Rutherford County, NC - May 26, 2022: The votes have been tallied and recounted and the winners for the 2022 RecycleBots Challenge have been chosen! Keep Rutherford County Beautiful (KRCB) is thrilled to have the broad and creative field of over 90 entries from Rutherford County third-graders. It made for a tough, but impressive judging process. Judges included KRCB Committee Chairs Jess Kerr and Jenna Bailey; committee members Taylor Hardin, Amanda Byers, and the 2021 Mrs. North Carolina Earth, Dana Causby; community partners Sam Brooks and Shelley Roberts; and Mascots Roxi and Rocki Raccoon. The winners of the ‘Fan Favorite’ category were selected by the Facebook community, collecting hundreds of votes!
Three RecycleBots were selected as the Best-of-the-Best in seven categories: Most Unique(good message, fun, unusual items), Best Use of Plastic and/or Styrofoam, Best Use ofPaper and/or Textiles, Best Use of E-Waste (metal, aluminum foil, electronics), Most Creative (good imagination or original ideas), Fan Favorite (based on Facebook votes), and BestOverall (Bot and Story).
Winners for Most Unique
1st Place / Kade Martin with “Brantoy” the RecycleBot at Cliffside Elementary School What does “Brantoy” do? Brantoy lives at a dump site.He blows up trash and is good attaking out the trash and picks up people’s trash.What materials were used? Bottle caps, paper towel rolls, tape.
2nd Place / Christian with “Siren Recycler” the RecycleBot at Pinnacle Elementary School
3rd Place / Carton Manis with “Trash Cleaner” the RecycleBot at Rutherfordton Elementary School
Winners for Best Use of Plastic and/or Styrofoam
1st Place / Isabella Eubanks with “Max” the RecycleBot at Pinnacle Elementary School. What does “Max” do? Max lives at the park, has a tail that delivers trash into two main categories - recycling and trash. His hat is a water squirter that waters the plants such as fruits, vegetables, and just wild plants. The pink spot with the yellow light scans for trash.What materials were used? Plastic, metal, paper, tape.
2nd Place / Ivey Lawson and Ava Goode with “Millie” the RecycleBot at Cliffside Elementary School
3rd Place / Braylee Price and Lucy Jones with “Glamrock Freddy” the RecycleBot at Cliffside Elementary School
Winners for Best Use of Paper and/or Textiles
1st Place / Maggie Player with “Mary” the RecycleBot at Pinnacle Elementary School What does “Mary” do? Mary lives inside a cat room. Her RecycleBot takes walks and picks up trash along the way. When her boots get full of trash, she walks home, goes in her cat room and puts them in the correct bins. After that if her tail wags then there is still trash out there. Her gems on her boots help her locate the trash, then she does it all over again! What materials were used? Two liter bottle, scrap paper, pipe cleaners, bottle caps, and tape.
2nd Place / Abbygail Rose Elliot with “Earth Day” the RecycleBot at Pinnacle Elementary School
3rd Place / Emma Hahn with “Sponge Clean” the RecycleBot at Pinnacle Elementary School
Winners for Best Use of E-Waste
1st Place / Callan Splawn and Kaven Ledbetter with “Joe” the RecycleBot at Cliffside Elementary School. What does “Joe” do? he recycles trash in the ocean to save animals that get hurt from the trash in the ocean. What materials were used? Cardboard boxes, paper towel rolls, aluminum foil, tape, milk carton
2nd Place / Myric Yelton with “Shredder” the RecycleBot Cliffside Elementary School
3rd Place / Emily Cordova and Lily with “Emma” the RecycleBot at Cliffside ElementarySchool
Winners for Most Creative (good imagination or original ideas)
1st Place / Lily Hudson and Ciara Early with “Izze and Lizze” the RecycleBots at Cliffside Elementary School. What do “Izze and Lizze” do? They live in America and do gymnastics for two, dancing, cooking, cleaning, shopping, writing, and reading books to kids. What materials were used? Boxes, foam, bottle caps, tin foil, egg carton, paint, tape.
2nd Place / Stailey Arrowood with “Monk” the RecycleBot at Pinnacle Elementary School
3rd Place / Kyah Cogdell with “Frank” the RecycleBot at Trinity Christian School
Winners for Fan Favorite (based on facebook votes)
1st Place / Sydnee Gurr and Huntley Bailey with “Wall-e” the RecycleBot at Cliffside Elementary School. What does “Wall-e” do? Wall-e lives in a junkyard. He picks up trash and turns it into cubes. What materials were used? Cardboard box, toilet and paper rolls, googly eyes, string.
2nd Place / Lincoln Parton with “The Dump and Bo-Bot” RecycleBot at Trinity ChristianSchool
3rd Place / Cohen Pritchard with “Tissue Joe HoHo” the RecycleBot at Trinity Christian School
Winners for Best Overall (Bot and Story)
1st Place / Jackson Appling with “Mad Recycler” the RecycleBot at Sunshine Elementary School. What does “Mad Recycler” do? Lives on Earth. His RecycleBot goes around the earth collecting trash and turns it into clothes, homes, furniture and paper. What materials were used? Soda cans, trash bag box, plant pots.
