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Marissa Rangel, 8, a third-grader, helps collect the recyclables 
Almost fairytale-like, Noble Elementary School this year converted trash into treasure.But it took a lot more than a fervent wish and a wave of a wand for the Berryessa school to win a $50,000 play structure for the school's empty playground. In a mega-recycling campaign, for one year students and parents saved, sorted and shipped what normally ends up in the trash: empty Doritos bags, Lunchables trays, Elmer's glue bottles, Colgate toothbrushes and toothpaste tubes.
And there was more: Neosporin tubes, tortilla bags and all types of pens and markers. In all, parents collected and sorted into 37 bins items from both home and school, and sent them to Terracycle, a not-for-profit New Jersey company dedicated to recycling the previously unrecyclable.
Last school year, Noble shipped more than 100,000 items that Terracycle turned into fodder for raw materials like plastic lumber and ice chests.
And as often happens when enlisting kids, Noble students, especially the kindergartners, got on board with zeal.
"If you toss something away that was Terracyclable, boy, you were in trouble," said Telma Rangel, the parent who initiated and still oversees the recycling campaign. Even on field trips, kids brought along bags and collected whatever could be diverted from the trash.
Every school day, Rangel, co-chairwoman Season Barrientos and a core of parents collected and sorted the Terracycles. It's a time-consuming and sometimes
messy task. "We hope the kids put just Capri Suns in the bin marked Capri Suns," Rangel said. "Then we can just dump them out and stomp on them."
Noble earned about $2,000 for its efforts. Last summer, the school became one of four campuses in the nation to win one of four play structures, made in part from recycled flip-flops, from Terracycle.
Rangel explained on the survey application why the school deserved a playground: "Because our kids practice being green every day, and they would be honored and thrilled to have a playground made out of flip-flops."
And yes, Terracycle ran a flip-flop recycling campaign last year, collecting the used footwear from customers at Old Navy stores.
But it's not just about money; it's also about environmental lessons and benefits. Instead of the janitor emptying garbage cans six times after the school's staggered lunchtime, now he carries it out only once. Families bringing in recyclables also generate less waste.
Two of Rangel's grown children bring empty bottles and wrappers from their work places. And her husband Gary, serving in Afghanistan, ships his energy-bar wrappers home, reminded by their third-grade daughter Marissa.
On Noble's Yahoo group site, Rangel sends parents reminders: "Halloween's coming up; don't forget to save your candy wrappers."
The new play structure is a daily, tangible reward for their efforts. A few years ago, Noble got rid of its aging out-of-code play structure, and the PTA raised $25,000 to build a new play area and replace the wood chips with recycled rubber chips. But it didn't have enough for a new structure.
"The kids pretty much threw rubber chips at each other," PTA President Manju Ramachandran said. "It's sad, but they're kids!" The PTA still hopes to raise enough to erect an additional structure in the play lot.
Noble is one of more than 40 schools and other organizations in San Jose running what Terracycle calls brigades, or collections of particular items for recycling. And the variety of items destined for a second life is expanding. "Everything comes in a pouch these days. It's easy to put in a lunchbox, but they don't break down in a landfill," said Stacey Cusack of Terracycle.
Many of those throwaways are generated in school lunchrooms, so more schools -- with energetic students and hardworking parents and teachers -- are joining the brigades.
Rangel said she didn't envision how much work the recycling would entail, but the Terracycling, has generated fun and friendships, as well as the play structure.