EAST COBB - Simpson Middle School in east Cobb has been recognized for its student recycling plan by the Georgia Recycling Coalition. Recently, the school received an Outstanding School Recycling Award as part of the GRC's annual Spirit of Green Awards.

But for the students at Simpson, recycling isn't about receiving awards; it's about making a difference in protecting the earth.

For the past 20 years, the Simpson Middle School Environmental Committee has collected paper, aluminum cans, ink cartridges, batteries and other recyclable products from the school to be recycled. Simpson is about 15,000 pounds from hitting the 1 million pounds of paper recycled mark.

It should take about two more months to reach that goal, said Joy Chanin, a Simpson school counselor and founder of the environmental committee.

"There were two students who approached me in 1989 and we went from there," Chanin recalled. At that time, the committee was the first club at the brand new school and has remained popular ever since.

About 50 students are currently members of the committee. Every Friday, a few dozen of them participate in picking up material from recycle bins in classrooms, offices, media lab and other rooms throughout the schools. That phase takes about 30 minutes. By 9:15 a.m., all the materials are emptied into to a large recycling dumpster in front of the school or given to Advantage Laser Products, and then transported to be recycled.

In return, SP Recycling Corporation sends a check back to the school for the recyclable products. It averages about $25.

However, since 1989, the school has used the money to build an outdoor classroom, created a nature trail, outdoor benches, purchased shredders for the school, and started a new environmental grant this year for a teacher to teach an environmental course.

Tiffany Hudson, an eighth-grader, is one of five student directors in the committee. She admitted that the project takes a lot of hard work, but said she has enjoyed participating for three years.

"I thought it was a really unique program and I wanted to do something to benefit the earth," said Hudson, 14. "We only have one world and we have to take care of it."

Eighth-grader John Chisholm, 14, said, "If the earth dies, then we all die."