National Recycling Day is a great way to celebrate diversion rate and to educate others about recycling. In America our recycling rate hovers around 35%, in Deschutes County, we currently divert 33% of our waste stream. Recently, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality revised the County’s goal to 45% by 2025. We can all learn more and do more to reduce our waste, increase our recycling and ensure that we are recycling right and avoiding “wishful recycling”.
Staff Education Ideas
- Read the article from the Intercept – How the Plastics Industry is Fighting to Keep Polluting the World
- Participate in the GooseChase National Recycling Day Challenge
- Read the Week article about the Pros and Cons of Recycling
- Make sure all staff have waste and recycling bins in classrooms that are clearly marked. Here is a link to signage.
High School Education Ideas
- Watch – The Story of Bottled Water
- Create a video at your school similar to Gladstone High School Water Bottle Video
- Lesson plan – Inventing Beyond Recycling or watch the video “Why it will take more than basic recycling to cut back on plastic”
K-8 Education Ideas
- Teach students about packing a Waste Free Lunch
- Check out the education through the distance learning lesson Understanding Waste
- Watch Saving little pieces of the earth also available in Spanish
- Watch “If You Give a Beach a Bottle“
- Check out the Elementary Online Learning through Metro
- Use recycled materials in art projects – Check out this Pinterest board for some ideas to get started.
- Complete recycling audits in classes to see what items are getting routinely are recycled but are not recyclable
- Check out the KID STUFF resource conservation book for worksheets
- Consider taking on the TOP THREE campaign at your school
- Book an EarthSmart lesson – contact [email protected]