(Press release)

Winners of the "Return the Warmth" national school-based plastic recycling competition have been named this week. Five local schools placed in the top 100 nationally in this year's contest sponsored by Keep America Beautiful, Aquafina, and Sam's Club.

The students at 100 winning schools will receive fleece jackets that were produced from recycled plastic. The top 50 schools in the nation will also receive a $1,000 gift card from Sam's Club. Keep Waco Beautiful sponsored 16 local schools in the competition. Waco was the only Texas city with winners in the top 50.

Local top finishers include, Crestview Elementary - 2nd place, Bosqueville Elementary - 11th place, Meadowbrook Elementary - 21st place, St. Paul's Episcopal School - 34th place, and Rapoport Academy - 57th place.

During the competition, held in the Spring, Andrew Guitteirrez, a Crestview Elementary 5th grader, proved a phenomenal recycler, bringing in 4 times more than any other student on his grade level. Andrew, who is very serious about recycling, said, "Recycling is good for the community, but not enough people are recycling." Crestview finished the competition by placing 2nd in the nation, recycling over 100,000 pounds of plastic.

According to Sherri Street, Keep Waco Beautiful's executive director, "During this 3 month springtime competition, schools diverted over 162,000 pounds of plastic from the local landfill. That much plastic takes a lot of space in our limited landfill. These schools should really be proud of how they've helped this community."