If you step into Krista McFarland’s second grade classroom at Dressel Elementary, you might catch a glimpse of a 30-gallon garbage bin decorated with green and yellow paper. Boxes are attached to the side and top to make the bin look like a garbage truck, and paper wheels complete the visual. There’s even a hand-drawn cutout of a sanitation worker clinging to the back. On top, a paper says, “Keep it clean, keep it green.”
This is the winning submission in the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT)’s “No MOre Trash!” competition in the K-2 (kindergarten through second grade) category. McFarland’s second graders designed and decorated this garbage bin as part of MoDOT’s anti-litter campaign.
“For it to come full circle and for their hard work to be recognized made them feel really good,” McFarland said.
McFarland saw that MoDOT was advertising the contest on Facebook, and she thought it would be an exciting opportunity for her classroom. She passed the opportunity along to Dressel’s environmental club, which participated in the 3-5 (third through fifth grade) category of the competition.
McFarland and her class came up with several designs and let other second grade classes vote on which one to pursue. It took a month to get together the supplies, finalize the design and construct the bin.
“(The students) wanted you to know that they had to work together, they worked really hard and they poured their love into it, to spread awareness about littering,” McFarland said. “That’s all their words.”
The announcement that McFarland’s class had won in their category came as a surprise to both McFarland and her students. The students were especially excited about the $200 reward their classroom received, which they plan to put toward an Earth Day celebration. They might plant a tree outside Dressel.
“I was shocked and very excited (when we won),” McFarland said. “It was our first time doing it, so I didn’t know what to expect entirely.”
The garbage bin contest is part of MoDOT’s statewide litter prevention campaign. Each year, MoDOT spends over $12 million to remove litter from Missouri’s roadsides.
“It means a lot that, even as second graders, they can make their voices heard,” McFarland said. “They can educate people and make good choices.”