You may have learned recycle, reduce, reuse in grade school, but now one local school district is putting part of that into practice.
Augusta County Schools are doing something extra this year to help the planet. A new county-wide recycling program is underway and teachers and students at Wilson Elementary are to thank for it.
Wilson Teacher Nicki Henrickson says, "Last year was one of the big years the green push was started and a lot of us realized it made an awful lot of sense and we know it's something we wanted to instill in our children and as a school it seemed like a wise thing to do."
Henrickson also says they have been working on starting a recycling program for quite some time but the cost has held them back. It costs more than $10,000 for a recycling pick-up plan for Augusta County Schools.
This year, the Augusta County government picked up the tab and the plan finally got off the ground.
Henrickson says, "The kids got the word out, the parents were excited about it. Everyone just joined on board and it was really nice to have."
Jared Moore, a fifth grader and member of the green team at Wilson, says he knows why he wants to recycle.
He says, "It's important to help the environment."
Henrickson says she is excited that all Augusta County Schools are joining in on the program.
She says, "It's fantastic but we also think it's a natural. It's good for everybody, so it was going to catch on eventually. It just needed a starting place to grow from."