“Our students have been so excited to see all of the materials that they are helping to recycle.  Many teachers and parents have also commented on how great this was.” – Teacher at BPS 33

You may recall from the last newsletter that New York is making a push to keep clothing out of landfills by raising awareness about what to do with old clothing and textiles. To help promote this effort, Friends of Reinstein teamed with the City of Buffalo, DEC and the WNY Coalition for Donated goods to sponsor an “Earth Day Clothing Drive” in Buffalo Public Schools.

Students from eleven Buffalo public and charter schools collected clothing that was removed for recycling or reuse by the WNY Coalition for Donated Goods, a collaboration of nonprofit organizations whose goal is to promote both the community and the environment through the donation of clothing and other goods.

DEC Region 9 Director Abby Snyder and Deputy Mayor Dr. Ellen Grant congratulated students at a ceremony at School 45 (International School). Some of the schools competed to see which class in the school could collect the most clothing. The winning class received a pizza party from Hearts for the Homeless and the City of Buffalo, and the runner-up class received Smencils courtesy of Reinstein Woods. Olmsted School 64 had the highest collection total, saving more than 3,605 pounds of clothes, bedding, and related textile accessories from ending up in a landfill.

Overall, the eleven schools collected 11,244 pounds of clothing. How much is that? It’s equivalent to the weight of:

• 5 polar bears,
• 2.5 minivans, or
• 1 elephant!

Kudos also goes to Grand Island High School and Huth Road Elementary School in Grand Island, who organized an Earth Day clothing drive too and collected an additional 1,704 pounds of clothing that was given to the Coalition for recycling.