TAYLOR - Last year, Riverside Elementary West filled a tractor-trailer with gift wrap, Styrofoam and other holiday refuse, taking it to Anthracite Recycling in Scranton.
Surging off that success, the school is looking to match that in the second annual "Holiday Wrap Up."
"It's all the holiday gift wrap material," said Paul Brennan, principal of Riverside Elementary West. "We want to take that off their hands."
On Thursday, from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. the school will accept Styrofoam, gift boxes, gift wrap, gift bags, paper and cardboard.
Mr. Brennan said it is not just for the elementary school, but for the whole district.
John Hambrose, spokesman for Alliance Sanitary Landfill in Taylor, said that any initiative that introduces children to recycling is a worthy venture.
"Between Thanksgiving and New Year's, there is a 25 percent increase in waste produced," Mr. Hambrose said.
Recycling conserves space at the landfill but also conserves energy. Mr. Hambrose cited the energy used to produce new glass or new paper as an example.
"When you think about making a new glass bottle and all the energy used," Mr. Hambrose said, "there is a tremendous energy savings."
Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, @jkohutTT on Twitter