2nd Place / Shine Higgins with “Bouncy Butterfly” the RecycleBot at Pinnacle Elementary School
3rd Place / Addie Pinder with “Ricky and Rain” the RecycleBot at Pinnacle Elementary School
Winners received: family passes to Chimney Rock State Park, coupons for McDonald's Happy Meals and coupons for free ice cream from Scoop. Every third-grader who submitted a RecycleBot in the challenge received an official RecycleBot sticker and a paper leaf seed packet to plant. We would like to acknowledge all the third-graders who entered the 2022 RecycleBot Challenge by listing them below by School & Teacher.
Special thanks to all participating schools and students:
Cliffside Elementary School:
Mrs. Kimbrell: Huntley Bailey, Holden Drewery, Mykal Franklin, Sidney Gurr, Lucy Jones, Kaven Ledbetter, Kade Martin, Lily Parker, Braylee Price, Hayden Riddle, Callan Spawn, Myric Yelton
Mrs. McAbee: Emilee Cordova, Abbie Davis, Ciara Early, Ava Goode, Brantley Gregory, Patience Hardin, Lily Hudson, Ivey Lawson, Trinity Lee, Legend Moore, Lucas Page, Dylan Pardue, Corey Sharpton, Jenny Tallent, Gael Zapata
Mrs. Reynolds: Carter Ellis, Kaiden Hawkins, Lukas Henson, Chad Hunt, Brielle Matthews,Catalina Walker, Brayden Queen
Pinnacle Elementary School:
Mrs. Hutchins: Christian Aroche Rios, Stailey Arrowood, Banjo Braswell, Payton Crawford, Abbygail Elliott, Isabella Eubanks, Emma Hahn, Shine Higgins, Brayden Jonas, Brielle Kaahui, Lacey Nelon, Maggie Player, Addie Pinder
Mrs. Summey: Aiya Alameddine, Alexander Aroche Rios, McKenna Calvert, James Cash IV, Sabriel Cochran, Isaiah Davis, Liam Epley, Alexis Fowler, Jadyn Greenlee, Ada Hendrix, Kirra Krigbaum, Aceton Washburn
Rutherfordton Elementary School:
Mrs. Beattie: Brooklyn Johnson, Jackson Lail, Bailey McDaniel, Malissa Miller, Leo Ramirez Isaac Romero, Emily Tate
Mrs. Bradley: Jaxon Appling, Adalynn Conard, Sadie Ferguson, Bryson Gillespie, Emmalee Kuhl, Jordan Rodriguez-Dow, Neveah Shelton, Michael Whittemore
Mrs. High: Shawn RichmondMrs. Hodge: Marice Burbank, Peyton Harris, Madison Meeks, Titus Richmond, Adeline Rodriguez, Madison Ruppe, Molly Sutton, Chris Voltz, Amira Wingo, Kaden Wellborn
Mrs. Yelton: Noah Cavender, Sabrina Conner, Ethan Hilligus, Ember Holland, Gabriel Holness Carson Manis, Gralyn Mauney, Reagan O’Donnell, Aileen Perez, Autumn Toms
Trinity Christian School:
Mrs. Crowe: Katelyn Blanchette, Kyah Cogdell, Elias Jenkins, Olivia Munez, Lincoln Parton,
Cohen Pritchard, Makenna Queen, Ocean Rash, Andrew Vassey
A heartfelt thank you goes out to all involved. This would not be possible without the support of the KRCB Committee, the participation from our public & private school systems, their teachers, the students' parents, and the donations from our prize sponsors. To see all 92 submissions, head to the KRCB Facebook page. You can also find out about other initiatives in the county spearheaded by KRCB to make a cleaner, more sustainable future. To watch the announcement video, go on the Facebook page @KeepRCNCBeautiful.
KRCB started as an Earth Day litter pickup in 2016 and has transformed into a movement throughout Rutherford County, North Carolina. Neighbors, industry leaders, business owners, school systems and municipalities have joined forces to change the way we define community. An affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, KRCB leads multiple programs and initiatives in addition to the RecycleBot Challenge to propel Rutherford County's beautification forward by tackling the problems arising from our disposable economy. The annual Trash Bowl encourages youth to get involved with community clean up, where high schools across the county participate in a friendly competition to see which school can collect the most litter. Each year, Rutherford County High School graduates that are planning to pursue a ‘green’ oreco-oriented undergraduate degree have the opportunity to apply for the Green Scholarship. A community-wide litter sweep takes place every spring, with volunteers of all ages participating to show their love for Rutherford County. KRCB also hosts the Certified Green Business Program to showcase like-minded businesses in the area. Adorable sister/brother raccoon mascots Roxi and Rocki, who love to pick up trash and help others, can be spotted at these events, bringing a sense of fun and whimsy to KRCB’s initiatives. Together, we are taking action to love where we live, work and play.
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