By Cheryl Splain, KnoxPages.com Reporter
MOUNT VERNON — As they walked along the new Litter Trail at Wolf Run Park, students from Christian Star Academy learned how their actions today can affect the environment for years to come.
The Litter Trail consists of 12 stations; each station contains a cage of materials along with a sign stating when the materials were placed in the cage and how long the material takes to decompose.
The fast food container station is one of 12 stations on the Litter Trail at Wolf Run Park explaining how long various materials take to decompose.
“The idea is that you can come back every year and see how long it takes to decompose,” Randy Canterbury, trail creator and director of Knox County Litter Recycling & Prevention, told the students. “Thirty-nine percent of our current landfill is things that can be recycled.”
In addition to the well-known aluminum and plastics, material placed at the stations includes baby diapers, glass, clothing, food, cigarette butts and Styrofoam.
Along their walk, the students learned some recycling facts, such as recycling one aluminum can can save enough electricity to run a computer or TV for three hours. Another tidbit is that it takes 80 to 100 years for steel to decompose.
Asked for their feedback on the Litter Trail, the students agreed it was educational and that they learned a lot of things. Two students liked that the trail was in a forest area. “It makes you think about your lifestyle and to make changes,” said another student.
Future plans include a kiosk with a list of things that can be recycled and a map of recycling locations in the county.
At a new Litter Trail at Wolf Run Park, students from Christian Star Academy learn how long it takes for different material to decompose along with interesting recycling facts. Randy Canterbury of Knox Litter & Recycling, right, organized the trail. Also pictured are Bruce Hawkins, Knox County Park District board member, and Suzanne Feasel, CSA administrator. KP photo by Cheryl Splain
