Recycling Before The Grant

PaperParentsPupilsPockets of passion

Winchester Public Schools (WPS) Recycling Coalition2/14/11 meeting minutes

• Goals: • Share information among schools about

current recycling efforts.• Identify areas for improvement.• Engage school administration and staff in

process.• Establish recycling as institutional practice in

Winchester schools.

Connection & Communication

School Administration and School CommitteeMunicipal: DPW, Town Mgr., Board of HealthCustodiansFaculty (particularly leaders of related clubs)Students with passion/interestParent AssociationsCommunity/Publicity: articles in newspaper/lettersDEP School Recycling Grant: helped structure

program for success.

Move to Single Stream in All Schools

•Equipment set-up •Signs •Education

All staff were educated during staff meetings over the course of the year and provided with signs for each classroom describing common recyclable items and trash items.

Single Stream Recycling equipment is available in all classrooms, offices learning spaces, gymnasiums libraries, and staff rooms

Example of Elementary Schools Cafeteria Set-Up

Example of Elementary Schools Cafeteria Set-Up

Support and Engagement• Parent Association Go Green Committees• Parent Volunteers in cafeteria for

September• All-School Assemblies• MA Green Team participation• Waste Audits & Waste Free Lunch Day• Composting

Recycling In Our Schools 

How Can Your Parent Association Help Support Recycling at Your School?

  Form a “Go Green Committee” as part of your parent association to oversee recycling

efforts in your school; (can include ongoing drives such as printer cartridges, or redeemable cans as fundraisers. Check online for more options.)

  Decrease use of non-recyclable items at Parent Association events, and 

Always provide well-marked recycling receptacles at Parent Association events and use announcements when possible to alert attendees to the recycling choice.

  Encourage and teach your child to recycle snack and lunch waste appropriately, or invite

them to bring it home to recycle.

RECYCLE AT HOME and everywhere possible!!

Parent volunteers support cafeteria recycling.Logo created by parent for aprons.

Green Teams• The Student Green Team is supported by the Adult Green Team which is comprised of the Asst. Principal,

several teachers and several parents, along with the support of the custodians. Meet monthly on the Monday immediately after the Student Green Team. They help schedule events and organize materials and additional volunteers.

• I. Applications: interested 4th and 5th graders submit an application to join the team asking them to write

a brief summary of what they think the Green Team is and why they would be a good addition. • II. Meetings: meet the first Fri of each month during lunch/recess to plan and review activities. First

Meeting: Sign a pledge, talk about what the team is and will do.

• III. Announcements: Each Friday morning two team members give green tips on the morning announcements. They LOVE this. I usually have a theme for the month and the tips relate to the theme.

• IV. Walk to School: Happens once a month, announced on morning announcements, PTA letter and have a banner to hang outside. There is always a theme (i.e. Leap to Lincoln etc.) and team members make a big banner that all walkers get to sign on way into school, then the banner is hung in the lobby. We play music, hand out stickers and stamp hands. Anyone who could not walk can do a lap around the grass area of our playground to participate.

Green Teams• V. Monthly Activities:

• Nov. 15 is National Recycling Day. Last year we did morning announcements, manned the recycling in the cafeteria and hosted a recycle art buffet at recess. We also created a petition for recycling bins on the playground and sent to DPW.

• Dec: We gave each student at Lincoln an anti idling pledge for families to sign. Team members made announcements about the harmful effects of idling and the results of the pledge. We also did a how to green up your holidays with announcements and presentation at All School Assembly.

• Jan: Lunch Waste Audits: Surprise and Waste-Free Lunch Day Audits• Feb: Announced the results and prepared a presentation for STEAM night. At STEAM

night the kids had a table with a display/pictures of what we did with the audits. All the baggies we collected at audit were placed in a bin for people to guess how many. We also created a Jeopardy Game asking for the correct answers to green questions.

Green Team• March: Team members broke up into groups and presented audit findings to every classroom.

• April: Earth Day Activities: All Lincoln students could choose to participate in Earth Bingo over a two week period. Basically they brought a sheet home with a list of things to be checked off by a parent. Things like Shut the light off when I left a room. Picked up garbage on my way to school. At the end they earned an earth eraser. We did an all school write that was hung in the halls for parents to view during our May Day event. Prompt was “I know my actions are important to Earth’s survival. Here’s what I will do to help save the Earth…”. Did a playground clean up.

• May: Kids wrote a skit about the 3 R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) and presented at the All School Assembly.

• June: Planted a garden and had a movie night fundraiser. Invited the whole school to come watch The Lorax and proceeds went to Build a Forest and a Lowell mini library. (over $400 was raised that evening.) Remaining proceeds will fund Green Team activities, possibly including t-shirts for team members

Fourth Graders do Waste Audit

Waste is divided into categories and quantified.

Green Team at STEAM Night

Recycle Relay

How To Conserve

Energy at Home

Green Team at STEAM

Walk To School Day Data Chart

Waste Audit Results Display

How many ziploc bags collected in one day?

All School Assemblies

• Introduced Zero Sort Recycling with video of separating process at the recycling plant

• Introduced cafeteria recycling process with “Show and Tell” of new equipment

• Earth Day Celebration with Recycling Pledge and our own Lynch Recycling Song (see below)

• Green Team performed student-written skit on recycling

• Guest performance won for Waste Audit work

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle; this is what we doWe can save the planet, if you do it to

When we eat our lunches and try not to waste much food,We think about the planet and doing what is good. We separate our garbage so stuff can be reused.Recycling saves our planet. You can do it too CHORUS Plastic, cans and paper, glass and tin foil too,Milk and juice cartons, go in the bin that’s blue.

Pour out your extra milk, dump juice or water too, But please don’t put cereal in the red thingy-do!CHORUS

Straws and plastic sporks go in the trash can,Mixin them with recycling messes up the plan. What else goes in the trash? Listen to me good!Styrofoam and plastic bags, and any extra food. CHORUS

What all can be recycled? Look on the yellow sign!Try your best to get it right, and we will all be fine.CHORUS (Repeat and fade)

The Lynch Elementary School Recycling SongCo-written by custodians Mike Dinnano and Steve Landry, School Recycling Coordinator Fritzie Nace and school music teacher Irina Chelnakova,

2014

Middle School Locker Green Out• The problem: Every year at the end of school, more than 1,000 McCall Middle School students clean out their

lockers and throw away lots of unused supplies includes unopened packages of paper, unused binders, pencils, index cards, etc. The aim of the locker Green Out was to repurpose some of that would-be waste.

• The plan: McCall custodians always put out garbage and recycling bins which fill up quickly. We added recycling bins and boxes for reusable materials. Green Team students made signs detailing what was to go into each bin to post at the collection centers. The students also wrote and read a morning announcement explaining the idea to the school. Student volunteers were there to help their peers and teachers use the bins correctly.

• What worked well: • Collected a lot of really great materials that were either unused or reusable. • Students and teachers were invited to take what they wanted from the reuse bins, so we had less to organize in

the end. What was left was sent to a large storage area and organized there. Teachers have been taking from and adding to the materials since then.

• The Green Team students were really awesome. They worked hard at organizing, setting up, and cleaning up the event. They enjoyed speaking over morning announcements A LOT. Ultimately, I think they felt really good about it.

On-Going Support to Schools

Bi-annual meeting with all adult Green Teams to• Encourage registration in MA Green Team, • Ensure updated signs for all classrooms and

cafeteria spaces• Encourage planning of events for National

Recycling Day, November 15th and Earth Day• Support maintenance of adequate equipment

and needs for additional equipment