About the project
Reducing the waste that our school produces. If we are to tackle the world's environmental problems, we need to start at home, and at school. Our school is small, but the amount of paper we go through at the copy machines and at the printers is HUGE, and my environmental science class wants to educate our colleagues and fellow students on how to cut down on our waste, so we can be an example to the neighborhood, and not part of the problem.The Steps
Our school needs to purchase recycling bins of different sizes and lid-formats to be placed all around the school. The team has determined that we will need 2 recycling bins plus the regular garbage can in every classroom in order to effective: one bin with a narrow slot in the lid for paper, and one bin with a hole in the lid for bottles and cans. There are 25 classrooms and 5 common areas, a total of 30 rooms. The school does not have a budget to make this large purchase at this time. My class and the school recycling committee have joined forces to start an "Adopt-A-Bin" campaign, to raise money for the purchase of the bins. The campaign launched on December 15, 2010 and will continue until the bins are all purchased. Our target date is February 4, 2011.
As soon as all the bins have been adopted, we will be holding an environmental fair to celebrate the donations. Donors can either have their name or an inspiring environmental message mounted on the bin they have adopted. During the fair students will run workshops about recycling and waste reduction around the home and at school. Parents, staff and our K-12 population are invited and urged to attend, in addition to any outside donors and supporters. We have reached out to such neighborhood groups as the Jackson Heights Beautification Group and their "Green Agenda" committee to help plan the workshops and present the work they are doing to improve and expand Jackson Heights' green spaces.Why we‘re doing it
Recycling paper is an initiative of the entire NYC Department of Education and we need to do our part. Paper still amounts to the most tonnage of the world's waste, and it has been proven that recycling paper is cost-effective and produces practical, usable products. Bottle and can recycling has been more controversial, in terms of its cost-effectiveness on a large scale, but the city is committed to it, and our school must help make the effort work. Jackson Heights is an extremely populated neighborhood, with large apartment complexes that produce tons of garbage a year. Our school has 548 students and a staff of 75, so it is equivalent to a large apartment complex. If we can be a leader in the recycling movement and show other buildings how it can be done, we will have a cleaner, more livable neighborhood. Most of our students live in or around Jackson Heights, and the more recycling knowledge they bring home, the more buildings and homes will be transformed into GREEN, recycling havens.
