By CATHERINE DONNELLY
Special to the PRESS
Olga Villareal, self-proclaimed Earth Warrior, is teaching the students of Derry Elementary how to take care of our planet. Villareal, dubbed Miss V, is a teacher aide with a huge impact on the world view of the youngest students in the Point Isabel Independent School District (PI-ISD).
On Friday, April 20, the faculty and administration at Derry got together to recognize Miss Villareal for her efforts to keep everyone’s ecological footprint to a minimum. She was presented with a bouquet of flowers and a certificate thanking her for her work with the students on recycling and encouraging all the staff and faculty to find ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. The school encompasses Pre-K through 5th grade.
“The kids are so happy and enthusiastic to recycle,” said Villareal. “Whenever you see a can or plastic bottle or cardboard box, one of the students will say—save that for Miss V!”
Villareal just started her 29th year with the district and her 11th year at Derry, after an 18-year stint at Garriga. Villareal says that she has been recycling with some technical interruptions, like the pandemic or when certain recycling centers closed or stopped taking a certain type of waste product. She admits shyly that she will go “dumpster diving” for aluminum cans and plastics in her quest to keep things out of the landfill.
Derry Elementary has a “Green Team’ of students to help sort the recycling. The city of South Padre Island (SPI) used to drive their recycling bins to Derry to pick up their recyclables once a month but stopped when the pandemic hit.
“I’ve been at this for so long that many of the students I had on my green team in elementary school are now volunteering at recycling centers or planning on going on to college with the goal of becoming a scientist to help keep our Earth clean,” said Villareal.
Now Villareal packs it all up in her car and delivers it herself. If the program pays for the recycling, she does not accept any money for what she brings. She has even convinced Brownsville Scrap Paper on FM 511 to set up bins outside for those who want to just drop off their recycling without compensation and that is open 24 hours, seven days a week, which makes it a lot more convenient for people to drop things off.
Villareal will frequently take her recycling to SPI, Brownsville and Laguna Vista and is well known on the recycling circuit. She will take a haul of paper and boxes to Brownsville Scrap Paper, in her own car, on her own free time. She will even take e-waste (electronics) in on designated days, like Monday the 23rd was, for Earth Day.
Even with the assistance of the students, staff and faculty, Villareal will still stay late after school each day for at least an hour and sorts and delivers the haul over the weekends and other free time. She has been known to be working on her passion until midnight on some nights. In the summer when school is out, her neighbors will bring her their recycling.
“Sometimes I’ll leave the house and find recycling on my porch when I get back and I wonder where that came from,” chuckled Villareal.
Currently, SPI only takes plastics #1 and 2. Villareal will teach the students about the different numbers for sorting because they go in different bins and they will even bring recycling in from home. Most recycling centers need the waste to come in clean and dry.
Plastics have become the most used material in the World since 1976, according to the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council (LRGVDC) website. In 2003, only about 12 percent of all the water bottles produced were recycled. The recycling rate for plastic soft drink bottles is closer to 30 percent.
Plastics can be numbered from 1 through 7, with the numbers signifying the type of plastic that the product is made from and identifies if it is recyclable, according to the LRGVDC. Number 1 (PET) is often used in milk jugs, detergent bottles, plastic pipes, lumber, flower pots, trash cans, containers for motor oil or cleaning supply bottles.
Number 2 (HDPE) plastics are commonly used in water and soda bottles and food packaging, textiles, carpet, fiber filling or fabric for things like pillows or jackets. Plastic films (LDPE) are often used for plastic bags, shrink wrap and grocery bags, plastic tubing, agricultural film and plastic lumber.
“When cleaning up the beaches, the cans and such have so much sand in them and on them that it’s impossible to clean them yourself so it’s just easier to bring them to a place that can take care of the cleaning,” said Villareal. “McAllen is the only place I know in the Rio Grande Valley to accept these dirty recyclables.”
For Earth Day, the faculty at Derry has in-class activities in support of the cause. With the playground still not open, there were no plantings or activities planned outside this year. Some of the lessons taught are how to reduce or eliminate one time use plastics like straws and how to give items a second life by turning them into something else, like a plastic coke bottle into a bird feeder. Teachers will even put recycling questions on their tests.
“I’m so grateful for the teachers, especially Mrs. Beasley, who is my partner in crime” said Villareal. “She teaches the kids to pick up and save their recyclables and sort them for her classroom.”
In the past, the school has also launched friendly competitions like at Halloween where the classrooms filled up special pumpkin-faced orange colored trash bags with paper to see who could produce the most pumpkins, according to Villareal. They were used as decorations until they were donated.
“I do this so much, I am pretty sure that my carbon footprint is well in the negative by now,” joked Villareal.
Southerland’s used to take cardboard boxes for recycling but has since stopped the practice. Now Villareal says that she fills her car with flattened boxes until she cannot see out of the rearview mirror and must rely on her side mirrors to see.
“It takes 120 boxes to fill my car to the top,” said Villareal. “But I have to take several trips because I can get 200 to 300 of them sometimes!”
The city of SPI takes #5 bottle caps, according to their website myspi.org. They are taken to Monterrey, Mexico, and the proceeds go to pay the chemo bills for children with cancer, according to Villareal.
Banco de Tapitas A.C., a Mexican charity, promotes personal responsibility to avoid plastics reaching our oceans, according to cafamerica.org. In 2020 alone, the organization has provided cancer treatment free of charge to 511 children, providing them with free cancer treatments which includes chemotherapy, medication, oncological wigs, and ocular prostheses. The donated material is then used to make toys, utensils, and even boats.
Villareal is a Brownsville native and has lived in the lower RGV her entire life. She came to Port Isabel in 1973, got married and had two daughters. One daughter earned a Biology degree and is an active recycler. The other daughter is a music teacher in Los Fresnos.
“When a student comes up to me in the hallway and says–thank you for recycling Miss V, that just makes my day,” said Villareal.
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