On Nov. 15, the national America Recycles Day, now in its eighth year, will be celebrated in Middletown with the second annual Children’s Recycled Sculpture Contest.
The contest, which is sponsored by the mayor’s office, is open to Middletown students in kindergarten and middle school. The city is deliberately targeting children as young as five years old to increase the likelihood that these children will recycle as adults. The other stipulation is that contestants can only use recycled goods and their imaginations to design sculptures, collages and other creative works of art.
The contest is the brainchild of Lisa O’Rourke, Recycling Coordinator for Middletown.
“Kids are always trying to create new things out of old materials,” O’Rourke said. “I thought it would be fun to give them some recognition. It also helps us get the word out about recycling.”
All art entries will be evaluated by a panel of judges who will look for artistic prowess and creative use of recycled materials. The winners will be announced as part of the America Recycles Day celebration. All of the winners will receive $20 gift certificates for a toy courtesy of Bailey’s Express Inc., while runners up will be given several different prizes, all made from recycled materials. Also, the first twenty-five students to enter will receive free ice cream cones at Praline’s Ice Cream on Main Street.
No child, however, will go home empty-handed. All participants will receive an America Recycles t-shirt made from recycled goods.
Two years ago, O’Rourke approached Mayor Domenique Thornton with the idea for the contest. Thornton was immediately impressed with the concept.
“When I heard about Kim [O’Rourke]’s idea for the sculpture contest I knew it would be a great way to get the city involved,” Mayor Thornton said. “As Mayor, I would feel derelict if I didn’t do all I can to make Middletown aware of the importance of recycling. This was a great opportunity.”
O’Rouke pointed out that the contests also allows young children to become fledgling activists who can potentially influence adults around them who might not recycle.
“I’ve received a lot of feedback from parents whose children scold them if they don’t recycle right,” O’Rourke said. “I love that! It definitely helps to start these habits at a young age. Then you just grow up doing it.”
While it might be hard to gauge the effects of a recycling campaign, the Mayor feels confident that Middletown is on the right path.
“There are no definite measures of our success, but it is encouraging that the numbers for recycling have continued to grow from year to year,” Mayor Thornton said.
For those who are no longer in elementary or middle school, but still wonder what they can do to improve Middletown recycling, the Recycling Program suggests checking to make sure they are recycling properly, making sure their business is recycling, getting into buying less and composting and reusing more.
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