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Start a Recycling Program in Your School
The Service-Learning Approach
by Mary Zimmerle
Starting or expanding a recycling program in your school can be a fantastic service-learning project that incorporates students, faculty and staff across the school in an interdisciplinary and highly effective program. While starting from scratch will take some hard work and dedication from your class, the results of the program can be very fulfilling, tangible and meaningful. Students will be able to effect a great amount of change through this project, thereby positively affecting their school community and the world around them.
Getting Started
Students first need to assess the need for recycling in their school. Is there an existing recycling program? If so, how effective is it? Are members of the school community using the designated recycling bins for their specified purpose, or are they largely ignored? Are the recyclable materials in the bins actually being recycled? Are there recyclable materials that have no specific bin?
If there is no recycling program in place, students need to assess what materials need to be recycled in the school. Is there aluminum can and glass bottle recycling for the cafeterias? Is mixed paper recycled in the class rooms and the administrative offices? Students will also need to assess the level of awareness of the general school population about the need for and benefits of recycling. Do most school community members understand the importance of recycling? Do these members recycle at home? From these questions, students can then begin to devise a recycling education plan to be implemented before and during the implementation of the recycling program.
Before creating a recycling program in your school, you must ensure that there is a place where these recyclables can be dropped, such as a local market or recycling collection company. Students can research these markets and companies to find out what materials they collect, if they can pick up the recycling, what expenses the drop-off or pick-up will incur and any other important details pertaining to the specific organization. From this information, students and school administration will be able to make an informed decision about their program. This aspect of the project can help with your students' research, communication, information management and decision-making skills.
Educating Your School Community
The education plan should utilize a multi-faceted and creative approach to reach the entire school community in their everyday interactions. Posters, workshops, assemblies and class lessons can all be incorporated into your recycling action plan. In this way, recycling will not simply be an administrative policy that is imposed upon the community from the top down. Instead, students will have a significant and necessary hand in learning about, creating and participating in the program, increasing the likelihood that the students will actively recycle at school.
The student-centered aspect should be encouraged through specific classroom lessons. Science classes can use the topic of recycling to educate students about a variety of related concepts, such as natural resources, chemical reactions and conservation. Math classes can research how much energy and resources are saved by certain recycling practices so that they can keep a running tab on how much of these resources are saved by their school community during a week, a month and a year. English classes can contribute to the project by researching and writing literature about the program to educate the entire school community, including the students’ parents. In these ways, students will have a better and deeper understanding of why recycling is important and will be more dedicated to the project and to the general principles of recycling.
Implementing the recycling program
Students will need to work closely with the administration and the maintenance staff to ensure the success of the recycling program. Proper recycling bins that cut down on potential contamination with trash need to be designed or purchased, and a reasonable and effective management schema needs to be developed for proper management of the recyclables. The students who began the program can help oversee the first couple months of the program, evaluate what aspects are successful and what needs to be changed, and consider what extra education programs need to be included for the continued or increased success of the recycling project.
A project such as this can teach students a wide variety of lessons and skills. Students will emerge with a better sense of the limits of the world’s natural resources and the possibilities for reusing those resources responsibly. This knowledge can also open up doors for older students to further career options and opportunities.
For more detailed information about starting or expanding a recycling program in your school, check out the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s recycling site at http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/wm/recycle/recycle.htm. It contains a section specifically for PA schools that are looking to start a recycling program, as well as contact information for Pennsylvania agencies that can help you in your endeavor.
Check out Virtualrecycling.com at http://www.virtualrecycling.com/ for informative educational resources on recycling and the environment. The site includes articles about recycling, project ideas and examples of schools that have implemented effective and positive recycling programs.
Finally, check out EcoKids Online at http://www.ecokidsonline.com/pub/splash.cfm, a fun, interactive site for kids that addresses a wide range of environmental issues, including recycling.
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The Pennsylvania Service-Learning Alliance dissolved as of June 30, 2007. The website will stay posted for one more year, so please share the resources. We are sorry that we will not be able to answer any questions you may have. Good luck with all your future service-learning endeavors!