H2O Campers Champion Recycling
H2O “Help to Others” Summer Service Camp, sponsored by the City of Lakewood, is a place for middle school students to learn about helping the community, local and global, through organized volunteer work. Each summer H2O has a different theme that the service revolves around. The theme for this year is, “Study the Past, Live in the Moment, Plan for the Future.” We are turning our focus to the current environmental situation, and making an effort to increase recycling in Lakewood.
We are beginning our efforts to improve recycling by educating the kids of Lakewood about it. By helping H2O campers establish good recycling habits at a young age, our hope is that, through them, we may reach out to their parents. In order to do this, H2O is bringing in guest speakers who are in the recycling field. They are coming to teach the campers proper recycling habits, as well as the importance of recycling. In addition to educating campers, H2O is making a conscientious effort to cut down on our waste by placing recycling bins in Lakewood High’s L-Room, where H2O summer camp meets every day. We are trying to incorporate the theme into our service sites in other ways as well, such as reading a book to daycare kids that teaches them about recycling. Also, we are collecting used clothes for our annual end-of-the-summer Clothes for Kids sale, and refurbishing old materials and furniture to make crafts for the Lakewood Arts Festival. We’ve even partnered with COX Cable and filmed a segment about recycling tips for Lakewood residents.
Once our H2O campers have developed their own excellent recycling habits, it then becomes possible to have them reach out to the larger Lakewood community. H2O campers are already doing this by making posters and jingles containing simple instructions for recycling properly that they will share throughout Lakewood. H2O is also in the process of targeting certain streets in order to see if we have impacted residents and improved their recycling habits. To do this, we will be going door-to-door, talking to residents, and asking them to fill out a survey to ensure the accuracy and efficiency of our information. At the beginning of the summer, we learned that only 39% of Lakewood recycles. Through all of our ambitious actions, we hope to raise awareness, improve Lakewood’s recycling efforts, and help our community maintain its greatness.
