The Howard County Recycling Division came out with a coloring contest so as to grab attention, promote the ideas and increase awareness of children with regard to the importance of reducing, recycling and reusing. The winners of this coloring book contest were announced on the 15th of November, 2013 as a part of the celebration of America Recycles Day.

Green Is the Color to Follow in Your Coloring Book

The Howard County Recycling Division challenged the third, fourth and fifth graders of Howard County to come forward and take part in a Coloring Book Contest. The coloring contest required children to draw pictures that portrayed the different ways in which they recycled, reused and reduced at home or at school. The top drawings that were selected in the contest would be presented in a coloring book along with their name and school. This coloring book would be available for the entire Howard County community for free. From all the entries submitted, the single best drawing would also be chosen to appear on the cover of this coloring book. The winning child artists would also receive framed certificates along with their drawing in the coloring book.

The contest drawings were to be done in only black marker/ink without being colored in. Each entry needed to portray at least one of the three methods (reduce, reuse, recycle) being practiced. The entries were judged based on the creativity, originality and suitability for a coloring book. The winners of the contest were:

  • Nishtha Gupta from Forest Ridge Elementary School
  • Varshini Suresh of Bellows Spring Elementary
  • Zoe Gonzalez of Bushy Park Elementary School
  • Maya Classon from Bryant Woods Elementary School
  • Atholton Elementary School – Kate Rossmark
  • Neha Rehman and Olivia Davis of Bollman Bridge Elementary School
  • Worthington Elementary School – Abbas Bharmal
  • Northfield Elementary School – Ally Kolp and Kate Plunkett
  • Taylor Leonard, Jocelyn Baker, Marley Cosgrove, Gabriela Ramos Benavides and Eunice Kim of Dayton Oaks Elementary School
  • Jocelyn Baker's drawing was selected for the cover.

Spreading the Message Among Students with Eco-Friendly Coloring Books

Programs such as Howard County's Coloring Book Contest are a great way to promote and publicize the concepts of reduce, reuse and recycle in children. Targeting students at an early age can be really helpful to ensure that they are growing up in the right way with the right habits. Targeting them through a means which they can relate to and will show interest in is an extremely innovative approach. Such approaches have shown great results in promoting eco-friendly habits at a young age. Another tested and proved technique of developing such habits in children is by popularizing these environmentally helpful ideas with the help of eco-friendly promotional items such as attractive tee-shirts, story books and pencils.

Source: https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/howard/ph-coloring-book-winners-20131127-story.html