Nine members of Halethorpe-based Girl Scout Troop 496 stand beside the roadside marker of the first known Girl Scout Headquarters located in Savannah, Ga. From leftg, Angel Cea, Amanda Cox, Laura Robusto, Christina Spliedt, Madison Pruitt, Regina Pruden, Rebecca Boia, Alexandria Nickens and Sarah Speath collected 209 pounds of aluminum cans over 16 weeks to defray the cost of the June trip and won seventh place in a nationl contest for their efforts. (Photo courtesy of Girl Scout Troop 496 / July 20, 2012) |
A Halethorpe-based Girl Scout troop finished seventh in a national competition by recycling thousands of aluminum cans during a 16-week campaign.
As part of the Great American Can Roundup Scout/Council Challenge that began Jan. 15, members of Troop 496 collected discarded cans by placing containers at Lamb of God School on Fairview Avenue in Halethorpe and combing their neighborhoods.
By the time the competition sponsored by Can Manufacturers Institute ended on April 30, the girls had recycled 209 pounds of cans.
"My girls are all into recycling," said Theresa Spliedt, the scoutmaster for the troop. "They're into taking care of the environment."
Spliedt, who said the troop also recycles paper and participates in stream cleanings, called the cans that Scouts would bring to her house deliveries from the "can fairy."
When the Scouts had collected enough to fill two metal garbage cans and two other leaf bags, Spliedt took them to a recycling center, she said.
Rankings of the troops in the competition were based on how many pounds of cans the troops collected per member, according to a release from Girl Scouts of Central Maryland sent out on Monday.
The nine members of Troop 496 collected an average of 23 pounds of cans each, the release stated.
According to the website of Can Manufacturer's Institute, a trade association of the metal and composite can industry, there are 34 cans per pound.
Using that estimation, each member of Troop 496 collected an average of 794 cans for a total of about 7,150 cans.
In total, the competition collected nearly 1 million cans for a total of 28,000 pounds, the release stated.
Spliedt said recycling the cans brought in $291.90, money they used to defray the cost of an 11-day trip to Savannah, Ga., in June to visit the birthplace of the Girl Scouts.
In anticipation of next year's competition, Spliedt said she intends to store cans that the Scouts collect at her house until the next contest begins as she suspects other troops did for this past competition.
"I've told them we're going to continue collecting cans," Spliedt said. "Don't stop the can fairy."
