How do we get started?

Starting a successful School Recycling Program is challenging! It involves coordination and cooperation with several different entities. One of the most important aspects of a successful school recycling program is communication--that is making sure everyone knows how the program works, and who is responsible for the different elements of the program. Below is a list of steps to take and the questions that need to be asked in implementing each step.

Organize a coordination team and obtain support from school administrators.

Start a recycling club at your school. Ideally, the club should consist of concerned students, a teacher (science teachers are best), the principal, a PTA member and a custodian (keep in mind that many school recycling programs fail because the custodians simply throw the recyclables in with the general trash, negating the separation process).

Decide who will be removing the recyclables and where they will be taken for processing.

This is always the most challenging aspect of a successful school recycling program. Determining where the recyclables will go to be "processed" and how they will get there is essential. It may be helpful to contact municipal recycling officials in your city or town as well as the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency (845) 336-0600.

First, see if you can get your school included in your town's existing residential recycling program. Many times, recycling trucks that are driving right past your school can simply stop and pick up your recyclables at curbside. The commercial hauler responsible for picking up the school’s trash, must also provide recycling services to the schooI. Since the hauler is already providing garbage pick-up service, this may be the easiest way to transport your recyclables. So, contact your trash hauler first. If you are unsuccessful with the town, you should pose the challenge to your school's parent teacher organization. Some schools have found local non-profits that are willing to pick up their school's paper and soda cans on a weekly basis (the soda cans help underwrite the cost of removing the paper). Unfortunately, there are no non-profits that specialize in this, so an effort needs to be launched to find one in your community that would be willing to help. If this fails, some schools have parents that transport the school's paper to the recycling facility on a rotating basis.

Decide which recyclables will be collected and ensure that you have enough containers for all the classrooms and offices.

Most of the waste that schools generate is paper, so collecting paper is the best place to start. After your school is successfully recycling its paper, then you can add the other materials. Recyclables must be separated from trash or they will not be recycled. If recyclables are mixed with trash, they become worthless and will be landfilled instead of recycled.

Michelle Leggett is the contact at the UCRRA for obtaining classroom recycling bin stickers and recycling posters/information. You may also call the Recycling Hotline at 336-3336 and leave a message.

Determine how the recyclables collected in the rooms and offices will be transported to a storage location and what the recyclables will be stored in until they are taken to a recycling facility.

Some of the most successful school recycling programs have students collect the recyclable paper and bring it to a central collection point. If the custodial staff will be collecting the separated paper along with the trash, make sure they are committed and willing to do so. Also, ensure that they have the proper equipment-- school custodians often have one barrel on wheels that they use to collect trash. Because they only have one barrel, they often mix the recyclables with trash.

Where will the recyclable paper be stored until is it collected and taken to a recycling facility? Does your school have large wheeled carts or "Toters" as they are sometimes called, to store the material in until it can be removed?

Educate everyone involved with the program.

Make sure everyone who is involved with the program knows about when it is starting and what they are supposed to recycle. To download a copy of the updated Ulster County Recycling Instructions brochure, visit http://www.ucrra.org/recycling/brochure/recyclingmadeeasy.pdf

As for student education, the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency (UCRRA) can help you; contact the Recycling Coordinator at 336-0600 for classroom education or to schedule a tour of the recycling facility.

Monitor the success of the program continually.

After the recycling program is underway, periodically assess its effectiveness. Keep in communication with the custodial staff and get feedback from them on how well they think it is working. Also, on a regular basis, do "spot-checks" of the recycling bins, trash cans and dumpster to determine if recyclables are being thrown away

How to Help Save the Earth - Reusing at School

Here are some tips for students. You are the future, and the sooner you start conserving, the longer our universe will last.

Lunch supplies:

• Aluminum Foil- Save, cut into tiny pieces, use for glitter on art projects
• Candy boxes- Use for wrapping gifts, store notes, letters and paper clips in
• Cereal boxes- Cut into puzzles, cut into book marks, make into folders
• Glass bottles- Use as a candleholder, use as a vase
• Lunch boxes- Fill with art supplies, use for a sewing kit, use it for storage
• Paper lunch bags- Reuse for tomorrow's lunch, make paper bag puppets
• Plastic baggies- Wash out, keep pocket change in, reuse for lunch
• Plastic bottles- Fill with water and freeze for cooler, fill with colored sand for door-stop
• Plastic cups- Put change in, use as a pen holder, make sand castles with them

School Supplies:

• Books & Magazines- Donate books to a library, sell to other students, make a collage
• Calculator- Give to someone to fix it, give to a child to play school with
• Crayons- Make into shavings to use as glitter, make into wax to drip over a vase
• Paper- Use for scrap, use for wrapping gifts, cut for phone messages, make cards
• Spiral notebook wire- Cut and bend to use for tree ornament.
• Three-ring binders- Reuse for classes the next year, use it to store recipe cards
• Tissue boxes- Cut off top for storing small objects, cut into flash cards for studying

How to Help Save the Earth - Recycling at School

In the classroom:

• All paper including, white and colored, computer, construction
• Note book, copying and typing
• All envelopes (even windows) and folders
• Newspapers and inserts
• Magazines & catalogs
• Paperback books (no hard covers)
• Shredded paper
• Paper bags
• Thin cardboard (food boxes – ex. cereal, cookie)
• Corrugated cardboard

In the cafeteria:

• Aluminum cans
• Glass bottles and Jars
• Tin/Steel cans
• Soda bottles and Milk Jugs
• Snack Packs (i.e., fruit cups, yogurt, cottage cheese) #4, #5, and #7 on bottom
• Any plastic bottle or jug with a #1 or #2 on the bottom
  

TIP #1

Recycling bins should always be placed next to the trashcans.

TIP #2

Posters and recycling instructions should be placed near every recycling bin.

How to Help Save the Earth - things to do at home

Before you throw something in the trash, consider ways that you might be able to reuse it.

• an empty jar can become a storage container for leftovers or knick-knacks.
• Sell unwanted but usable household items in a yard sale.
• Donate clean, usable goods to a charity.
• Re-use old envelopes - cover the name and address with a sticker or paper.
• Re-use sheets of paper that have only been used on one side for drawing and writing on, or to make telephone pads and shopping lists.
• Use empty plastic water or soft drink bottles as drink bottles for school.
• Save old egg cartons, toilet rolls, and margarine and ice-cream tubs to make arts and crafts.
• Save your plastic shopping bags and re-use them next time you go to the supermarket.
• Use paper and plastic shopping bags, rather than purchased bags, to hold your trash.
• Cut the bottoms off milk cartons and soft drink bottles, punch some holes in them, and use them to plant seedlings.
• Buy a battery charger and recharge and reuse batteries.
• Pass on magazines and books to friends--or to hospitals, senior centers, and others who would enjoy them.
• Give old clothing, household goods, and furniture to charitable organizations. Or hold a garage sale. Other people will pay you for things you no longer want.
• Create a market for what you recycle by buying products made of recycled materials.