FALL CITY—Debbie Garrett thought her daughter Nicole was

just entering another drawing contest — one of many in her short

elementary school career. But when the Snoqualmie family found out that

the Fall City Elementary student’s picture was chosen from 250 entries, the

family was ecstatic.

“I went around telling everyone,” Debbie said. “Nicole smiled from

ear to ear.”

Nicole’s drawing is one of 14 that will be featured in the America

Recycles Day “For Their Future … Buy Recycled Today” 2000 calendar.

The winners were treated to a special reception at the Capitol

building in Olympia, which included a tour of the Capitol and congratulatory

lunch for the students and their family members.

“It was fun,” the second-grader said. “There was an awards

ceremony and they gave us a hand puppet made of a recycling can.”

Nicole said she used pencils, crayons and markers to create the

award-winning picture. It showed a boy and a girl picking up garbage and a

recycling center in the background. In the drawing, the youngsters said,

“We love the Earth, please recycle.”

Although the family didn’t diligently recycle in the past, they plan

to do their part now to become better stewards of the region. “Recycling

is important to keep the earth clean, because it wouldn’t be clean or

healthy [without it],” said Nicole.

“We made a pledge to make more of an effort at home to

recycle,” Debbie added. “And I pledged to

buy more recycled products.”

Each year, America Recycles Day is celebrated on Nov. 15. The focus

of the day is to urge Americans to recycle; buy more products made

from recycled materials; and learn more about the social, environmental

and economic benefits of recycling.

“I’m proud of her. But I have no doubt that she deserved it. It was

the perfect one for her to win since she likes the habitat,” Debbie said.

The calendars are available this month at schools and at local and

state government agency offices.