Green Bean, once simply a wooden human mini-mannequin, has morphed into a sustainability symbol at Sprague Elementary School that inspires students to think green.

Last year the big veggie was passed through each classroom at Sprague, where students decided which material they would like recycle and add to him.

The new twist this year is that Sprague teacher and Wellesley Green School Council member Kristan Fiore launched The Green Bean Award. Sprague students are on the lookout for classrooms exhibiting sustainable practices — composting, using both sides of paper, litterless lunches — and award Green Bean each week to the class that’s most deserving.

Sustainable Wellesley‘s Phyllis Theermann, who passed along this item to us, says other elementary schools in town might follow Sprague’s lead.

(Meanwhile, Green Bean slightly creeps me out, and I’m starting to have nightmares about putting the wrong stuff into dual-stream recycling containers.)