Savannah middle school students were awarded the grand prize on April 13 for their submission in the first-ever “Yes, you ‘CAN’ make Missouri litter-free” trash can decorating contest. The contest challenged kindergarten through eighth grade students to communicate a litter-prevention message by decorating a 33-gallon or larger trash can.

“This contest was developed to raise awareness about Missouri’s litter problem and discourage littering among elementary and middle school students in a fun and creative way,” said Arleasha Mays, Missouri Department of Conservation’s No MOre Trash! co-coordinator. “All the entries were so unique and original, it was hard to pick the winners.”

Entries were judged based on creativity, adherence to contest rules and appropriate theme and logo use.

The 2006 winning submission combined creativity and functionality by turning a trash can into a four-wheeled trash collection vehicle with the slogan, “No MOre Trash!, So We Won’t Crash!” The ordinary can was transformed into a trash truck with the help of a local lumberyard and the students, who painted and assembled the cut-up can.

“In designing the trash can, the kids wanted to turn it into a truck that that would actually hold trash,” said Savannah teacher Traci Lewis who submitted the grand-prize entry.

The school received $500 and a trophy for their efforts and the trash truck will be displayed at the 2006 Missouri State Fair. Three first place winners were also selected, one from each age group, and awarded $100 each.

First place winners included Northeast Nodaway Elementary students in Parnell with their Oscar the Grouch “Feed Me Trash” design, a colorful “trashed” trash can developed by students from Yeatman-Liddel middle school in St. Louis and a can decorated with a collage of Missouri wildlife and landscape clippings created by William Yates Elementary students in Blue Springs.  

The trash can-decorating contest was launched in 2005 through Missouri’s No MOre Trash! program, a statewide litter-prevention program sponsored by the departments of Conservation and Transportation.

For more information about No MOre Trash! or the contest, visit www.nomoretrash.org.