NYC PUBLIC SCHOOL
RECYCLING CHAMPIONS PROGRAM
WWW.GROWNYC.ORG/RECYCLINGCHAMPIONS
P.S. 151 FACULTY RECYCLING
WORKSHOP
We Need Your Leadership!
Faculty Recycling Workshop Agenda
Support for NYC Schools
 Why Recycle?
 What to Recycle
 Recycling Set Ups & Tips
 Next Steps

The Impact of 1,600 Schools Acting Together
What support do NYC schools have?

The NYC DOE Sustainability Initiative



NYC Dept. of Sanitation – Bureau of
Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling


Sustainability Coordinators in every school
www.Schools.Nyc.Gov/Sustainability
Free Resources and technical support
Green Schools Alliance


Annual Resource Fair & Green Cup
Challenge
www.GreenSchoolsAlliance.org
Better Earth Club
HSCTEA, Queens
What is the NYC DOE and City Doing?
Working to make recycling a part of school culture



First Annual Citywide
Sustainability Coordinator
Training May/June 2011
Annual Mandatory Recycling
Training in August for Custodian
Engineers from all five boroughs
Local Law 41

Judy O’Brien, Librarian
School for International Studies, Brooklyn

NYC’s Recycling Law
Chancellor’s Regulation A-850
Faculty Recycling Workshop Agenda
Support for NYC Schools
 Why Recycle?
 What to Recycle
 Recycling Set Ups & Tips
 Next Steps

Know Your City
Why does recycling matter?
 NYC residents generate 64,000
tons of waste every week
 The equivalent of 5,333
collection trucks full of waste
 Mayor Bloomberg’s landmark 2006
Solid Waste-Management Plan
 What are student thoughts on litter,
asthma, traffic, and noise?
A School’s Impact
Where can schools improve?

Every year, NYC residents throw out
over 400,000 tons of recyclable paper


That’s enough paper to fill the
Empire State Building
What reduction and reuse practices can
be incorporated into your everyday
classroom activities?
Making Connections in Everyday Life
Where does our waste go?


Exporting municipal trash to other
communities cost NYC $300 million in
2008
 Pennsylvania,
 Ohio
 Virginia
 South Carolina
NYC recycling supports local jobs, the
majority of recycling is processed in :
 Staten Island
 New Jersey
 Brooklyn
Recycling Connections in the City
What can I tell students?
Helps students become responsible citizens
Green jobs and careers for your students
Contribute to the stream of recycled material
NYC schools and residents are required by law to recycle
Recycling Connections – The Big Picture
What can I tell students?
Conserve vital natural resources
Reduce contributions to landfills and incinerators
Save energy
Recycling Milk & Juice Cartons in the Cafeteria
What is the conservation impact of 500 students?





Recycling milk and juice cartons for
one school year saves:
170,561 sheets of paper
14 mature trees
5,970 gallons of water
417 full trash bags of waste storage/
transportation space
M.S. 113, Brooklyn
Why School Recycling?
Don’t take it from us, just ask the students!
“My peers and I started an environmental
group in our school. We go on educational
trips learning about the problems with our
environment and how to fix them. I feel that
educating people about what is going on
will make them want to change.”
“
- Jemima Osae-Asante, PlaNYC 2.0
Jemima Osae-Asante, Student
Facing History High School,
Manhattan
“What I learned about recycling is that it’s
something very helpful to our environment. This
whole project has changed the way I look at the
planet. I realized that this is our only home and we
have to take care of it.”
- Heidy Benitez, Student
The Academy of Urban Planning, Brooklyn
Faculty Recycling Workshop Agenda
Support for NYC Schools
 Why Recycle?
 What to Recycle
 Recycling Set Ups & Tips
 Next Steps

What to Recycle?
Keep these two streams of recyclables separate from trash!
MIXED PAPER

If you can rip it, you can
recycle it. Staples are fine

Loose/construction paper,
notebooks, cardboard, empty
pizza boxes, soft cover books,
magazines, envelopes,
shredded paper, etc.
METAL, GLASS, PLASTIC




Please, no hardbound book
covers, soiled paper: towels,
napkins, plates, cups
Empty bottles, cans,
and jugs, only
Empty beverage cartons;
milk and juice containers
If it’s mostly metal!

Aluminum foil and trays,
bottle caps, scissors, paper
clips, etc.
Faculty Recycling Workshop Agenda
Support for NYC Schools
 Why Recycle?
 What to Recycle
 Recycling Set Ups & Tips
 Next Steps

Find Ways to Reduce, Start a Reuse Program
A majority of school’s waste is recyclable

Muscota New
School,
Manhattan


Reuse begins with faculty
 Incorporating practices into
the classroom
 Reuse bin by all copiers
and printers
Encourage digitization
Art projects and fundraisers

Facing History
High School,
Manhattan

Materials for the Arts
Electronic Waste
Recycling Basics
What should my classroom look like?



Recycling bins should exist
anywhere there is a trash bin
Never use a recycling bin for trash
Keep bins together and in the same
place every day


Consistency helps to develop good
habits
Make sure bins are labeled on and
above bins
Recycling Basics
How to maintain student habits?



M.S. 113, Brooklyn
Computer Lab

Recycling is a school expectation
and a classroom rule
Be conscious of your own habits,
students will take notice
Recycling has a big impact,
students can practice it everyday
Thank you for recycling!
Faculty Recycling Workshop Agenda
Support for NYC Schools
 Why Recycle?
 What to Recycle
 Recycling Set Ups & Tips
 Next Steps

Inspire and Lead By Example
What are our next steps?

“We are not building this country of ours for a day, it is to last
through the ages” – Theodore Roosevelt