Schools can help combat litter in Missouri with the annual No MOre Trash! Contest that encourages students to decorate a trash can that inspires others to re-think litter and trash.
The contest is sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and the Missouri Department of Transportation. Entries should be decorated with the No MOre Trash! logo and a litter prevention message using a variety of creative media.
Schools may submit one entry in each competition category: K-2, 3-5 and 6-8. Entries are judged based on creativity, adherence to contest rules and effective use of theme and logo.
First-place winners from each competition category receive $200 awarded to the sponsoring schools and are then eligible for a grand prize of a trophy and $600. There is no entry fee. Applications and photos of decorated trash cans need to be submitted by March 17 to No More Trash.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American generates about four pounds of trash each day. Some of that trash will end up on streets, roadsides, natural areas and waterways and harms fish, water quality and wildlife.
“Missouri’s six million residents produce nearly 26 million pounds of garbage in one day. That’s more than nine billion pounds of trash per year,” said Joe Jerek, the No More Trash coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Last year, teacher Gail Forsyth and her students in the Second Grade Recycle Club at East Elementary in Waynesville won the 2016 “No MOre Trash!” trash-can contest and grand prize.
