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Resources to Reduce Waste in Schools
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The following Web sites and publications for administrators, teachers, and students provide information on waste reduction; present ideas for classroom, after-school, and extra-credit activities; and provide lesson plans and school projects.
EPA Web Sites
EPA Publications
Other Sites
Other Publications
EPA Web Sites
Municipal Solid Waste
Reduce,
Reuse, and Recycle
Learn how to reduce, reuse, and recycle materials around your
school, home, and community.
Recycling
This site explores why we need to consider a combination of
solutions to manage recycling. Reducing and reusing waste,
recycling, burning trash for energy recovery, and landfilling
are all parts of the solution.
Common Wastes and Materials
This section of EPA's Web site contains information on recycling
activities associated with a variety of materials recovered
for recycling in the United States.
Planet
Protectors Club
Elementary school students can make a difference by reducing
the amount of waste they throw away. The Planet Protectors
Club will teach kids how to recycle and reuse materials at
school and at home. Additional games and activities teach
more about reducing waste and conserving resources.
Make
A Difference Campaign for Middle School Students
EPA's "Make a Difference" campaign is aimed at educating
and engaging middle school students in resource conservation
and environmental protection. This campaign helps students
make informed decisions about protecting the environment in
their day-to-day lives. The resources offered in this campaign
will inspire students to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste—to
"make a difference" at home, at school, and in the
community. This Web site also includes information on holding
a “Make a Difference Day.”
Your
Environment. Your Choice.
This EPA Web site encourages high school students to make
environmentally sound choices about the products and natural
resources they use, the waste they create and the environment
in which they live.
Teacher
Resources
The resources on this Web site provide information
to assist in teaching students about the waste generated
in our schools, homes, and communities, and what
can be done to make a difference! From classroom
activities to starting a school electronics recycling
program, these materials will help explain how to
reduce and better manage waste. Many of these resources
are provided in both English and Spanish.
Composting
Composting
This Web site discusses what composting is, what compost can
be used for, how compost reduces waste, and other related
topics.
Food
Scraps
This Web site provides information about environmentally sound
food scraps management, including how to recover and reduce
surplus food and food waste.
Partnership Programs
WasteWise
WasteWise is a free EPA program through which organizations—including
schools—eliminate costly municipal solid waste
and select industrial wastes, benefiting their bottom
line and the environment. WasteWise is a flexible
program, allowing partners to design their own waste
reduction programs tailored to their needs and offering
partners free technical assistance and recognition
opportunities.
Plug-In
To eCycling
Plug-In To eCycling aims to increase the safe recycling of
old consumer electronics by: providing the public with information
about electronics recycling and increasing opportunities to
safely recycle old electronics; facilitating partnerships
with communities, electronics manufacturers, and retailers
to promote shared responsibility for safe electronics recycling;
and establishing pilot projects to test innovative approaches
to safe electronics recycling.
Buying Recycled
Buying
Recycled
Buying recycled helps "close the recycling loop"
by putting the materials collected through recycling programs
back to good use as products in the marketplace. This Web
site includes resources and databases to help identify recycled
content products.
Electronics Recycling
eCycling
This Web site provides a wealth of information for consumers
on issues related to e-waste, including electronics waste
reduction through reuse, donation, recycling, and purchasing
green electronic equipment.
Climate Change
Climate
Change and Waste
This Web site introduces and explains the connection between
solid waste reduction and global climate change. Additionally,
there is a link to the WAste
Reduction Model (WARM), a free tool that calculates and
totals greenhouse gas emissions of baseline and alternative
waste management practices—source reduction, recycling,
combustion, composting, and landfilling.
Funding
Environmental
Education Grants
The Grants Program sponsored by EPA’s Office of Environmental
Education supports environmental education projects that enhance
the public’s awareness, knowledge, and skills to help
people make informed decisions that affect environmental quality.
Environmental Policies and Contracts
Environmentally
Preferable Purchasing (EPP)
EPP is a federal-wide program that encourages and assists
Executive agencies in the purchasing of environmentally preferable
products and services.
