School Grants
Two $500.00 Grants are awarded to local schools that bring awareness to Reduce, Reuse or Recycle each school year. The deadline to apply for the 2022 grant is January 20th.
All applications for the grants will be reviewed by the RCRSWMA Board at the February 9th meeting and the winning projects will be announced on February 10th.
Download the grant application here: Grant Application
For the official Grant Announcement, please click here.
For potential project ideas, please click on the Facebook videos at the bottom of the page and follow us on Facebook! You may also call Kristin (419-774-5861) to schedule a visit to your classroom to discuss how to write and prepare for the grant and/or for reviewing possible projects that can benefit the school, the community, or a particular group of individuals.
Past Winners of Recycling Grants for Schools
The 2021 winners: The CACY team of Lexington Junior High. The team built a community of outreach for recycling during COVID19. Through emails, announcements, and consistent follow-up with recycling, the team created best recycling practices for Lexington Junior High while instilling “A sense of caring for the environment” and for each other. The Shelby Eco Whippets, Shelby Middle School, won a grant for their “Save the Frogs Day” promotion. The Eco Whippets will educate and fascinate younger students on the importance of frogs and toads in Richland County. Their program focuses on environmental awareness, the positive interaction with wildlife, the role of recycling in the community and how recycling promotes stewardship and responsibility to nature and wildlife.
Honorable Mention goes to Claire at Eastern Elementary. She demonstrated the power of making a difference by sharing posters/flyers, conducting studies, and installing simple recycling bins throughout her school to increase recycling efforts while promoting the importance of recycling at Eastern Elementary.
The 2020 winners: Crestview High School received a $500 grant for the water bottle study completed in their school. The Green Team learned that 626 plastic bottles were used by students while in school within a 3 week period. Crestview HS has installed refillable water bottle fountains. Shelby Eco-Whippets from Shelby Middle School studied the negative effects plastic straws have on the environment. Because of this study, straws are only distributed if students ask for them during school meal times.
Calendar Contest
Every year Richland County Solid Waste hosts a K-12 student calendar contest. This year’s contest ends on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. The theme for this year’s calendar is Bee Connected to Nature: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Download a flyer for rules and related theme ideas by clicking flyer. Winning contestants will receive a gift packet promoting Richland County, which may include gift cards to Ohio Bird Sanctuary, Miniature Golf, Altitude Trampoline Park, Kingwood Center’s new Garden Gateway, Malabar Farm, Richland Carrousel Park and more!
The 2021 Poster Contest, “Recycling Heroes” was sponsored by Milliron Recycling. Three overall winners were selected: Gabrielle Smith from Lucas High School, Jordan Ginn from Malabar Intermediate, and Jacob Murfield from Central Elementary. They received a recognition packet encouraging community engagement. Other winners include Jack Hinton, Woodland Elementary; Evelyn Gunsalus, Lexington Central Elementary; Alliana Armstong, Mansfield Christian; Sophie Hamilton, Sacred Heart; Stacey Wolf, Malabar Intermediate; Olivia Kiley, Madison Middle School; Adrianna Shoemaker, Madison Middle School; Emily Daley, Lucas High School; and Andrew Westfield, Lucas high School.
All winners received a family day pass to the Ohio Bird Sanctuary as well as other opportunities to engage in Richland County’s parks and recreation.
The calendars were on display at the Mansfield Richland County Public Library, during county fairs and at various locations throughout Richland County.
