UPDATE: Refuse Division Sponsors Student Calendar

Melanie A. Lasoff

They may not be the next Monets, but several third graders have exhibited their artwork in Greensboro, N.C.'s "Recycle Greensboro" calendar project.

As part of a program to enlighten the public about recycling, Elaine Tricoli, a Greensboro solid waste education specialist, chose three of the city's 29 elementary schools to create posters based upon her waste reduction and recycling presentations. The teachers of each class then selected the best posters to be published in a calendar, which also would be distributed to all 29 local schools.

The project began a year and a half ago and was funded by Greensboro's Solid Waste Management Division, Environmental Services De- partment. Last year, the department printed 1,500 calendars, and this year, 3,000 of the 1998-1999 calendars were distributed.

Every month of the calendar features a student's work, recycling trivia, dates of environmental events and activities, and Greensboro's residential garbage and recycling holiday collection schedule.

While the calendar is meant to be informative, creating it also was a learning experience for the children, Tricoli says.

Once they put it down on paper, it shows [the students] really understand what it means to reduce waste and to recycle."

The students "are very receptive to this information," Tricoli says. "I hope I'm helping to create a generation of environmentally conscious adults."