Local middle school student started recycling program

At age 13, Nicki Dahl plans to leave the smallest footprint as possible - the smallest environmental footprint, that is.

Last year, as a seventh-grader, Nicki started a volunteer newspaper recycling program at Centennial Middle School.

Now in its second year, this program allows Nicki and fellow Centennial students to pick up papers after school and take them to the Yuma Recycling Center.

"People call me a tree-hugger, but I don't mind," said Nicki.

Nicki said that she was concerned about the environment after watching television programs. "You see on TV all the time endangered animals and global warming. Why buy new materials when things can be reused?"

While writing an essay on recycling for her reading and writing class, she said, she found out that "(trash) can also take hundreds of years to decompose. Water bottles take hundreds of years to decompose or more."

Nicki began the recycling project after she and other seventh-grade Centennial Middle School students began reading The New York Times and The Sun newspapers during their free time in class.

The teachers had said the students could take them home and throw them away, said Nicki. But Nicki thought that it would be better to recycle them.

She said she and her friend, Arielle Leal, met with the principal and the assistant principal, and asked if they could collect the newspapers after school and recycle them. They got approval, and a few weeks later the girls spent two hours collecting newspapers around the school grounds.

At first they took the newspaper to The Sun building to be recycled, but later they started taking the papers to the Yuma Recycling Center, earning $15 to $20 in a week for their effort. Nicki bought newspaper recycling baskets with the money and put them in the classrooms at Centennial for other students to join in the effort.

Now Nicki has developed a system where the volunteers can walk to the different classrooms every other Friday, pick up the baskets and loading the papers in her father's truck.

Currently, Nicki's volunteer recycling program has 12 to 15 students and they recycle about 150 pounds of newspapers a week. The money earned will go to charities, said Nicki.

Roxanne Dahl, Nicki's mother, said, "I'm very proud that she is taking pride in the environment. She has pretty much taken (the project) under her wing, (but) mostly I'm proud of her effort to save the environment and her leadership skills."

Nicki will graduate from the eighth grade at Centennial this year and then attend Cibola High School. She hopes to carry on the recycling program.

Nicki said she does not know if they recycle in high school, "but I definitely will continue on my own. I just love to volunteer."


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STATS & FACTS

Name: Nicki Dahl

-Age: 13

-Parents: Roxanne and Kevin Dahl

-Birthplace: Yuma

-Length of time in Yuma: 13 years

-Height: 5 feet

-Pets: None

-Favorite dinner: Spaghetti and pizza

-Favorite snack: Pretzels and popcorn

-Favorite soft drink: Root beer

-Favorite local restaurant: Olive Garden

-Favorite book: Historical fiction

-Favorite poster on bedroom wall: American Ballet principal dancer

-Favorite music: Country

-Favorite sport: Dance

-Favorite car: Hybrid car

-Favorite subjects in school: Social studies, math and computers

-Favorite after-school activities: Dance, recycle program, yearbook

-Favorite way to spend a summer: Swim and travel

-Favorite TV show: "Extreme Makeover Home Edition"

-Favorite movie: None

-Favorite color: Green

-Biggest pet peeve: Selfish people

-When I grow up, I want to be: Computer graphic designer

-If I had one wish, it would be: Change our environment to be healthier and cleaner

-If I won $10 million, I would: Use it to pay for college, and donate some

-If stranded on a desert island, the three things I would want are: Lifetime supply of pizza, family member, communication device

-Favorite vacation spot: Disney vacations

-My philosophy on life is: Dream big

-My favorite singer or performer: Love live Broadway shows - anything performance


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Jennifer Lovell can be reached at
jlovell@yumasun.com or 539-6849.