Author: Julia Au

RethinkWaste is very excited to announce the winners of its 10th annual poster contest, which was open to all 3^rd through 8^th graders attending schools in the RethinkWaste service area. The contest was extended to middle school grade levels for the first time! This year’s poster theme was “Super Sorters,” where students were asked to creatively illustrate the ways they sort their waste. In total, we received 47 original submissions from our student artists, representing 19 schools and six Member Agencies.

The winners and their respective cities and schools are listed below:

Elementary School Category

First Place – “We Are Super Sorters!”
Tao M., 5^th grade, McKinley Elementary School, Burlingame

Second Place – “I ❤️ Sorting”
Chloe L., 3^rd grade, West Hillsborough Elementary, Hillsborough

Honorable Mention – “Think Before You Toss!”
Isabel Y., 5^th grade, Belmont Oaks Academy, Belmont

Middle School Category

First Place – “Can We Do Better Than Racoons?”
Alyssa L., 6^th grade, Crystal Springs Uplands School, Belmont

Second Place – “Blue Black Green Bin”
Rya K., 7^th grade, Crocker Middle School, Hillsborough

Honorable Mention – “Treasure Our Trash”
Neel V., 8^th grade, North Shoreview Montessori, San Mateo

High resolution photos of the winning posters are available upon request. 

The First Place posters will be featured on the side of Recology collection trucks, so the winners will see their artwork around their neighborhoods later this year! All winning posters will be showcased on the RethinkWaste website and social media and may appear in RethinkWaste newsletters and other educational materials. In addition, contest winners may be recognized at upcoming City Council meetings.

As a reward for their submissions, all winners will receive fun eco-friendly prizes of their choice!

RethinkWaste is excited to announce the winners of its eleventh annual “Trash to Art” Contest, which was open to all 3rd through 5th grade students in the RethinkWaste service area. The contest challenged students to build a piece of art from normally discarded materials collected at home, school, and around the community. We encouraged all students and classes to think of creative, new ways to reduce and reuse our waste!

We received 29 total submissions from student artists and class groups. Their original creations included many colorful constructions and incredibly detailed models that look like they belong in a museum! This year, we selected first and second place winners for each grade level and first and second place for class groups. All winners will be recognized at our Earth Day event at the Shoreway Environmental Center on Saturday, April 29^th around noon.

The winners and their respective cities and schools are listed below:

First Place – 3rd Grade
Kailey G., Homeschooled, Redwood City for “The Forgotten Truth”

Second Place – 3rd Grade
Natalie O., White Oaks Elementary, San Carlos for “Mr. Snake”

First Place – 4th Grade
Isabel Y., Belmont Oaks Academy, Belmont for “Merry-Go-Round”

Second Place – 4th Grade
Parthi P., Nesbit Elementary, Belmont for “Magical Night”

First place – 5th Grade
Peyton G., Mariposa Upper Elementary, San Carlos for “Classical Waste”

Second place – 5th Grade
Justin T., Arroyo Elementary, San Carlos for “RethinkWaste and Save the Ocean”

First Place – Class
Ms. Arai’s 3^rd grade class, White Oaks Elementary, San Carlos for “Trashasaurus”

Second Place – Class
Ms. Nguyen’s 5^th grade class, Mariposa Upper Elementary, San Carlos for “Food Butterfly”

Honorable Mention – Class
Ms. Martin’s 3rd grade class, White Oaks Elementary, San Carlos for “It’s a Small School, After All”

In addition to being acknowledged during RethinkWaste’s Earth Day Event, the winning students and classes will receive special recognition at upcoming City Council meetings in their respective cities.

Finally, as a reward for their creative efforts, winners will receive fun prizes for themselves or their class groups. 

RethinkWaste is very excited to announce the winners of its ninth annual poster contest, which was open to all 3^rd through 5^th graders attending schools in the RethinkWaste service area. This year’s poster theme was “Everyday Upcycling!”, where we asked students to creatively illustrate ways to upcycle their everyday waste. In total, we received 44 original submissions from our student artists, representing 15 schools and 6 Member Agencies.

The winners and their respective cities and schools are listed below:

First Place – “The Possibilities of a Jar”
Maya M., 5^th grade, Belmont Oaks Academy, Belmont

Second Place – “Upcycling is Upgrading the Planet!”
Stella L., 5^th grade, Belmont Oaks Academy, Belmont

Third Place – “Reuse, Reduce, Recycle…Upcycle!”
Luoyan L., 5^th grade, College Park Elementary, San Mateo  

Honorable Mention – “Recycling Cardboard to Make Toys”
Niralya J., 3^rd grade, Audubon Elementary, Foster City

Honorable Mention – “RethinkWaste Protect Our Home”
Hannah B., 3^rd grade, Centennial Montessori School, San Mateo

Honorable Mention – “Everyday Upcycling!!!”
Chloey C., 3^rd grade, Carey School, San Mateo

Honorable Mention – “We Love Upcycling!”
Noam K., 4^th grade, Lincoln Elementary School, Burlingame

The First Place poster will be featured on the side of a Recology collection truck with routes in Belmont, so the winner will see their artwork around their neighborhood later this year! All winning posters will be showcased on the RethinkWaste website and social media and may appear in RethinkWaste newsletters and other educational materials. 

In addition, contest winners may be recognized at upcoming City Council meetings. Meeting dates will be confirmed before the end of the calendar year.

As a reward for their submissions, all winners will receive fun eco-friendly prizes!

RethinkWaste is excited to announce the winners of its tenth annual “Trash to Art” Contest, which was open to all 3rd through 5th grade students in the RethinkWaste service area. The contest challenged students to build a piece of art from normally discarded materials collected at home, school, and around the community. We encouraged all students and classes to think of creative, new ways to reduce and reuse our waste!

