CAES Newswire

 College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences UGA Cooperative Extension
Menu
Published on 01/08/03

Georgia 4-H'ers collect 6 million pop tabs

By Sharon Omahen
University of Georgia

Typically, parents and teachers don't encourage children to drink more soft drinks. But when it involves a lesson in community service, it's OK to bend the rules.

Junior 4-H club members across Georgia recently collected more than 6 million aluminum pop tabs. Individually, they may appear worthless. But, together, all those little pieces of aluminum weighed a little more than 2 tons and were worth $1,900.

"The 4-H District Junior Board of Directors voted last summer to collect the pop tabs as a fund-raiser for the Ronald McDonald House of Central Georgia," said Lori Purcell, program development coordinator for Georgia's Central District 4-H office.

Buying furniture for 'Mickey D.'s' House

"The money from the recycled aluminum," she said, "will help buy furnishings for the house."

The Ronald McDonald House Pop Tab Collection Program began in 1987. To date, more than 400 million pop tabs have been collected, generating more than $300,000.

The students used gallon milk jugs to collect the tabs and to give the project a unit of measure. The top collections came from Jackson County with 101 gallons. Columbia County collected 95.5 gallons, and Houston County gathered 94 gallons.

Motivated by food and community service

The winning county 4-H'ers credit their success to pizza.

"Like most kids, our students can be easily motivated by the promise of a pizza party," said Wanda McLocklin, the Jackson County 4-H program coordinator. "They enjoy helping the community and are very community-oriented. And they really love pizza, too."

More than 500 students in Jackson County participated in the project.

Kids in Columbia County, the second-place winners, were motivated by pizza, too.

"They'll do anything for pizza, so we incorporated a pizza party into this community service project," said Columbia County 4-H program assistant Paula Poss. "Our fifth-graders earn points all year long for a variety of projects. The top class is then rewarded with a free day to Rock Eagle's Environmental Education Program."

Moms, dads and friends all pitched in

One Columbia County class collected 49 gallons of pop tabs.

"Mrs. Reed's class collected tabs from their churches, their neighbors and their parents' offices," Poss said.

Besides earning pizza, the students are improving their character skills, Poss said, by learning to share and to care.

"This project is an easy one, as the pop tabs don't take up much room in a classroom or office, and you can still save the pop cans for other projects," she said. "Our office saves the cans for the Joseph Still Burn Center here in Augusta."

Sharon Omahen is a news editor with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Experts/Sources:
Lori Purcell Bledsoe
Wanda L. McLocklin
Paula Poss
uga commencement CAES News
CAES to celebrate new graduates during May 9 convocation 04/18/24 Sameeka Prabath Rajamani
As another academic year draws to a close, the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is gearing up for its Athens campus convocation ceremony, which will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 9, at The Classic Center in Athens. “Each year, it’s an honor to celebrate the success of our CAES graduates,” said CAES Dean and Director Nick T. Place. “It’s amazing what these students accomplish during their time with us, and I’m always excited to commemorate this next step in their lives as they continue on to either further studies or the start of their careers.”
A student harvests red clover at UGArden. CAES News
UGA horticulture class shows students the science behind herbal remedies 04/16/24 Sameeka Prabath Rajamani
The field of medicine is ever-changing, and the use of herbal medicines may play a bigger role in health care as the value of natural remedies gain recognition in the Western world. Students at the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are delving into the field of medicinal remedies through the class “Herbs, Spices and Medicinal Plants.” Offered to undergraduate students through the Department of Horticulture, the class helps students develop a deeper understanding of the connection between nature and health.
Using robotics to help sort onions on Georgia farms CAES News
Using robotics to help sort onions on Georgia farms 04/15/24 David Mitchell
During the pandemic, labor problems became acute on many farms in Georgia and across the country. Farms once staffed by humans to bring produce from the field to stores for purchase were suddenly short-staffed, and the global supply chain was severely impacted. Working with UGA’s Vidalia Onion and Vegetable Research Center and A&M Farms in Lyons, Georgia, a team of researchers led by School of Computing Professor Prashant Doshi is designing collaborative robots to mitigate some of these potential challenges.
2024 honorees are William D. Branch, Georgia Seed Development Professor in Peanut Breeding and Genetics in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, and Elzie Argene Claxton, an agriculture educator and 1980 CAES agricultural education graduate who went on to earn a master’s degree in 1982 and education specialist degree in 1984 from UGA’s College of Education. CAES News
Innovator, educator inducted into the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame 04/11/24 Maria M. Lameiras
An innovator in peanut breeding whose research revitalized an industry and an ardent champion of agricultural education were inducted into the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame at the 68th University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Alumni Association Awards in Athens. The 2024 honorees are William D. Branch, Georgia Seed Development Professor in Peanut Breeding and Genetics in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, and Elzie Argene Claxton, an agriculture educator and 1980 CAES agricultural education graduate.
Peach growers are looking forward to a fruitful season as the weather this winter and spring have been near-perfect for the sensitive crop. This year is projected to be a much-needed comeback from the disastrous season they experienced after a late freeze in March 2023 took out more than 90% of the state's crop. (Photo by Dorothy Kozlowski/UGA) CAES News
Growers hopeful 2024 peach season will rebound from disastrous 2023 04/10/24 Emily Cabrera
Last year, the peach industry lost $60 million due to the late freeze that hit much of the Southeast in mid-March 2023, said Jeff Cook, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension agent for Peach and Taylor counties. With no freezing temperatures in the forecast and hope for strong pricing during the upcoming season, peach growers are looking forward to a much-needed rebound year.
UGA wheat breeder and geneticist Mohamed Mergoum smells one of several test brews created by Creature Comforts on its annual Get Comfortable collaboration using a variety of wheat Mergoum developed at CAES. CAES News
Creature Comforts partners with UGA wheat breeder to create 2024 Get Comfortable brew 04/09/24 Maria M. Lameiras
Wheat breeders spend years meticulously crossing varieties to coax the best traits out of each species, carefully propagating plant varieties that are healthier, heartier and better suited for the environments where they are grown. Brewmasters are equally painstaking when choosing the components that will give their beers a specific flavor profile. These two exacting professions came together this spring when Athens-based Creature Comforts Brewing Co. reached out to the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences to find a sustainable wheat variety they could use to make a good beer for a great cause.