Inspirational Scholarship Applications

"In my home we always reuse and recycle. We recycle everything from plastic to paper which cuts down on trash each week. Every week we have recycle bins that we place at the road where they come and pick them up. We also use some styrofoam plates more than once by washing them. We also cut back on gas in the winter time because we turn the furnace off during the day unless it is like below 20."

"My children, and my grandchildren, deserve a healthy planet. Protecting our environment starts today. I can show how my home is not only committed to this cause but also how I showed America a better option for drinking water, how to reuse their empty bottles, while helping small businesses grow their water category! Working for a true green company is how I showcase my dedication to Mother Nature. My previous employer, Primo Water Inc. based out of Winston-Salem, N.C., created America’s first ever biodegradable reusable water bottle exchange system! We created a new water category for small businesses that helped grow revenue, while creating new repeat traffic for the return/exchanges, and gave families a clean new way to drink water. Primo Water’s return and exchange system saves billions of empty bottles ending up in landfills annually. I was the Regional Sales Manager for this company and was responsible for seventeen Western states promoting a healthier option. Not only did I promote drinking more water for our active small chain stores, but also using a system that promoted repeat business for small business owners and finally a solution for people all over America to return their empty three and five gallon water jugs for recycling. Our tested manufactured system worked. Consumers would visit a store that participated in our Primo Water Return/Exchange system, purchase either a three or five gallon water container, and afterwards return the empty container for a new discounted container purchase. We helped drive America’s small business using a product that protects our planet. Weekly, we would empty our recycle bin, which carried the empty water bottles, and recycle them. Our company grew incredibly and our return-exchange program can be found now in stores all over the U.S.A. which include Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart, and Lowes. Families now have a healthier drinking option that can save them from throwing away billions of empty water bottles a year, and they receive discounts when they return their three and five gallon empty jugs for a refill! I am committed to saving our planet, one water bottle at a time."

"I saw my brother with a pencil case made of Doritos bags. Curiously, I looked at the bag and noticed it was from a company called Terracycle. After doing some research, I discovered that Terracycle was an organization that collected a variety of normally unrecyclable trash items and recycled them into usable products from backpacks to pencil cases to lunch boxes. I immediately approached my school administrator and he agreed to allow me to start a collection program for chip bags, drink pouches, and candy wrappers so we could contribute to this organization. Today, our school group has collection boxes in numerous locations across our school and we receive hundreds of these trash items daily that we send to Terracycle to be made into new products. On top of that, Terracycle donates money to a charity that we have chosen as we continue to send in trash. So when it comes down to it, it's recycling with a bonus!"

"To begin with, I think that everyone knows the basics about recycling paper and plastic products. Well, I like to take these basics much farther. My family recycles, paper such as newspapers, work and school paper, and all other recyclable paper products; plastics such as water and milk jugs; and even glass such as broken drinking glasses or soda bottles; and I even recycle soda cans. My family has become so involved in recycling now, that my boyfriend has even committed to recycling old menus from the local restaurant that he works for. Also, instead of using rolls and rolls of paper towels to dry off cleaned hands, we use and reuse hand towels. We also aways use our ceramic plates instead of purchasing and wasting paper plates. My washer and dryer are HE and use lower amounts of electricity and water. We also like to carpool or if the distance is not too terribly far away, I will walk or ride my bike to cut down on carbon emissions. We always recycle any electronic products that we can and also send in our empty ink cartridges to be recycled. My school currently has waste baskets as well as recycling bins and I always encourage others to recycle what they can. I think it is extremely important to reduce, reuse, and recycle to ensure a world free of garbage and safe from pollutants.."

"I have always recycled and reused things at my house. I made specified bins for paper, plastic, glass, and cardboard which I take to the recycling bins at the local elementary school. I have recently noticed the outside needs for more recycling in the community. I am a freshman student at Northeast State Community College and was elected co-president of GREENS (GRassroots Environmental Efforts at Northeast State) which is our version of a recycling club. We are currently planning to have a cigarette butt pick-up day and make a display to show how bad the littering on campus is getting. We are also currently working on finding a speaker to talk about the environment for Earth Week, as well as other interesting things to do to raise awareness of the needs to reuse and recycle. The sponsor and I are also looking into the Adopt-A-Highway program, so we can help pick-up the litter on the highway right beside our school. I am really hoping to help bring awareness to the people in community as well as expand my knowledge of what I can do to help improve Earth's environment."

"My family home is dedicated to conserving as much as we can in our own lives. We recycle all types of cardboard, hard plastic, plastic bags, Styrofoam, paper bags, etc. We even clean out the 2-go Styrofoam boxes from restaurants. Everything that looks like it can be recycled, we clean out and put in the bins. Even when I am in a public place and I finish a plastic bottle of soda or something, I put it in my purse and bring it home so that I can recycle it. I use reusable metal bottles for water, and reuse plastic containers that foods come in, for leftovers. In my house, we unplug appliances when they are not being used, to save energy. Here in the dorm where I currently live, we use no disposable kitchenware. Even in my artwork, I reuse materials. I collect and keep different objects that would normally have been thrown away because they are broken or old. Then I use them in my mixed media artwork. I hope to teach people through my art and writing, about saving the environment by reducing, reusing and recycling."

"My children and I recycle cans, turn off the faucets when not using the water, reuse newspapers for projects and boxes for crafts or storage, and buy organic and green products like Kashi and Nature's Own. We also have replaced all the light bulbs with the coil blow energy bulbs. The biggest impact I think though is when friends come over and eat the healthy stuff and love it, then see the recycling bin by our back door and comment. I think we are influencing others in what is little known about being environmentally conscience in this small town in Kentucky. "

"For the three R's over time i've come to realize that going green will make our world a better place. This is our land and to start i reduce on my shower time by taking a shower and get out not sitting under the water pipe blowing bubbles. Continuing on while through out my day i get dehydrated while playing high school football so i also carry along with me my go green aluminum water bottle. With aluminum water bottles would get rid of the use of plastic water bottles, but also the littering that goes on in this world. I remember when i brought recycling to my parents my mom and dad never believed in recycling until my ninth grade year when i took a field trip to crystal springs the bottle water factory. While being there i seen this chart of recycled bottles and bottles that where made for the day on an electrical board. When coming to find out that we can help our world if we recycle our plastic and paper items i got the recycling bens for my house and told my parents about them now they love them and always tell there friends about recycling to. When brushing your teeth do you leave the water running during scrubs? Well if you reduce your water supply by cutting the water off when scrubing this helps the world and your pockets by reducing your monthly water bill. The three R's are helping us save money and make the world a better cleaning place."