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Several Benton elementary school students are hoping to change the world one bottle at a time through their Lids Off Campaign.  Ann Barnett’s third-grade class at Howard Perrin Elementary School in Benton is hoping to change the world through its Lids Off Campaign, which asks people to take the lids off plastic bottles before they are thrown away to let the liquid inside escape. Students are: Beau Brewer, Emma Carter, Kinyah Carter, Ashley Danley, Weston Davis, Cheyenne Gavin, Colton Goudeau, Adriel Grayson, Hannah Summerville, Matison Knowlton, Kaila Thompson, Hunter Johnson, Justin Lavallee, Seven McDorman, Lucas Moore, Cameron Morin, Haley Oswald, Savannah Reed, Dylan Robbins, Sophia Roberts, Nathaniel Self, Haylee Stewart and Brooke Wilkerson. (Courier photo by Matt Burks)
Ann Barnett’s third-grade students at Howard Perrin Elementary have made posters and fliers and are telling friends and family to take the caps off bottles before they are thrown away.
“At the beginning of the school year, I told my class that they could change the world,” Barnett said. “We talked a lot about recycling projects and other ways to make a difference. I then picked up a bottle from the trash that had a lid on it. That is when we all noticed the water droplets stuck inside.”
Barnett said the students talked about how television commercials show how a plastic bottle can stay in landfills for “a very long time” and began to wonder what happens to the liquid trapped inside.
“That is water that will never be able get out,” a student said.
Another student said that if a million water bottles are left in landfills with the caps on, it could “waste a million drops of water.”
The students decided they wanted to get that liquid out of the bottles before they are thrown into trash cans and eventually reach landfills, Barnett said. She said the students came up with the idea of talking to everyone they know and joining the Lids Off Campaign.
After making posters and fliers, the students wrote a letter that was read over the school intercom system.
“Dear people of the world,” the letter read. “Did you know that whenever you drink something from a bottle, keep the lid on and throw it away, the liquid gets trapped in the bottle? Please help us tell people about our Lids Off Campaign. If a million people take the lids off, that could save a million drops of water.”
After telling people in their school, the third-graders decide to tell students in other schools and invited Superintendent Tony Prothro to help spread the message. After speaking with Prothro, the students decided that the people in the community needed to hear their message.
The students invited Mayor Rick Holland, state Sen. Shane Broadway, D-Bryant, and staff at the Boys and Girls Club of Saline County to visit their classroom and watch their presentation.
“From there, they hope to get their message to the world,” Barnett said. “They said they want to get everyone in Arkansas involved and they believe we can reach the White House. I don’t know how far the message will get, but they really believe we can get it to the president.”
For now, Barnett said the eager students are happy to at least get people in their own community to take the lids off bottles before they are thrown away.
“If we take the lids off and let the water run out,” a student exclaimed, “it will go into the ground and plants can grow ... it will make plants grow and we can have more water for us.”
“This is very important,” several students said in unison. “Please take the lids off bottles and we can save water one drop at a time.”
Students in Barnett’s class are Beau Brewer, Emma Carter, Kinyah Carter, Ashley Danley, Weston Davis, Cheyenne Gavin, Colton Goudeau, Adriel Grayson, Hannah Summerville, Matison Knowlton, Kaila Thompson, Hunter Johnson, Justin Lavallee, Seven McDorman, Lucas Moore, Cameron Morin, Haley Oswald, Savannah Reed, Dylan Robbins, Sophia Roberts, Nathaniel Self, Haylee Stewart and Brooke Wilkerson.
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