Huntsville's Air Pollution Control Board honored Earthscope and the Solid Waste Disposal Authority for teaching students about clean air. Their joint field trip takes children to the city's trash plant.
Two groups that have taken generations of Huntsville students to see where the city’s trash goes have won the city’s clean air awards.
The Air Pollution Control Board gave its Air Quality Education Award to Earthscope, the environmental education program in Huntsville City Schools, and to the Solid Waste Disposal Authority of the City of Huntsville. The city announced the awards Thursday in a news release. They were presented at City Hall.
Neither group had put its own work forward for the award before, the city said. The board called the recognition “long-overdue.”
What Earthscope does
The city said Earthscope serves all 26 of the school system’s K-6 schools. It runs field-based science, history and nature programs.
Its field trips include:
- the Solid Waste Disposal Authority’s Waste-to-Energy facility, known as the “trash plant,” and its landfill
- a water treatment plant
- the Flint River
- Wheeler Wildlife Refuge
On those trips, students learn how the trash plant and landfill control their emissions. They also cover recycling, saving energy, and how clean air and clean water are linked, the city said.
What the Solid Waste Disposal Authority does
The authority is a public nonprofit corporation. It handles trash for Huntsville and Madison County. The city said it runs:
- a Waste-to-Energy plant that burns 690 tons of trash a day
- a landfill for municipal solid waste
- recycling and household hazardous waste collection
The authority hosts the field trip known as “The Trash Trip.” It also gives Earthscope an annual grant to support its environmental education work, and it offers tours to other groups, the city said.
What the mayor said
“This is a program that has reached generations of Huntsville students, and I am proud that we are able to take a moment and applaud the intentionality to share about the value of clean air,” Mayor Tommy Battle said.
Darlene Elliott, the city’s director of natural resources, said monitoring air quality is “a critical mission” for her department.
What it means for you
- If your child is in a Huntsville City Schools elementary school, the Earthscope field trips are part of the school program. Ask the school which trips your child’s grade takes.
- Nominations for the 2027 awards will open soon, Elliott said. The city has not yet given a date. We will add it here when it does.
- Want to know what goes to the trash plant? Our Huntsville trash and recycling guide covers pickup days, recycling and household hazardous waste.
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