What teachers and students can do to practice waste reduction in the classroom:
Reduce
- Use an overhead projector or blackboard to reduce the amount of printed
/ copied information distributed in class.
- Encourage parents and students to
pack a Waste-Free lunch for
field trips.
- Buy classroom materials that are durable and if possible, include
recycled content.
- Make double-sided copies when possible.
- Use paper towels only
as needed, better yet replace them with sponges, old socks, or other scrap material.
Reuse
- Encourage students to write on both sides of a piece of paper before recycling
it.
- Designate a Scrap Material box in the classroom for paper, fabric, and other
objects that can be reused for classroom projects.
- Take a trip to the school
library to visit a site dedicated to reuse.
- Ask students to bring 3-ring binders
to class instead of spiral notebooks. Binders can be reused and paper can be
easily removed for recycling.
- At the end of the school year, collect unwanted
school supplies such as pencils and notebooks that can be used during the next
school year.
- Encourage students to collect supplies for reuse art projects such
as egg cartons, film canisters, magazines, milk cartons, paper grocery bags,
and plastic lids.
Recycle
- Establish a recycling bin in your classroom.
- Have students separate materials
for recycling.
- Ask students to remove spiral bindings from notebooks before recycling
them.
- Plan a lesson about paper recycling and make recycled paper.
- Place recycling
and garbage bins in teacher’s lunchroom to collect materials for recycling.
- Visit a local Transfer Station or Material Recovery Facility (MRF) to learn
more about how recyclables are sorted and processed before remanufacture.
- Collect
and sell classroom recyclables as part of a school-wide recycling contest. The
funds can be donated to a local charity or used for classroom supplies, pizza
party, etc.
Compost
- Start composting food waste in the classroom with a worm bin. Ask students
to collect fruit and vegetable scraps from school lunches. Place a collection
bin in the teacher’s lunchroom for coffee grounds and other food waste.
Use the finished compost on schoolyard plantings
- When installing a school garden, choose plants appropriate for the local
conditions. This will reduce the generation of green waste, use of water, fertilizers,
and pesticides.
FreeCycle
- Have something you
want to get rid of but can’t recycle it and don’t
want to throw it out? Sign-up for FreeCycle and join a group of people who
give and take, for FREE.
More questions? Contact
OCRRA today to speak with a recycling specialist.
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