Out of the mouths of babes ...

Graden Gribble (pictured here with his teacher) isn’t exactly a baby. He’s a 5th grade student at Rocky Branch Elementary School in River Falls, Wisconsin, who won the state's Conservation Speaking Contest by talking about our favorite subject: recycling aluminum.

In his speech, “Recycle Aluminum…Why?” Graden outlined many reasons why we should recycle. For instance, recycling one aluminum can will save enough energy to power a 100-power light bulb for up to four hours -- or power a television set for almost three hours (be sure to do your homework first before trying this.)

Graden also talked about the need to keep our land clean. Like, rather than send your aluminum cans to the landfill…donate them to the River Falls Youth Hockey Association, so they can buy new jerseys. (smart idea, Graden!)

We thought this was a pretty cool speech. So cool, in fact that we sent Graden and his classmates 50 reusable aluminum drinking bottles and some Alcoa literature. (I’m sure they’ll use the drinking bottles … the literature may be another story.)

In 2007, Alcoa purchased and recycled nearly 1 million metric tons of aluminum, which went into a host of useful, recyclable products. (Math challenge to 5th graders: how much is that in pounds?)

Having a young aluminum ambassador like Graden on our side, we’ll sure to see those recycling figures rise.