage Gabbers program at Garfield, 1201 Maplewood Dr. NE. Seven members of Green Iowa AmeriCorps, who promote energy savings through weatherization and environmental education, directed students on where to properly place their recyclables during the school's lunch hour.

The one-day pilot program is an offshoot of the group's Trash Talkers recycling initiative used during Freedom Festival and other area events.

“It encourages communication about recycling and how much is going into the garbage that we can divert,” said member Natalie Pappanduros, 23, of Bloomingdale, Ill. Green Iowa AmeriCorps, which started in response to the Floods of 2008, has members in four Eastern Iowa counties who receive a stipend for their service.

Milk cartons and plastic containers that had held dried fruit were the major items that members kept out of Garfield's trash.

All of the containers will be cleaned before the group finds an appropriate recycling home, Pappanduros said, citing a program with Terracycle as one possibility. The New Jersey company accepts items such as juice pouches to “upcycle,” or transform into backpacks and other products.

AmeriCorps member Alyssa Anderson, 23, of Des Moines, said the group would ultimately like to teach recycling in more schools and team with environmental clubs.

Garfield recycles paper and cardboard but doesn't have a program for plastics and other kitchen recyclables, lunchroom manager Becky Cullen said.

“I think this is a good idea,” she said.

Second-graders Annika Twedt-Ball, 8, and Nick Brewer, 7, agreed, with Annika noting that their milk cartons would otherwise end up “on a big pile of trash,” and Nick saying that recycling is important so garbage “doesn't fill up the world.”

Garfield custodian Curt Cavanaugh also applauded the idea but said the program faced at least one challenge.

“It's a matter of time,” he said, citing the 20 minutes that students have to get through the lunch line, eat and send back their trays.

Pappanduros said the group is willing to discuss the program with other schools.

“There's been a lot of interest in this,” she said. “We're open to see where it takes us.”

FYI

For more information, contact the Cedar Rapids office of Green Iowa AmeriCorps at: 319-297-3581 or greeniowacr@gmail.com