PULASKI COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — Students at Landmark Elementary are proving one person's trash is another's treasure.
"Trash is not always disgusting,” said fourth-grader Melvin Lopez. "If you have creativity, you can make it into almost anything."
Melvin said you can turn trash into a robot, a bird, a boat, or even a helicopter.
"We all know how important it is these days to recycle and take care of our earth,” said Kelly Emerson, an art teacher at Landmark.
Landmark students found passion this year to keep their community clean.
So with the help of their art teacher, they collected trash and made art sculptures out of it.
Students gathered all kinds of things, like jars, 2-liter bottles, fountain cups, Styrofoam, plastic forks, and much more.
"I made a boat with a cannon,” said fourth-grader Ivy’ana Johnson.
“We made a robot. We had to get sand and rocks to put into the 2-liter bottles used for the legs, so they could balance,” said Melvin.
While building their art, they kept a close count on how much trash they were producing.
"Just learning that impact, that daily impact, that weekly impact of our consumption is really important,” said Emerson.
The class weighed every piece of trash they collected. Each kid brought five or more pieces.
In one week, Landmark students helped get 45 ounces of plastic out of their local landfill.
"It's really the small things we do daily that make a difference in the world,” said Emerson.
The kids left Friday hoping you will make a difference, too.
"If you recycle one bottle/can, it can light up a light bulb for four hours,” Melvin said.