As families and young learners prepare to head back to the classroom this fall, SWACO is working with local school districts and teachers to provide educational resources for learning at home and in the classroom. The new educational resources, available for download on our School Recycling Resources page, provide fun while also teaching about the importance of recycling.  

The resources, which were developed in partnership with several Central Ohio school districts, include lesson plans and activities for teachers that can be easily adapted for families. The resources also include guides for implementing sustainable home or school recycling programs, plans for establishing school recycling competitions and information about scheduling field trips to the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill and the Rumpke Material Recovery Facility. 

These educational resources have already been rolled out to educators in several school districts. This year, SWACO is collaborating with several Columbus City Schools and providing grant funds to pilot new food waste reduction activities that will also be available to other school districts in early 2020. 

Also launching in 2020, is SWACO’s new School Recycling Champion Program, which will provide funding for schools to upgrade and enhance recycling programs.

Additionally in 2020, SWACO will roll out similar resources for schools & families focused on the importance of food waste prevention, reduction and composting.  Learnings from pilot programming conducted in 2018-2019 with Ecole Kenwood French Immersion School, Maize E.S., Lindbergh E.S., and Columbus Preparatory School for Girls in the Columbus City School District will help guide the development and implementation of these resources.

Speaking of schools, we appreciate the work of the Hilliard City School District. Using a Community Waste Reduction Grant from SWACO, the district created sorting stations in their cafeterias to help students more quickly and accurately recycle, compost, and dispose of their lunch waste. In 2018, the district diverted 73 tons of food waste from the landfill and taught students how to effectively compost to turn these materials into resources for our community! Check out our video highlighting the district’s great work on our Community Waste Reduction Grant page.