Scouts eye recycling promotion

Published 5:00 am Friday, July 27, 2007

Girl Scout Troop 54 is hoping to raise community awareness aboutthe need for recycling through a campaign they brainstormed as agroup.

“It was our whole troop that came up with the idea,” saidRosemary Moak, Troop 54’s spokesperson for the recyclinginitiative. “We came up with a lot of ideas, and the girls in ourtroop realized we don’t have a recycling plan.”

Moak, a junior at Brookhaven Academy, said the troop has triedto find strategic ways to place themselves in the public eye withtheir plan for making Brookhaven a little more eco-friendly.

Subscribe to our free email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

“We went to The DAILY LEADER’s political rally, and had a booththere,” she said. “And we’ve planned on going to the Old BrookFestival and have an information booth there, where we’ll sellgrocery bags that promote our recycle campaign.”

The troop issued a recycling proposal to area businesses andcity officials stating, “Our overall goal is to eventually start arecycling program in our town, since at the present time, we arelacking one. By promoting awareness, we hope to be successful inmaking our world a more renewable place.”

Moak said the plan is to alert as many people as possible to theadvantages of reducing, reusing and recycling plastic materials,especially plastic bags and bottles. The bags, which they areselling at cost, bear the slogan, “Brookhaven, the RecyclingCity.”

The troop is asking local businesses to assist with the effortby providing financial incentives to customers using the grocerybags because it cuts down on the disposable plastic bags releasedinto the community.

“In the impending future it is clear that our earth will nothave enough fossil fuels to create plastics in the future, so wemust start now with our campaign to recycle plastic if we want ourchildren to have the same advantages of plastics that we have had,”the proposal says.

Scout group members are also asking for funding support from anybusiness interested in making a contribution.

“Were going to pay for it through our own troop funds, but we’rehoping for local sponsors to help us,” Moak said. “We’re not tryingto make money, we’re just selling bags to promote awareness andrecoup our costs.”

Finally, the troop is asking area businesses, governmentorganizations and schools to add recycling receptacles to theirfacilities.

Each of the groups asked to participate is integral to theentire awareness campaign.

“We’re talking to principals at the schools and the citygovernment as well as our business community, and we’re hoping thatthey’ll want to put recycling bins out so plastics and things canbe recycled,” she said. “We’re hoping they’ll cooperate with ourrecycling initiative.”