Jean Gordon
Wednesday, June 8, 2022 1:24 pm

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 of Paper 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 Best Overall (Bot and Story).

Winners for Most Unique are:

• 3rd Place / Carton Manis with "Trash Cleaner" the RecycleBot at Rutherfordton Elementary School

• 2nd Place / Christian with "Siren Recycler" the RecycleBot at Pinnacle Elementary School

• 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 at taking out the trash and picks up people's trash.

What materials were used? Bottle caps, paper towel rolls, tape

Winners for Best Use of Plastic and/or Styrofoam are:

• 3rd Place / Braylee Price and Lucy Jones with "Glamrock Freddy" the RecycleBot at Cliffside Elementary School

• 2nd Place / Ivey Lawson and Ava Goode with "Millie" the RecycleBot at Cliffside Elementary School

• 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.

Winners for Best Use of Paper and/or Textiles are:

• 3rd Place / Emma Hahn with "Sponge Clean" the RecycleBot at Pinnacle Elementary School

• 2nd Place / Abbygail Rose Elliot with "Earth Day" the RecycleBot at Pinnacle Elementary School

• 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.

Winners for Best Use of E-Waste

• 3rd Place / Emily Cordova and Lily with "Emma" the RecycleBot at Cliffside Elementary School

• 2nd Place / Myric Yelton with "Shredder" the RecycleBot Cliffside Elementary School

• 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

Winners for Most Creative (good imagination or original ideas) are:

• 3rd Place / Kyah Cogdell with "Frank" the RecycleBot at Trinity Christian School

• 2nd Place / Stailey Arrowood with "Monk" the RecycleBot at Pinnacle Elementary School

• 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.

Winners for Fan Favorite (based on facebook votes) are:

• 3rd Place / Cohen Pritchard with "Tissue Joe HoHo" the RecycleBot at Trinity Christian School

• 2nd Place / Lincoln Parton with "The Dump and Bo-Bot" RecycleBot at Trinity Christian School

• 1st Place / with "Wall-e" the RecycleBot at Sydnee Gurr and Huntley Bailey, 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.

Winners for Best Overall (Bot and Story) are:

• 3rd Place / Addie Pinder with "Ricky and Rain" the RecycleBot at Pinnacle Elementary School

• 2nd Place / Shine Higgins with "Bouncy Butterfly" the RecycleBot at Pinnacle Elementary School

• 1st Place / Jackson Appling with "Mad Recycler" the RecycleBot at Sunshine Elementary School

Continued on page 3.

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.

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.