Resource
Management (RM)
RM contracting is a strategic alternative to traditional hauling
and disposal contracts, providing a financial incentive for
waste reduction innovations. WasteWise
offers an extensive how-to manual to help organizations gain
a firm grasp of the concept of RM and negotiate their waste
hauling contracts to focus on resource conservation.
Nonmunicipal Solid Waste Resources
Schools
Chemical Clean Out Campaign (SC3)
SC3 seeks to create a chemically safer school environment
by not only cleaning out excess, legacy, unused, and improperly
stored chemicals, but also going a step further and implementing
preventive mechanisms in schools.
EPA Publications
The EPA publications below can be ordered from the appropriate Web site listed below or online.
Municipal Solid Waste
The
Make a Difference Kit: Your Life, Your World, Your Choices
A resource package of materials to encourage teens
in grades 6 through 8 to make informed decisions in their
everyday lives. The kit includes the following resources,
plus many more:
The Life Cycle of a CD or DVD (PDF) (2 pp, 400K)
A colorful poster showing the product life cycle of a CD or DVD from production through recycling, reuse, and disposal. Includes classroom and after school activities.Science Fair Fun: Designing Environmental Science Projects (PDF) (16 pp, 263K)
A short booklet intended to provide students in grades 6 through 8 with ideas and resources for developing environmental science fair projects, specifically in the areas of reducing, reusing, and recycling waste materials.Pack a Waste-Free Lunch
Learn how to reduce, reuse, and recycle items in school lunches and how to organize a Waste-Free Lunch Day at your school.
The
Quest for Less
The Quest for Less provides hands-on lessons and activities,
enrichment ideas, journal writing assignments, and other educational
tools and skills related to reusing, reducing, and recycling
waste for students in grades K through 8.
Plug-In
To eCycling Toolkit
Provides local governments, nonprofit organizations, electronics
manufacturers and retailers, and other interested groups with
key information to help them stage electronics recycling events.
Measurement
WasteWise
Update: The Measure of Success (PDF) (18
pp, 1.6MB)
This WasteWise Update document describes how to measure waste
reduction, including selecting the right measurement approach,
establishing a baseline, collecting data, and calculating
results. It also details how to assess cost savings, environmental
impacts, and hidden benefits of waste reduction.
Other Web Sites
The following materials provide additional waste reduction ideas, including school waste reduction manuals. Publications can be ordered from the appropriate Web site listed below and are free, unless otherwise specified. Please note, links to a non-EPA Web site do not constitute an endorsement by EPA.
Municipal Solid Waste
Educational
Resources for Waste Management, Cornell Waste Management Institute 
A catalog of educational materials on the following topics:
composting, recycling, waste management, enviroshopping, waste
prevention, and sewage sludge. Many of the resources are suitable
for schools (grades K-12).
Composting
Composting
in Schools
The Cornell Composting Web site teaches students and teachers
about using composting in the classroom. Don't miss the section
on "weird and unusual composting."
School Waste Reduction Programs
California
Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) School Waste Reduction
CIWMB’s Web site for school waste reduction is designed
for school administrators (especially district-level administrators)
and provides pointers for waste assessments and audits in
schools and extensive, practical suggestions for waste reduction
by functional area: facilities and planning, food service,
maintenance and operations, purchasing, and technology services.
Learn
more about programs in other states or Information about programs
in other states or
view
a listing of potential funding sources .
King
County, Washington, School Recycling & Waste Reduction
Assistance
This program helps schools start or improve their recycling
programs; increase waste reduction activities; and increase
their use of recycled content and other environmentally preferable
products. Includes sample waste assessment and tracking forms.
Massachusetts
Department of Environmental Protection Recycling Assistance
for Schools
This Web site provides recycling information for students
and teachers, including A
Manual for Implementing School Recycling Programs (Word)
(54 pp, 287K) ,
providing step-by-step instructions for starting, building,
and maintaining school recycling programs.
