The Competition Gets Green!
A few weeks ago, I heard “Class, we’re going green for the rest of the year!”
I lifted my head up from my morning desk nap, thinking that I’d see the entire class turn into the Incredible Hulk or maybe leprechauns since it is March and St. Patty’s day is right around the corner. How cool would that be? I was a little sad to find out my teacher was talking about doing stuff like recycling, emailing homework, and using water bottles instead of paper cups to cut down waste.
This was going to be boring and cause more work for us. But the teachers were sneaky and said it was a competition between classrooms. The goal: Whichever class cuts down the most waste in their room wins a pizza party at the end of the school year. Excited we wanted to learn more. This is where we had our “learning lesson”. Sneaky teachers always have lessons to teach.
My 7th grade class learned that many things we use everyday can be made from recycled materials. Cereal boxes, soda bottles, paint, tissue paper and homework paper after we turned in homework (not before, I tried) are examples of stuff that can be used as recycled material. Recycled materials also turn up in products that are very different from what you thought they’d be used for. New playgrounds use recycled rubber as part of the ground underneath the swings. You’ll know what I mean if you ever walk on a new playground. It’s bouncy. No more gravel or rocks like our parents had when they walked 5 miles to the playground!
For February, my class has recycled over 250 cans of aluminum and 100 pounds of paper. The classroom doesn’t look as dirty either because we try not to use a lot of paper and instead email our homework to our teacher. We also made one student each week responsible for shutting the lights off when the class leaves the room, to cut down on electricity waste. We’ll find out how my class does against the other grades at the end of the school year in July.
Some basic information on recycling helped us get creative with what we can and cannot recycle. Want to know more about all the benefits of recycling and what you can do, click on the link: http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/rrr/recycle.htm
Brandon’s a middle school student on Chicago’s Southwest side. He enjoys filmmaking and Whirlyball.
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
I am a nursery school teacher and we recycle as well. Many parents have complained about having to bring newspapers, bottles etc to be recycled, yet once there child is no longer with us, they still bring things to recycle. They say there is less clutter. We as a nursery school with only a few number of children only has a small impact can you think of the impact if all the schools did this.
It great to see that young students are willing to help the world become more greener. Ever little effort to the cause is one step closer to the solution.
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No way. This month the 6th grade will be on top. We started recycling bottles and using them for art class!
I think that re-using plastic bottles for artistic purposes is a great idea. My younger daughter is involved in simillar project in her school and the idea gained fantastic reception.
I just read your blog and I think this may be a perfect way to introduce using less in the classroom to my middle schoolers. They love to compete and this is a great way to start Spirit Week! Thank you for the idea. Good luck. Hope your team wins!
My Partner is a teacher and she has said on numerous ocassions that pupils are simply not aware of the need for recycling. More must be done about it before it is too late. Perhaps they could use this as an example!
Very usefull method- “The goal: Whichever class cuts down the most waste in their room wins a pizza party at the end of the school year”
Thanks for sharing. Keep up the good work doing what you are doing for the environment.
No way. This month the 6th grade will be on top. We started recycling bottles and using them for art class
I just read your blog and I think this may be a perfect way to introduce using less in the classroom to my middle schoolers.
Hi there! This article couldn’t be written much better! Reading through this post reminds me of my previous roommate! He continually kept preaching about this. I will send this information to him. Fairly certain he’ll have a great read. Thanks for sharing!
Back then we ran a campaign which started out with just collecting soda cans to recycle to a foundation that creates wheelchairs from it. Then it grew to a fund drive wherein we traded recycle-able items for cash and whoever has the most money at the end of the school year wins an all expense paid pool party. Good to know, students all around are participating and doing their share of “going green”.
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wow happy to see students working on greenry of the enviroment..it is necessary and helpful for us to make our environent safer n cleaner for our future. Happy to see it…i will also work on it !!
make environment cleaner and greener for yourself and your society !!