By Dave O'Brien
Record-Courier staff writer
The new year, coupled with the upcoming tax season, might prove a good time to clean out those old bank statements, office papers and stacks of old magazines for a good cause.
Stanton Middle School in Kent and its garden club have partnered with Abitibi Paper Retriever to raise funds to beautify school grounds by collecting recyclable paper waste in two bins located in the parking lot outside the school at 1175 Hudson Road.
Community members are invited to bring office paper, newspapers, magazines, catalogs, shredded documents and junk mail and place them in one of the two large green and yellow bins.
Abitibi collects the bins, weighs the contents and then pays the school based on the weight of the recyclables collected. The collection is for paper only, so plastic, glass, metal, cardboard, telephone books, trash or paper coated with food waste, plastic or wax will not be accepted.
Abitibi paid out more than $4 million to community organizations and schools in 2006 based on collections, according to the company.
"The more you collect the more they pay," said Patty Finley, Stanton activities coordinator.
The money will go toward purchasing landscaping materials, benches and other items to beautify the exterior of the school, with the help of the student garden club.
Foreign language teacher Maegan Joseph, co-adviser to the club, said both bins have filled up quickly just from the papers recycled by teachers and students.
A $2,400 Toolbox For Education grant from the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation, the charity arm of the home improvement company, recently received by the garden club also will help student gardeners and their advisers re-establish the school's garden in the spring, Joseph said.