Boca Raton, FL – On Monday, November 18th, the fourth annual Unwrap the Waves recycling campaign announced that it collected a total of 272,595 candy wrappers, satisfying sustainability and Halloween’s sweet tooth all-in-one. Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC) also announced H.L. Johnson Elementary School as the recycling champion during its live broadcast among participating schools from Martin to Miami-Dade County. Thanks to rallying support, LMC exceeded last year’s wrapper count by a landslide and cued greater awareness surrounding sustainable packaging and single-use holiday waste.   The Unwrap the Waves campaign kicked off on Saturday, October 19 and capped off on Monday, November 11, summoning a record number of 34 schools and more than seven community partners throughout four counties. LMC will recycle 100% of the collected candy wrappers through TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Program, which will be repurposed into school supplies, such as pencils and notebooks.   According to Stanford University, Americans discard 25 percent more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year’s than any other time of the year. Unfortunately, the extra waste is estimated to produce an additional 25 million tons of garbage. However, regional and international efforts can reduce this reality.   “Loggerhead Marinelife Center’s candy wrapper push around Halloween goes beyond friendly school competitions,” said Lindsay French, STEM Education Coordinator. “It gives students an up-close visual of the debris that’s generally thrown away after one holiday alone, and provides a narrative that we can enjoy all kinds of celebrations while being conservation-minded to protect Florida’s most treasured ecosystems.”   After announcing the winner, the LMC Education Department challenged students to the next school-wide undertaking called the Blue Holiday initiative. The competition will stir hands-on, STEM-centric lesson plans aligned in Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS) for grades K-12. The lesson plan includes two holiday classroom challenges for a chance to win fun sea turtle prizes. One of the prizes for the winning classroom will be a unique opportunity to name a future sea turtle patient at LMC’s Sea Turtle Hospital. Both competitions will have a virtual submission, so any school can participate.   Take learning beyond the classroom! Visit LMC’s website and give the lifelong gift of marine education to a child.   Loggerhead Marinelife Center:   Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC) is a nonprofit sea turtle research, rehabilitation and educational institution that promotes conservation of ocean ecosystems with a focus on threatened and endangered sea turtles. The Center features an on-site hospital, research laboratory, educational exhibits and aquariums, and also operates the Juno Beach Pier, which hosts world-class angling and sightseeing. Situated on one of the world’s most important sea turtle nesting beaches, Loggerhead Marinelife Center is open daily and hosts over 350,000 guests free-of-charge each year. The Center’s conservation team works with 90 local and international organizations across six continents to form partnerships and share conservation initiatives and best practices that are core to its mission of ocean conservation. The Center is expanding and has launched its Waves of Progress capital expansion campaign, designed to accelerate and amplify LMC’s conservation and education impact. When complete, the facility will offer one of the world’s most advanced and unique experiences for guests and scientific partners. For more information, visit www.marinelife.org or call (561) 627-8280.