The student artists and class groups submitted original creations, with colorful constructions and detailed models that look like they belong in a museum! It was very difficult to narrow down the winners, so we added two Honorable Mention winners for the Individual Contest category. All winners will be recognized by RethinkWaste Staff and the Board of Directors at a virtual Trash to Art Recognition celebration on Wednesday, May 4^th, 4-4:30pm.

The winners and their respective cities and schools are listed below:

First Place – Individual
Stella L. (4^th grade), Belmont Oaks Academy, Belmont for “Pop and Click!”

Second Place – Individual
Justin T. (4^th grade), Arroyo Elementary, San Carlos for “Pinball Trash Sort”

Third Place – Individual
Aya T. (4^th grade), The Carey School, San Mateo for “Asian Deliciousness”

Honorable Mention – Individual
Dayle M. (4^th grade), Washington Elementary, Burlingame for “Recycling Tree”

Honorable Mention – Individual
Sahil G. (3^rd grade), Foster City Elementary, Foster City for “Basketball Court”

First Place – Class
Ms. Whiteley’s 4^th grade class, Laurel School, Menlo Park for “Honey World”

Second Place – Class
Ms. Bevilacqua’s 3^rd/4^th grade class, Washington Elementary, Burlingame for “Washington Mobile”

In addition to being acknowledged during the Trash to Art Recognition video call, the winning students and classes will receive special recognition at upcoming City Council meetings in their respective cities.

Finally, as a reward for their creative efforts, winners will receive fun prizes for themselves or their class groups. 

RethinkWaste is very excited to announce the winners of its eighth annual poster contest, which was open to all 3^rd through 5^th graders attending schools in the RethinkWaste service area. This year’s poster theme was “Compost Champions!” The artwork from local student artists illustrated the creative ways students practice composting with their friends, family, and classmates!

The winners and their respective cities and schools are listed below:

First Place – “I’m a Compost Champion”
Kira H., 3^rd, Audubon Elementary, Foster City

Second Place – “Compost Evolution”
Taiki I., 5th grade, Foster City Elementary, Foster City

Third Place – “What Goes in the Green Bin”
Lyra B., 4th grade, Sandpiper School, Redwood City

Honorable Mention – “A Comic about Compost”
Ryder H., 5th grade, Audubon Elementary, Foster City

The First Place poster will be featured on the side of a Recology collection truck with routes in Foster City, so the winner will see their artwork around their neighborhood this spring! All winning posters will be showcased on the RethinkWaste website and social media and may appear in RethinkWaste newsletters and other educational materials.
In addition, contest winners may be recognized at upcoming City Council meetings.

As a reward for their submissions all winners received fun eco-friendly prizes!

See our Art Gallery page for previous year’s Poster Contest winners.

The 8^th annual RethinkWaste poster contest is now accepting submissions!

The theme for the 2021 contest is “Compost Champions!” Students are encouraged to illustrate why is it so important to compost our food scraps, dirty paper, and yard trimmings. We want to see how you compost like a champion with your family, friends, or class!

Entry Details
All 3^rd through 5^th grade students attending schools located in the RethinkWaste service area* are eligible to enter the contest.

Poster submissions must be on 8.5 x 11 inch white paper in landscape orientation. Any 2D mediums may be used, including paint, markers, crayons, and colored pencils. Use of bright, rich colors are recommended. Only one entry per student will be accepted. Artwork must be original – posters that contain copyrighted images will be disqualified.

The deadline for poster entries is Friday, October 29, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. via our online submission form.

Prizes
The 1^st Place poster will be enlarged and displayed on the side of a Recology truck with routes in the winning artist’s local neighborhood. The 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd Place winners will receive gift packs full of fun, reusable items! All winning posters will also be highlighted on the RethinkWaste website and in other promotional materials.

View examples of previous years’ Poster Contest winning submissions here.

*The RethinkWaste service area includes Belmont, Burlingame, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Hillsborough, Menlo Park, Redwood City, San Carlos, San Mateo, the County of San Mateo and the West Bay Sanitary District.

RethinkWaste is excited to announce the winners of its ninth annual “Trash to Art” Contest, which was open to all 3rd through 5th grade students in the RethinkWaste service area. The contest challenged students to build a piece of art from normally discarded materials collected at home, school, and around the community.

The student artists submitted original creations, ranging from intricate collages and detailed models to fully functional games and tools! We received over 80 entries, making it very difficult to narrow down to just three winners, and so we have three Honorable Mention winners as well. All winners were recognized by RethinkWaste Staff and the Board of Directors at a virtual Trash to Art Recognition event on Saturday, April 17^th.

The winners and their respective cities and schools are listed below:

First Place
Cooper D, 5^th grade, Hoover Elementary, Burlingame for “King and Queen of Trash”

Second Place
Amen Y., 4^th grade, LEAD Elementary, San Mateo for “Paper Pinch Pot”

Third Place
Cassidy L., 5^th grade, Nueva School, Hillsborough for “Geometric Bee”

Honorable Mention
Taisei M., 5^th grade, Roosevelt Elementary, Burlingame for “Re-think Bottles”

Honorable Mention
Ella C., 5^th grade, Roosevelt Elementary, Burlingame for “Eco House”

Honorable Mention
Justin T., 3^rd grade, White Oaks Elementary, San Carlos for “Virus Slayer Helmet”

In addition to being acknowledged during the Trash to Art Recognition video call, the winning students will receive special recognition at upcoming City Council meetings in their respective cities.

Finally, as a reward for their creative efforts, 1^st to 3^rd place contest winners will receive a gift card to a fun destination of their choice.