WICHITA – The Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland Council has won the Great American Can RoundUp-Scout Council Challenge for the third year in a row after recycling 32,199 pounds of aluminum cans, thanks to an outstanding effort by Girl Scouts in Reno County who rallied their community.
Girl Scout Troops 50244 and 50028 of Hutchinson were the top two recycling troops in the national recycling challenge. Both troops collected around 15,000 pounds of aluminum cans each – or more than 900 pounds of aluminum per Girl Scout – to help the Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland Council earn the National Recycling Champion award.
The GACR Scout Council Challenge, sponsored by Can Manufacturers Institute, began on Jan. 15 and ended April 30, with 800 Girl and Boy Scouts from 56 troops across the country competing.
“We are extremely proud of our girls’ hard work and the incredible commitment they make to recycling year after year,” said Liz Workman, CEO of Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland. “They exhibit leadership by not only achieving but surpassing their goals and involving the community. We’re also thankful for partners like MidWest Iron & Metal in Hutchinson that continue to support Girl Scouting for the benefit of both the girls and the community.”
For more than a decade, Girl Scout troops in Reno County have partnered with MidWest Iron & Metal in Hutchinson to host an annual community can drive at the local business. On April 26, trucks lined up in Hutchinson for the annual can drive, where the girls helped unload the more than 32,000 pounds of aluminum – the most the council has collected since 2004 and a 16 percent increase over last year. Girl Scout troops from Pratt and Newton also contributed to the effort.
The GACR Scout Council Challenge helps create awareness of the environmental benefits of recycling cans.
“We are really fortunate to have a place in the community to do this,” Marty Fee, leader of Troop 50028 in Hutchinson, said of the annual can drive. “All of the girls worked hard and asked people in the community or put boxes out at churches, and their parents were very supportive.
“They really got the word out – we had truckloads lined up for blocks. We went way over our goal. It’s a good opportunity to talk about recycling and why it’s important.”