Each year, the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority (Authority) recognizes one local business, organization or school that has taken the initiative to go above and beyond with their efforts in reduction, reuse and recycling. This year, the Authority is pleased to honor the Conkling Elementary School Green Team as the 2025 Recycling Champion.
The Conkling Elementary School Green Team, located within the Utica City School District, has been working to educate staff and students on the importance of recycling and sustainability for the last five years. The Green Team is made up of an average of fifteen 5th and 6th graders and is student led with a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary and reporter.
As it started up, the Conkling Elementary School Green Team focused on classroom recycling with weekly collections and providing recycling education for the entire school by inviting Authority staff for assemblies and presentations. The team’s reporter also began sharing recycling tips and activities during the school’s morning announcements.
As the Conkling Elementary School Green Team gained more experience, they started adding other initiatives such as establishing their own version of the Authority’s Plastic Film Challenge, where the school’s classrooms competed to see who could bring in the most plastic film for the Green Team to recycle. Before being dropped off at a store for recycling, the team created plastic film snowmen out of the plastic film that was collected to provide a fun visual for fellow students to see how much material is being recycled. Most recently, the team has upcycled wooden pallets into Christmas tree decorations for the school.
Other initiatives that the Conkling Elementary School Green Team has worked on include participating in the school’s science fair, planting and maintaining a garden bed, collecting deposit cans and bottles, and donating canned food items to organizations such as Feed Our Vets. The team plans to start composting in the spring with help from the Authority, which has donated a composter and will be providing information on what and how to compost. The team also tours the Authority’s recycling center each year to learn more about recycling and how the facility operates.
“It has been such a great experience working with the Conkling Elementary School Green Team,” said Authority Recycling Coordinator Eileen Brinck. “I really admire all of the effort that the students put in to educating their peers about recycling and other sustainability related topics. They are our community’s future environmental leaders.”
“The perseverance and dedication that these Green Team members have demonstrated toward caring for their planet is remarkable,” said Conkling Elementary School Green Team Advisor Hilary Lonis. “It has truly been an honor to watch them grow as individuals who care deeply about the environment and who exemplify the mantra ‘reduce, reuse and recycle.’”
Representatives from the Conkling Elementary School Green Team will be attending the Authority’s Board of Directors meeting on December 15th, 2025 at the Authority’s main office at 1600 Genesee Street in Utica to accept the 2025 Recycling Champion Award.
For more information on Green Teams please contact Authority Recycling Coordinator Eileen Brinck at eileenb@ohswa.org or 315-733-1224 x 1400. More information can be found on the Authority’s website at www.ohswa.org and on the Authority’s Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages.