Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

In April of my junior year, my school's recycling services were discontinued. I could not believe that my school of over 2,000 students would be throwing all of our extra paper away. My environment teacher, Mrs.Samply, and I decided to research why the service was cancelled. I started by scheduling a meeting with Edmond Beautiful, a local environment group. I presented our concern and worked with these community leaders to find out who had funded the bins, the company we used, and how we could get recycling back into our school district. Over the next months, I also met with local administrators. I discovered that the cost of the bins was $80. Then, my principal informed us that the service wasn't worth keeping around without students consistently emptying the bins. Mrs. Sampley and I created a presentation for teachers and parents. We received enough funding to last three years.Then I organized a schedule for classes to volunteer to facilitate the bins. This year, we have grown our school's environment club. We now have weekly meetings to discuss current issues, maintain our recycling bins, and come up with new ideas to make our school more green. Now, Edmond Memorial has funds and a solution to promote sustainable habits, and I am grateful to have been a part of this experience.