Students crush cans for Earth Day
BAXTER -- It was music to the ears of students at Family of Christ Lutheran School.
Friday afternoon, kindergartners through sixth-graders celebrated Earth Day by smashing about 30 garbage bags full of cans in the parking lot. Once the cans hit the parking lot all the students attacked them to smash them as small as they could.
The students saved cans for three weeks for Earth Day, which was Saturday.
Principal Larry Andersen came up with "Smash a Can Day" so students could have hands-on experience with recycling and learn that recycling can be fun. Andersen said it is important for students to learn about recycling so they can take care of the earth, use God's resources and not abuse or waste them.
Sharon Thomas of the school's Parent Teacher League said teachers have been educating students about the importance of compacting trash because it takes up less space at the landfill.
Thomas said the money earned from the cans will go to the library fund for books and other library supplies.
"We need more history books," said Erica Bybee, a sixth-grader.
Bybee said recycling has become part of her routine at home. She recycles to help the planet, to reduce littering and to turn old things into new things.
Her classmate Tim Hatfield said recycling helps the environment because people can reuse resources, such as plastic and oil. Hatfield said his family reuses milk jugs by pouring drinking water in the jugs.
"You take something and make something else that can be used over and over again," said fourth-grader Jonathan Warling. "If you don't (recycle) it is gone."
Fourth-grader Joshua Bisek said recycling is a way to take care of the place God gave people.
Kindergartners Luke Simon and Hannah Kangas understood the general concept of recycling.
"To bring cans into the recycling place to get more money," said Simon. "They (the staff at the recycling plant) make the cans into money."
"It means we can clean up the world," said Kangas.
Fourth-graders Adam Bybee and Beth Andersen said recycling helps the earth. Plus they earned money for the school's library for books.
Jessica Lange, another fourth-grader, said recycling helps make more room in the landfills and saves the earth.
All students said they had fun smashing the cans. "It gives my legs exercise," said Lange.