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Special to the Daily Journal/Messenger

West-Oak High School sophomore Hannah Brooks (right) receives a $500 savings bond from Charlotte Holmes, the Oconee County Democratic Party’s contest coordinator.

SENECA — West-Oak High School sophomore Hannah Brooks of Seneca has won a $500 savings bond for writing an essay on recycling.

Brooks was the big winner of the “Talking Trash” Recycling Essay Contest sponsored by the Oconee County Democratic Party. The contest was open to all public high school students in Oconee County.

“Let’s Talk Recycling!” focused on what is involved in the process of recycling newspapers, steel and aluminum cans. Her complete essay accompanies this story.

“I chose to do the three listed items because I remembered learning about them when going on a field trip in elementary school to a recycling center. And I recalled them telling us some of the items used in the recycling process," Brooks said when asked why she selected those items.

The Oconee County Democratic Party sponsored the contest to give students an opportunity to enhance their research and writing skills, and through such efforts to enhance their own and their community’s awareness of the environmental benefits of recycling.

“It is especially pleasing to have a student voluntarily sign up for an academic challenge,” said Charlotte Holmes, contest coordinator. “The Democratic Party is proud to recognize Hannah, a busy student, for taking up the challenge and for reaching beyond what is just enough to get by in school.”

Students were instructed to pretend to be investigative reporters. From among a long list of items that Oconee County recycles at each of its 11 convenience centers, students were to choose three items and write about what happens to them after being deposited at a recycling center.

Following is Brooks’ winning essay:

Let’s talk recycling!

Newspaper Recycling: Ever wonder where your newspaper goes when you take it to the dump or leave it on the curb in your recycling bin? The paper collector sells it to a recycler, who then starts the recycling process.

At a paper mill, a chemical washing takes place to delete all the ink off. The paper is turned into pulp so contaminants are taken off such as tape and dirt. It is poured onto a wire to drain out and turns solid near the end of the wire. The paper is then flattened into continuous sheets of paper. The paper machine finishes a printed newspaper at a rate of 3,000 ft. per minute!

And guess what? Tomorrow when you pick up your newspaper, it will be the same newspaper previously read the week before. There are 900 tons of paper processed each day, which is equivalent to nine and a half miles high of newspaper.

Recycling Steel Cans: Removing the top, removing the bottom and flattening cans prepares steel cans to be ready for recycling. Usually called tin cans, they are actually made of very little tin and mostly steel. By flattening the cans, they take up less space, making them economical to ship.

The tin is removed from the cans through a chemical dipping process. The distilled tin cans are drained, rinsed and ready for shipping. They are now sold to dealers of steel mills to be made into new products.

Next, the tin taken off the original can is to be cleaned of paper and garbage. After being rinsed and drained, it is molded by the use of electricity. It is then used in chemical and pharmaceutical industries. It can also be alloyed to make bronze products.

So next time you decide to throw your everyday cans in the garbage … Think Recycling!

Your Aluminum: Aluminum is created in many forms to make many products. It is used in the making of drink cans, dinner trays and even door frames. It is also rolled to make “foil.” It all has the ability to be recycled.

In some states, you can exchange the cans at the store for money, but it still takes the same route from there. It is picked up at your curbside to be taken to the recycling depot.

Aluminum gets in the hands of many people: users, buyers and scrap metal dealers. It all eventually reaches a “smelter,” who then melts or shreds it into tiny pieces. They are made into ingots by the use of electricity.

Then they are sent to manufacturing plants and rolled out into sheets of aluminum where they are used in the making of many things such as aluminum cans all the way to car parts.