It was a hard-fought contest, with both sides leaving it all on the battlefield. In the final tally, the Hunters Creek neighborhood bested the residents of The Four Seasons neighborhood in the “Battle of the Bottles,” a friendly competition to see which neighborhood could increase recycling the most.
The contest, which took place throughout the month of July, was produced by the Herndon Environmental Network (HEN) in partnership with the Town of Herndon and Meadows Farms Nurseries. The town’s Department of Public Works (DPW) weighed recycled materials collected from each neighborhood in June, to establish a baseline, then measured again in July to determine the winner. Hunters Creek recorded the highest increase in recyclables, at 13 percent, while The Four Seasons ran a close second at 9.8 percent. Combined, the two neighborhoods increased their recycling tonnages by an average of 820 pounds per week.
The Hunters Creek neighborhood will be presented with a $500 gift certificate from Meadows Farms Nurseries, which will be used to beautify common areas in the neighborhood. Both of the participating neighborhoods will be recognized by the Herndon Town Council at its public meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 7 p.m.
“The real winner in the ‘Battle of the Bottles’ is the environment,” said Mayor Lisa Merkel. “We are extremely grateful to the residents of Hunters Creek and The Four Seasons, to HEN, to Meadows Farms and to our own Public Works staff for spotlighting the importance of recycling through this fun, community-building competition.”