WOLVERINE, MI -- A local teen is stepping up to help protect the planet!
She started a recycling program in her Cheboygan County school.
Pretty soon Wolverine senior Sunshine Carusi will be done with school.
That'll mean no more probability and statistics class -- but it's probable what she has started will carry on.
"Growing up in a home where every little bit counts, it's just nice to see that finally people are starting to take advantage of this," said Sunshine Carusi, a Wolverine High School student.
Since her sophomore year, she's been doing what she can taking empty milk jugs and old newspapers home and recycling them herself. But she says it was a tough task and this year, she took it to the next level.
"I see lots of stuff that can be recycled rather than thrown away, so then we started getting the ball rolling," said John Smit, who helped start the recycling program.
Smit owns Silent Sport Lodge Bed and Breakfast in Wolverine, which has been certified for its environmental stewardship. Smit helped her get a pilot recycling program rolling in the school in the month of April to collect the plastics, like the milk jugs from lunch, and papers in the school and save them from the landfill.
Since this recycling program has been instituted, they've saved about two-thirds of the trash that ends up in these dumpsters.
Right now, the pilot program is self-sustaining, with money raised by the "feed the frog" bins, which collect pop cans for their deposit and the money going toward the county removing the big recycle bin.
“Everyone takes us for granted and thinks they're just the little town that doesn't really think they can make a difference, and I think the recycling program is showing we are going to make a difference," said Carusi.
And she says she’s glad she’s making a difference, one milk jug at a time.
Students are collecting paper products, like newspapers, and recycling those as well.
Sunshine and John hope the program will help eliminate a dumpster from the school and save the district money.