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Nearly 20,000 children and adolescents from 190 schools took part voluntarily yesterday in the Hesse-wide waste collection campaign "Clean School Way", including the fifth graders of the Schiller School in Offenbach. By Marian Mendel

Their support association also received 500 euros donation from the lottery volume to promote the association work.

"Mrs. Wald, we have found a battery!" Excited storm the children to their class teacher. Sarah Wald has already pulled out the right bag. That's what the fifth-graders of the Schilling already know: Batteries do not belong in the regular garbage. Equipped with reflective vests with reflective tapes, protective gloves and tongs, the tender-hearted and 11-year-olds on Tuesday clear the streets around their school of garbage - voluntarily. They are among the more than 19,500 students in Hesse who participate in the nationwide "Clean School Way" waste collection campaign.

Shortly after 9 o'clock, the 125 Schiller pupils swarm out. "There are real competitions about who gets the most rubbish," says homeroom teacher Sarah Wald, who coordinates the project. "Sometimes you really have to slow them down, so they do not take anything strangers with them or put bulky waste in their bags." The Hessian state government's annual campaign since 2002 has been part of the teaching program for the fifth grade of their school. "It's about having students take responsibility for their environment," says Wald. "We just want to educate them a bit."

Measured by the commitment that the children show in their purge, this works quite well. What the students find on the streets around Goethals is sometimes more than surprising. Two broken car tires on the roadside, a deranged deck chair in the bushes and a torn table leg in a parking lot are just three of the examples. "In preparation, we visited the recycling center with the class and looked at what can be disposed of there," says Wald. She also organized a garbage-poor picnic in advance with her proteges. They should think about how they can avoid waste thanks to clever planning as much as possible. "For example, we took our classwork with us, which we always use at school."

"Unfortunately, we have no way to weigh the collected garbage," Headmaster Karin Marrakesh regrets later in the courtyard in front of the sports hall. That with the many, bulging bags that pile up there under the basketball hoop, a few kilograms come together but should be obvious.

When Andrea Koch from the Hessian Ministry of the Environment addresses the children to the children, he is full of praise: "Students from 190 schools have moved out this time to collect garbage - but I can tell you, you are one of the best." And as icing on top Koch also has a financial contribution for the Overrefined Schilling. 500 euros from the lottery to promote the club work, he hands school director Karin Marrakesh in a deputy.

"Offenbach is our living room, and you have really cleaned it up," says deputy ESO boss Christian Loose. He promises: "We will bring your collected waste to the recycling yard tomorrow."