As the school leader you can work with your green team to provide information on what materials can be recycled, where to recycle and the importance of recycling in your community. These three education goals are essential to increasing school wide recycling efforts. Think of the three R’s. Can we reduce the waste generated in the first place? If not, can we reuse it? If we can’t reuse it, can we recycle it?
Here are some helpful places to find lessons to complete with your green team and then use to educate your school community.
Resources on Waste and Recycling:
Waste Facts:
http://www.cleanair.org/Waste/wasteFacts.html
Recycling Fact Sheet:
http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html
EPA- How To Start or Expand a Recycling Collection Program:
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/smm/wastewise/pubs/howtopdf.pdf
Waste Quiz:https://www.recycleornot.org/
Activities and Resources:
Education World
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson308b.shtml
The Quest for Less- Grades 6-8:
https://www.epa.gov/students/quest-less-activities-and-resources-teaching-k-8
Project Green Schools
http://projectgreenschools.org/resources/
Videos and Graphic Resources
Saving Little Pieces
The Story of Stuff- dark look at consumerism and the life-cycle of goods- appropriate for middle school and up:
http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-stuff/
The Story of Bottled Water- appropriate for middle school and up:
http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-bottled-water/
What’s in Your Trash Infographic:
http://dailyinfographic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/whats-in-your-trash-infographic.jpg
Material recycling at a MRF
Problems with plastic
The plastic industry’s long fight to blame pollution on you – 9 minute video appropriate for Middle and High School students