3500 Students, 19 Schools, and Lots of Litter!

Students at Montgomery Blair High School hold up a sign that says "We show love for our community by putting litter in its place."
June 24, 2024
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3500 Students, 19 Schools and Lots of Litter!

550 students at East Silver Spring Elementary School participated in a cleanup on May 3rd.

 

Between late April and the beginning of June, 19 schools (15 elementary schools, 1 middle school, and 3 high schools) in the Anacostia watershed engaged 3500 students in cleaning up litter in their communities! In total, the students collected 257 pounds of litter! That’s 257 less pounds of litter that would have otherwise washed into and polluted our streams! That’s also the same weight as:

🐼 A giant panda, or

🐬 A striped dolphin, or

🚲 A dirt bike!

If that’s not impressive enough, let’s break that weight down into types of litter. Students collected (and recycled or otherwise properly disposed of):

  • 48 lbs of paper recycling. That’s the same weight as 4,383 sheets of 8.5x11in printer paper!
  • 51 lbs of other recyclables (plastics, glass, aluminum, etc.). That’s the same weight as 2,313 empty, non-reusable plastic water bottles!
  • 157 lbs of trash. That’s the same weight as 64,740 candy wrappers!

Thank you to Nature Forward, the Montgomery County Public School’s Department of Facilities Management, the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection, and all the students and staff for your hard work this spring!

The William Tyler Page Elementary School green team participated in a cleanup on April 24th.