SWACO’s School Recycling Champion program provides funding to help schools implement sustainable, comprehensive recycling programs that teach students and staff how to recycle right at school, including with blue recycling bins for classrooms and other areas. Participating schools are asked to assess their current recycling efforts, adopt recycling best practices, and educate staff and students with resources from SWACO.
How And Why To Promote Reuse At School
Teaching students about reuse in schools is important because it develops environmental awareness, instills a sense of responsibility for waste reduction, and encourages them to make sustainable choices by understanding how reuse conserves resources, minimizes environmental impact, and promotes a healthier planet for future generations.
- Use recycled materials for art projects.
- Designate a scrap paper drawer for reusing paper.
- Collect old containers for paint cups or to organize small items.
- Encourage students to bring reusable water bottles.
- Set up a system for exchanging unused school supplies.
- Use empty cereal boxes to hold books or organize supplies.
Want to make an even bigger impact with reuse? Thirty million students eat lunch at school each day and most schools use single-use items such as plastic silverware, drink cups, and condiment packets. All of that costs money and makes a mountain of trash, but there is a better way. Things like reusable cups and silverware and refillable condiment containers provide savings and sustainability. Click below to learn about the impacts that schools can have when they switch to reusables and how you can advocate for change at your school.
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Check Out SWACO’s Food Waste Prevention Resources For Schools
Nearly a million pounds of wasted food comes to the landfill every day, food that could otherwise feed people or create compost that feeds the soil. That’s why the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio created Save More Than Food – a hub of resources for residents, businesses, and schools to learn about how to prevent wasted food, donate what’s recoverable, and compost what’s not.
Schools have a great opportunity to divert food from landfills and teach better food waste habits to the next generation. Save More Than Food provides lesson plans, activities, toolkits, local partners and more that you can use to help students and staff understand the value of food as a resource and implement food waste diversion practices. Visit SaveMoreThanFood.org to learn more!
SWACO Provides Free Landfill Tours And Interactive Presentations To Franklin County Schools!
The Franklin County Sanitary Landfill is an engineering marvel designed to protect the environment and regulated by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Every year, the landfill receives more than a million tons of waste material from Franklin County homes, schools and businesses, and every year, SWACO is happy to provide free educational tours to thousands of school-aged children. If your classroom isn’t already on the schedule to tour the landfill and learn about why we should all be recycling, check out the many different types of presentations available to teachers and educators. Then call 614-782-9429 or email [email protected] to schedule your visit. SWACO can even reimburse your school for up to $220 per bus trip to the landfill.