Oregon
Green Schools
The Oregon Green Schools initiative provides resources to
help Oregon schools set up and maintain effective, permanent
waste reduction and resource efficiency programs that improve
school environments and communities.
Getting
a Recycling Program Started in Your School
The University of Arkansas’ Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service offers this step-by-step guide
to setting up recycling programs in schools.
American
Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) School Recycling
The AF&PA school recycling Web site offers educational flyers, posters, and a recycling video for downloading to help students see the difference they can make by increasing the amount of paper they recycle.
Waste
Wise Schools Program, EcoRecycle Victoria/Gould League
The Australian “Waste Wise” school program stresses
school waste prevention and recycling. This Web site provides
a library of waste reduction checklists by functional area
(general, school administration, classroom, cafeteria); 10
steps for waste minimization; a page on program management;
and a discussion of program maintenance.
Funding
FundingFactory
FundingFactory is a free fundraising program to help educational
and nonprofit organizations get the equipment or cash they
need. Schools collect empty printer cartridges and used cell
phones for points, and then redeem the points for new equipment
or cash.
Abitibi
Paper Retriever® Community Recycling Program
Simply collect mixed paper and newspapers in the Paper Retrievers
to earn money.
Environmental Policies and Contracts
District
Administration Resources
Sample environmental policies are available online from the
California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB).
Measurement
WasteWise
Volume-to-Weight Conversion Factors (PDF) (21
pp, 236K)
Organized by material, this comprehensive list of volume-to-weight
conversion factors for commonly collected materials will help
accurately quantify waste reduction activities.
Other Publications
School Waste Reduction Programs
Recycling
Manual for New Jersey Schools (PDF) (58
pp, 120K) ,
Association of New Jersey Recyclers, 1999.
This manual guides key school personnel step-by-step through
the process of setting up a recycling program. It provides
all the necessary tools for designing and implementing a viable
and comprehensive program in schools.
Catch the Cycle: A
Guide to Recycling in Georgia Schools ,
Keep Georgia Beautiful, undated.
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle are the key components to a comprehensive
school waste reduction program. This guide from Keep Georgia
Beautiful, focuses on recycling, but does not discount the
importance of reduction and reuse.
Beyond
Recycling: A Waste Reduction Manual for Schools
,
Environmental Resource Program, University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill and Office of Waste Reduction, North Carolina
Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources,
undated.
A comprehensive manual on school waste prevention and recycling,
this document covers program management, waste assessments,
logistics, waste reduction strategies, program maintenance,
and case studies (all drawn from North Carolina). It provides
guidance to school administrators, teachers, staff, students,
and parents. Several worksheets and checklists aid program
implementation.
Conducting
a Waste Audit in Your School (PDF) (3
pp, 21K) ,
Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Solid Waste District, undated.
A short step-by-step guide to performing a school waste audit.
Administrators, teachers, students, or activists can use the
guide to evaluate school waste.
Composting
School
Composting: A Manual for Connecticut Schools (PDF)
(98 pp, 3.4MB) ,
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, 2002.
This document explains how to establish and maintain a successful
school-wide composting program for cafeteria food scraps.
A
Guide to Composting in Schools (PDF) (28
pp, 477K) >,
Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), undated.
This guide provides a general introduction to how and why
schools should develop a composting program. The guide begins
by discussing the purpose of a waste audit and reviewing different
composting options, such as bin composting and vermicomposting,
and includes a discussion of budgeting issues that should
be considered as part of this evaluation. Implementation topics
associated with separating and composting identified organic
wastes are covered in a high level summary, followed up with
technical appendices that provide forms, technical fact sheets,
sources of additional information, and a recent school composting
case study.
Vermicomposting
The
Worm Guide: A Vermicomposting Guide for Teachers (PDF)
(48 pp, 1.5MB) ,
California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB), revised
2004.
CIWMB’s guide explores vermicomposting, which in a school
setting can set the stage for a variety of fun, interdisciplinary
activities.