LHS Nominated For State Recycling Award

is in the running for a MassRecycle K-12 award, due to a six-year-old recycling program that has processed more than 100,000 pounds of paper and more than 270,000 bottles.

In a recent letter to Lynnfield's school superintendent, Dr. Thomas Jefferson, Marlene Connelly of the Lynnfield Recycling Committee  specifically praised LHS Science Department Chair Scott Gordon for being "an exceptional leader in our mission to 'green' Lynnfield High School." She also praised Ms. Elizabeth LaMonica and the LHS Environmental Club for their regular work on the school's recycling efforts. "I cannot overstate how important the work they do each week is to the program's continuing success," wrote Connelly.

Lynnfield schools have undertaken various efforts to improve recycling rates over the past several years. Data provided in Connolly's letter shows that when the  LHS recycling program started during the '05-'06 school year, it resulted in 6,000 pounds of paper being recycled. The next year, plastic bottle recycling was added, with 36,830 of them being kept out of landfills – as the amount of paper recycled shot up to 16,900 pounds.

Last school year, LHS students and staff reportedly recycled 23,200 pounds of paper and 67,590 bottles. Over the six-year lifetime of the program, this has resulted in the recycling of 102,000 pounds of paper and 272,635 plastic bottles.

Putting the results into further context, the letter cites data from recycling-revolution.com showing that the school's paper recycling efforts alone have done the equivalent of saving 867 trees, 19,380 gallons of oil and 357,000 gallons of water (about as much as the town consumes daily) while also producing $4,131 in direct savings for the town.