"It doesn't take that much effort," Shattuck said. "It's really just a matter of finding folks who have the will, the time, the energy to take this on."
Tunkel and Shattuck said they also teach students more about recycling, discussing where the items go, and how long things take to break down.
"Hopefully that hits home with them," Tunkel said.
One thing that has caught on, she said, is the kids' enthusiasm for the teams.
On a recent afternoon at Parr's Ridge, Kyle Strong, 8, quietly slipped into a classroom where students were watching a video.
"He's coming for our recycling," a teacher in the room said, responding to the inquisitive eyes turned to Kyle.
The second-grader hefted a box painted blue and sporting a white recycling logo and dumped its multicolored paper contents into a bin. He tiptoed back to return the box, before heading to the next room.
Later, he and Ryan joined their peers at a large scale in a health room, where Tunkel and two other mothers helped them weigh the full large black trash bags to determine how much they collected.
"Wow - 38, you guys," said parent Jennifer McAninley, of one bag. Niya Pattasseril, 8, jotted down the figure, tallying their total with the help of Nico Lindsay, 8.
The day's intake: 171 pounds. And, gathering around the chart mounted on a wall to track the recycling they had amassed each week, they soon discovered they had surpassed 5,000 pounds.
Elements like the chart, which ties back to math lessons, make the exercise meaningful to the students, said Ann Marie Blonkowski, the school's principal.
"We all need to be recycling," Blonkowski said. "It only makes sense that we model it here at our school."
The school plans to expand the program next year, she said, with a recycling bin for community use.
Ryan, for one, said he wasn't surprised at the 5,000-plus pounds the team has picked up this year. He and his peers said they have become more conscientious about their own trash-disposal habits.
Niya tells her 2-year-old sister to "go to the garage and put it in the blue bin" when paper and plastic bottles are involved, she said.
Kiera McAninley, 8, said she uses scrap paper before she pulls out a new piece.
Nico's mother, LeeAnn Leshko-Lindsay, said her son is at times even more diligent than she already is about recycling, even noting that they could do so with their toothpaste tubes.
"If the schools do it, and the kids become so conditioned, then it becomes natural," she said.
"You see all the difference one school can make in the community," Jennifer McAninley said.
Next year, Tunkel said, the team is looking into a program that pays the school based on the amount of recycling collected.
Beyond that, she would like to see the Green Team model - which has received a certificate of recognition from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's regional office - adopted at other schools, she said.
"We need to be aware of how much [kids] can really do and how much change they're capable of," Tunkel said. "Maybe there'll be a ripple effect."
arin.gencer@baltsun.com
