Forget Milan and Paris - Fort Benning residents need look no further than their own backyard to find high fashion.

When students at Loyd Elementary took part in the school's eighth annual Trash to Treasure Fashion Parade, they turned hallways into runways as they showcased costumes made of recycled materials.

The fashion show was the culminating event of Green Week, a schoolwide effort to educate children about environmental issues.

"Instead of just making (recycling) an occasional thing, we want it to be a lifestyle for them," said Katherine Walker, Green Week organizer and Loyd kindergarten teacher.

A highlight of Green Week was the book-recycling program, Walker said. Students brought used, unwanted books to school and received tickets they exchanged for another book.

Each grade completed its own project for Green Week. Kindergartners planted a vegetable garden while fourth-graders made paper out of unwanted newspaper and fifth-graders wrote poems about the environment.

For kindergartner Michelle Gutierrez, walking in the parade was the week's highlight.

"I had fun," she said. "I made my princess costume out of paper."

Second-graders Shaleek Memminger and Xavier Thomas wore ninja costumes they created using recycled paper.

Memminger said Green Week taught him the importance of picking up trash.

"Don't throw it on the ground," he said. "Because if we don't pick up trash, the Earth will die."

Chanique Williams, a second-grader who wore a cheerleader costume made of plastic bags and paper for the parade, said Green Week taught her the

importance of recycling.

"If we don't recycle, then we won't have any more stuff to use to make houses and stuff for people to wear," she said.

Walker said she hoped students would use their new knowledge to educate their parents about recycling.

"If we could get 100 percent recycling with our families here at Loyd Elementary School, that would be fantastic," she said.

"Recycling is so easy to do. If they can drop it in a trash can, they can drop it in a recycling bin. It's the (kids') world, and we need them to start (recycling) as we move into the 21st century."