Diane Varney-Parker

The town of Milford presented the Milford Recycling Award to Diane Varney-Parker this year.

Twelve years ago, Varney-Parker and a small group of students began the Milford Middle School Recycling Club. In 2008, she was instrumental in the school being awarded the Northeast Resource Recovery Gold Recycling Award. MMS was the first school in New Hampshire to achieve this status.

Through their hard work, the MMS Recycling Club and the Green Team have reduced approximately one trash dumpster a week from being disposed of at this school. The avid recycling and a composting program has helped achieve this reduction. Not only does the school population collect and process rarely recycled materials, but Varney-Parker has created educational presentations to reduce consumption of materials, thereby eliminating waste.

Varney-Parker has conducted workshops for other schools at the NRRA annual conference and recently at a summer lyceum with a program titled “Becoming a better Steward of Planet Earth.” Varney-Parker has lobbied for students to be able to attend the NRRA conference each year as part of their leadership growth and education. Though not a Milford resident, she serves on the town of Milford Recycling Committee and was instrumental in getting a district-wide school recycling policy adopted by the Milford School Board and SAU40 office. This earned the Milford School District a Special Recognition Award at the 2017 NRRA Conference. MMS has won Best Recycling School and Best Recycling Club awards in New England. The NRRA director said that “Milford Middle School is a shining example of an eco-conscious school.”

Varney-Parker has been the pivotal person at Milford Middle School to accomplish all this and has taught thousands of students over the years how important it is to reduce waste.

Just recently, she organized a third annual “Trash on the Lawn” day at Milford Middle School to have the entire school population analyze and sort the waste they generate.