Posts Tagged ‘LA’s BEST’

The Go H2O Challenge at Esperanza Elementary School

Monday, May 2nd, 2011

The following is an interview with Alberto Lopez, LA’s BEST site coordinator at Esperanza Elementary. Below Alberto talks about how the Go H2O challenge impacted his school community.

Q: How did you bring the Go H2O challenge into your program?

A: We brought it to the site with great expectations and motivations. Being a very “green” person, I knew that I would bring the challenge to the forefront of what we were doing at LA’s BEST to emphasize the importance of recycling and drinking water. We even showed a demo of why drinking water was good for you and how soda could slow a person down.

Q: What did the kids learn through this challenge?

A: The students grasped the concept of the challenge. They loved the water bottles and the fact that they could personalize them.

Q: How important is it that kids in the LA’s BEST program learn about recycling?

A: That is an important part of what we do at my site. We teach the “4 R’s,” especially the new “R”, Renew. We give the students demos and activities to show how they can “renew” their old items. We also emphasized why it was better for the environment to reuse their water bottles instead of buying new ones all the time.

Q: Has the Go H2O challenge changed the way your site talks about recycling and healthy habits?

A: It sparked an interest in my staff and my students that wasn’t there before. The fact that my staff has embraced the “4 R’s” is a great testament to what the Go H2O Challenge brought to my site.

Q: What does it mean to you as a site coordinator to be involved in the Go H2O challenge?

A: Everything! I believe that we are all connected. Therefore, what we do as a site and as an organization has a huge impact on our community and on others. We can set the example for our students, who take it to their families, who take it to their communities and so on.

Q: This program works to make the kids ambassadors of healthy habits among their friends and families. What are some examples of how the kids have taken what they’ve learned back to their homes?

A: We have continued recycling. Whenever we have events at our site, we drink water or make lemonade instead of buying it and when the students make it themselves, they realize it has less sugar. Parents have become curious and gotten involved because their kids are going crazy with recycling everything and anything at home.

Q: Have the kids started taking the initiative to recycle at your site since the program launched?

A: We do it every single day: plastic bottles, paper and our famous crayon which we make by melting old crayons and molding them into cool shapes for the kids to use again. The kids are the reason that we do all of these things around here. They are our leaders!

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Celebrating Earth Day 2011

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

This year’s Earth Day events were the busiest yet, with everything from water bottle bowling (yes, really) to an art contest.  And ACC was fortunate to be part of them all.

We got a jump start on our Earth Day celebrations with the students of LA’s BEST. At Grape Elementary School in Los Angeles, we hit the playground and marked the day with games that incorporated recyclable “equipment” the students brought in from home. Take a look at the photos to see what I mean!

It was the perfect way to creatively underscore just how easy it is to reduce, reuse and recycle and continue the Go H2O! challenge. It was so much fun, in fact, that some of the students pulled out their drums for an impromptu performance.

A few days later, we gathered with Keep California Beautiful and our other partners to launch our statewide plans for the Great American Cleanup. As always, we’ll be out in full force throughout the year collecting litter and recycling aluminum, glass, plastic, paper and other materials – but the focus for 2011 is on electronic waste (e-waste) collection.

Californians pride themselves on being ahead of the curve with their electronics – and with good reason.  But it’s also important to remember much of our electronic equipment can and should be recycled. You might even be surprised to learn that thirteen McDonald’s restaurants throughout the state are providing receptacles for e-waste.

This year’s kickoff event also provided the opportunity for us to display the winning art pieces from the “Junk and Gunk” art contest.  “Waste Not, Want Not” trophies were awarded to students from Arvin Union School District and Santa Barbara Home Based Partnership, who won their divisions of the Waste Minimization competition during the 2010 California K-12 Schools Recycling Challenge.  See for yourself how impressive the creativity of California high school students has proven to be again this year.

For us here at ACC, every day is Earth Day as our member companies and their employees strive to reduce, reuse and recycle not only the products we manufacture, but the products we use every day.  Join us!

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“Go-ing H2O!” for a Second Time

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

ACC recently had the pleasure of spending a Sunday morning with the LA’s BEST community to announce the Go H2O! Challenge. The Challenge, now in its second year, is an exciting way to educate more students and families in Los Angeles about recycling and healthy habits. You can read more about the challenge here. Now that we have officially launched the second year of the program, keep an eye out for more exciting news from the challenge. And don’t forget to Go H2O!

Despite the cloudy day, the LA's BEST community was out in full force.

Recycling tip magnets and stickers were a hit at our GO H2O! booth.

Two LA's BEST students are ready to "Go H2O!"

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Water Bottle Bowling and Other Ways We Celebrated Earth Day 2010

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

As I mentioned a few posts ago , we put together “Go H20!” Recycling Festivals at 91 LA’s BEST sites for students to test their recycling knowledge and have some fun celebrating Earth Day. It was a huge hit with over 15,000 students in the Los Angeles area and the kids had a great time practicing their bowling and juggling skills. Take a look at the pictures to see for yourself—the smiles on the faces of the kids is a great testament to the fact that learning combined with fun can make for positive results. If you’re looking for engaging and educational ways to teach your kids about recycling, feel free to try some of the games in this toolkit and host your own Recycling Festivals. Be sure to let us know how they go in the comments section!

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Celebrating Earth Day with LA’s BEST

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Thursday marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and we’ve been working with our friends at LA’s BEST to put together a fun and educational way for the students to celebrate the occasion. This week, 91 LA’s BEST sites—that’s almost 15,000 students—will participate in Earth Day festivals that will test their recycling knowledge while they have some fun.

 These festivals are an extension of The “Go H20!” challenge, which aims to educate LA’s BEST students and their families about the importance of recycling plastics and reducing waste while emphasizing how drinking more water can promote a healthy lifestyle. Last fall, ACC supplied the LA’s BEST program with 15,000 reusable plastic water bottles made out of recyclable material and students participating in the challenge learned why water is a healthy choice and how choosing a re-usable, recyclable container benefits the earth. You can read more about the challenge here.

We’ll be sure to post pictures of the festivals so you can learn how to juggle plastic bags and practice your own water bottle bowling skills. In the meantime, let us know how you plan to commemorate Earth Day this year in the comments below.

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Celebrating the ‘Go H20!’ challenge with Assemblyman Isadore Hall

Monday, December 21st, 2009

Assemblyman Hall presents a student with a prize for correctly answering a trivia question. Hall was on hand to congratulate the students for their participation in the ‘Go H20!’ challenge.

I recently had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with the students of the 109th and 112th Street schools in Los Angeles to celebrate the completion of the Go H20! Challenge (you can read about when we launched the challenge here.)  We were joined by Assemblyman Isadore Hall, who represents the 52nd district of California. Assemblyman Hall came to congratulate the students for completing the Go H2O! Challenge and encourage them to continue to spread the word about recycling and healthy eating habits.

Although it was the last day before winter break, the students were enthusiastic, engaged, and excited to share their newfound knowledge about recycling and plastics. One group of students even wrote a song – complete with hand motions – about the types of materials that can be recycled.

Assemblyman Hall tested the student’s knowledge by playing a trivia game with them. The lucky student who answered correctly walked away with a crisp $100 bill from the Assemblyman! By the end of the afternoon, it was clear the students were well-versed on the importance of recycling and drinking more water.  It was a great way to close out 2009.

You can see the students singing about reducing, reusing and recycling here.

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