“Desafío Comuna Sin Basura” [Trash-free Neighborhoods] awards first place to a Los Angeles school in the “Árbol de Navidad con sentido” [Purposeful Christmas Tree] contest

The Thomas Jefferson School of Los Angeles in the Biobío Region won first place by reusing 300 kilograms of paper to create Christmas trees.

Under the context of World Water Day, this March 22 the “Be the change you want to see in the world” school ceremony was held at the Thomas Jefferson school in Los Angeles in the Biobío Region of Chile.

The event was attended by the school community, directors from various Los Angeles schools, DAEM Director Patricio García, and CMPC Head of Corporate Affairs Alfonso Muñoz. Representatives of environmental culture B company Kyklos were also in attendance.

In this ceremony, CMPC and Kyklos presented the first place prize of the #ÁrbolDeNavidadConSentido [#PurposefulChristmasTree] contest to the Thomas Jefferson School in Los Angeles. They’ve won a projector that the entire educational center can use.

Every district where the Trash-free Neighborhoods Challenge operates were asked to participate in the Christmas contest. A call was issued to all communities, together with schools, neighborhood councils and families to create their own Christmas trees by reusing paper and cardboard. Thomas Jefferson School was one of the first to accept the challenge, reusing 300 kilograms of paper to make its Christmas trees and asuring their first place win.

Head of the Education Department in Los Angeles Patricio García said, “In our aim to promote environmental projects, we all have to work toward the same end.” He added, “The children who received the award and all of their schoolmates were very happy. This represents the work of some, but it’s everyone’s commitment.”

Director of the Thomas Jefferson School Graciela Alfese noted that this experience was carried out “using disposable materials so that students can give life to something with a Christmas meaning.” She noted, “As an educational community, we are constantly seeking to motivate parents and guardians to recycle, reuse waste and care for the environment.”

CMPC Head of Corporate Affairs Alfonso Muñoz said, “We’ve worked on many environmental projects and this school in particular has been a great motivation for the others because it works on these projects together and shares that vision with other schools.”

“Trash-free Neighborhoods” Program

Trash-free Neighborhoods is a CMPC program done with the support of Kyklos in conjunction with the different municipalities where it functions: Los Angeles, Nacimiento, Mulchén, Laja, Collipulli, Negrete, Yerbas Buenas, San Rosendo and Loncoche. It aims to reduce the amount of waste ending up in dumps and landfills through recycling. Thanks to the home recycling efforts of the 1,800 households that have signed up across the municipal districts as well as the trash removal from plants, businesses, schools, and more, 71 tons of cans, glass, PET plastics, paper and cardboard were collected for reuse over the last three years.