Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of Earth Day is the impact on generations of Americans who learn conservation while young and practice good stewardship of our environment in simple yet profound ways throughout their lives.
Today, on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, children continue to be a focus of the environmental movement.
Baby boomers still practice those early lessons. Lights out when rooms are empty. Save the precious resource of water; when brushing teeth, only turn on the faucet when rinsing. Recycle paper, plastic and metal. From those humble beginnings, now we have energy-saving light bulbs, low-flow faucets and toilets, and curbside recycling bins in many communities.
Younger generations carry on their parents’ ecological heritage.
This week, both Sugg Middle School and State College of Florida will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for collecting plastic bottles, albeit in competition instead of together. Last year, Sugg contributed its bottle stockpile to the college's effort.
This year, though, the middle school hosted the first Manatee County Schools Recycling Round-Up on Wednesday — with contributions from Nolan and Braden middle schools and Braden River High School. Sugg and SCF hope to collect more than 100,000 plastic bottles — each. Last year, the combined effort took in 41,100. Cheers to Sugg for ending up with almost 66,000 plastic bottles and containers. It’s SCF's turn today.
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