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Sunset Primary Mom Helping The Environment, One Pouch At A Time

TerraCycle Honest Kids (Coca-Cola) Capri Sun (Kraft) Include USA
Sunset Primary Mom Helping The Environment, One Pouch At A Time With the help of the TerraCycle program, Kelly Tilton has helped to make students understand the value of recycling. One of the things she has done has set up a bin at the school in which students can recycle their drink pouches. Kelly Tilton is a busy woman. Aside from being a mom and a business owner, the University Place woman is also doing her part to help the environment. And as she tells the story, she "just kind of stumbled upon" her contributions last year. Two of Tilton's four children  - Ben, 9, and Rachel, 6 - attend Sunset Primary, where their mom is a member of the PTA. She buys them the Honest Kids brand of fruit drinks that come in pouches. One day last year, she saw on one of the packages that the pouches could be recycled. In fact, through the TerraCycle program, one pouch could earn her 2 cents. (Click here to find out more about TerraCycle) As a member of the Sunset PTA, Tilton figured she could use the pouch-recycling program as a fundraiser for the group. Sure, it was only a few cents for every pouch, but over time and with plenty of kids participating, the money could help pay for things like field trip costs. So, Tilton and the rest of the Sunset PTA got permission to place a bin in the school's cafeteria where kids could throw away, er, recycle their pouches. That's right, everything from Capri Suns to Honest Kids to Minute Maids. The group put out the bin in May last year. So far, kids have recycled more than 5,000 drink pouches, which has earned the group $100. "It's just been amazing," Tilton says. "The kids, they did it all year, even if we're not in school." The program is great for students, she says, because it teaches them the value of recycling non-traditional recyclables like plastic cartons and newspapers. Also, the pouches are recycled in such a manner that students can actually get a sense that their recyclables are being used. For instance, Tilton has a handbag that is made out of recycled Capri Sun pouches. There's no sign that she'll be stopping anytime soon, either. She has another son, James, 4, who's about to start at Sunset, and Sarah, who turns 2 years old next month, is on her way there. "I'm going to be stuck doing this forever," she jokes, "which is a good thing."