The CLUB
The NRRA School Recycling CLUB
School News You Can Use – Sept. 2014
INSIDE THIS ISSUE









Welcome Back Students & Teachers
NH Student Honored by EPA
School Tips from the EPA
Mt. Abraham Composting Fundraiser
Trash 2 Treasure Event Held at UNH, Durham
PLAN Conference Oct. 3 & 4
YES Summit Nov. 6
America Recycles Day Nov. 15
The CLUB
___________________________________________
Welcome Back Students & Teachers!
As you begin your school year, this is an
excellent time to initiate or upgrade your school
recycling plan. Recycling includes (but is not
limited to) bottles, cans, paper, cardboard,
textiles, metals and food scraps for composting.
The CLUB offers a variety of workshops and
technical assistance geared for all ages. We also
offer discounted recycling products to meet your
needs.
Feel free to contact The CLUB – we can help you
get started!
Workshops:
 Garbage Guerillas
 Healthy
Home/Clean
Waters
 Waste=Global
Climate Change
 Back to the Earth
 Recycling &
Composting in
Your Town
Technical Assistance:
 Trash On The
Lawn Day
(TOLD)
 Green
Cleaning & IAW
Evaluation &
Review
 STAR
Assessment
Does your School have an individual, program or an event that deserves recognition for outstanding work in
recycling? Click here and fill out the nomination form telling us all about it! NRRA and the NRRA School
CLUB will be giving out awards in each category listed below at our 5th Annual School Recycling
Conference/33rd Annual Conference & Expo on June 10th, 2014 at the Center of NH/Radisson in Manchester,
NH. For more information about the conference go to http://www.schoolrecycling.net/conference/












School Recycler of the Year
Rookie Recycler of the Year
Best Composter
Most Profitable Recycling Program
Outstanding Recycling Fundraiser
2013-14 Student Recycler of the Year
Outstanding Recycling Innovation in a School
Outstanding Community Involvement
Facilities Staff Recycler of the Year
Teacher Recycler of the Year
Cafeteria Staff Recycler of the Year
Best Earth Day/Recycling 2013-14 Event
____________________________________________
MAKE A DIFFERENCE AT YOUR SCHOOL
Textiles:
A big part of the tonnage for trash is textiles that get thrown out. The CLUB is convinced they can help schools
capture textiles before they are discarded and being charged $90 on average for trash (including transportation),
when they can be picked up and the schools can get paid $100 per ton ($.05 per lb) for the same material. That
is a difference of $190! Contact the CLUB at 736-4401 x 17 or theclub@nrra.net for information how you can
get paid for your “trash”.
************************************
Trayless Tuesdays!
How it all started:
In March of 2010 The Department of Education (DoE) replaced Styrofoam
trays with paper boats in all NYC school cafeterias on all Tuesdays. The
Tuesday menu changed as well. SchoolFood serves only non-saucy foods,
like sandwiches on this day to help keep the paper boats clean enough to be
acceptable for recycling. Many schools are now using the paper boats on
Fridays (for pizza) and for all breakfast meals.
The paper boats used on Trayless Tuesdays are recyclable if they are “clean
and dry.” If the boats are covered in ketchup, or other food waste, they should be put into the landfill trash bin.
Recycled Paper Boats go into the bins marked “paper” or, “recycling”.
Trayless Tuesdays reduces Styrofoam tray use by 20%
Why Reducing the Use of Styrofoam is Important:







In production it is hazardous for workers and creates hazardous waste;
40 years of studies show that styrene leaches from containers into our food;
After a usage time of about 30 minutes, whether incinerated, landfilled, littered, or recycled, will
leave a trail of toxic particles that will last forever;
It is lightweight and brittle and often ends up as littler; even when you think it has been properly
thrown “away”;
It is a major source of marine debris, breaking into down into tiny pieces, killing birds and
marine mammals who think this is food. It is becoming a part of our seafood chain (read more
about this from 5 Gyres Institute)
More and more businesses located in middle to high income neighborhoods don’t even use foam
containers anymore. Yet, in low income neighborhoods, foam to-go ware is litter-ally
EVERYWHERE.
Recycling polystyrene is NOT A SOLUTION. In 2008-09, NYC tried a foam recycling pilot and it
failed because containers need to be cleaned first and there is no major market for the recycled
material. What happens to these new styrene-based products at the end of their life cycle?
For more information on Trayless Tuesdays visit cafeteriaculture.org or contact the CLUB at theclub@nrra.net
or 1.603.736.4401
************************************
Yes, cartons are recyclable!
Made mainly from paper, a renewable resource from responsibly managed forests, cartons are in demand to be
recycled into new products.
Whether you’re a school administrator, food service director,
teacher, facility manager or a parent volunteer, the Carton
Council can provide you with the information you need to start
a carton recycling program at your own school. We’ll provide the “why” and the “how” of school carton
recycling, and give you the tools you need to make the program a success.
The Carton Council can also provide technical assistance from one of our school recycling coordinators.
The Carton Council is committed to increasing carton recycling in the United States. By promoting both
recycling technology and local collection programs we work to limit the number of valuable cartons that end up
in a landfill.
Visit RecycleCartons.com or click here for the Carton Recycling in School Program Start-Up Guide
____________________________________________
CONFERENCES, AWARDS & CONTESTS
The Green Schools National Conference is March 26-29, 2014
The 4th Annual Green Schools National Conference is March 26-29 in Sacramento, California. The
Conference is the nation’s largest gathering of green, healthy
and sustainable K-12 school leaders and learners. Some 1,500
teachers, parents, principals, superintendents, food service
directors, facilities managers, and other partners are expected to
attend. Topics will include sustainability skills and knowledge
for the 21st century; stewardship and service learning;
sustainable facilities design and management; health and wellbeing; and creating strong partnerships and networks. Click here for more information.
************************************
North America Envirothon
Do you want to excite your students about the outdoors? Do they love
nature and the natural world? Do you want to help connect them to the
natural resources in their community? If you answered “YES!” to any of
the questions above, we would like to invite you to help them participate
in Envirothon. Envirothon helps students focus on local and global
environmental issues related to aquatics, forestry, soils and wildlife
resources through real-world learning in a teamwork environment. It is
co-sponsored by a variety of agencies and organizations working in
natural resource conservation. The program provides an opportunity for
hands-on field experiences and activities with professionals in the field. It’s a way for high school-aged students
to actively learn more about the natural world around them while they work together. Students learn to
incorporate science- based investigations in helping to explore environmental issues.
OK, you say. My students might be interested…What’s the deal? An Envirothon Team consists of five students
plus one alternate who are mentored by a coach. A coach can be a teacher, school administrator, youth group
leader, or even a parent who has an interest in working with young people and natural resources. (Your entire
class or group can participate in learning about your States natural resources by participating in the program.
However, only 2 teams per school/group can compete at the event in May. Additional students can participate
as alternates.)
Once a team is formed, teams register by filling out the form on the back of this brochure and sending it in with
a check for the appropriate amount. You will then receive resource materials that cover the four main areas of
the Envirothon: aquatics, forestry, soils and wildlife. There will also be information on a fifth area called the
“Current Issue.” This is a real-world issue or problem that the environmental community is attempting to solve
that relates to all of the four main interest areas of the Envirothon. The job of an Envirothon coach is to help the
team learn the concepts and lessons provided in the materials as well as aid them in preparing a communitybased project/speaking presentation on the current issue. Registration is suggested as soon as possible to provide
maximum time for preparing for the culminating event. To help you coach, we can connect you with resource
professionals who can offer to take you out in the forests and fields to look closer at the concepts you are
learning. A training day for all Envirothon teams takes place in April providing you with the opportunity to
meet other coaches and high school level students who are also interested in the natural world. At the event in
May the team that demonstrates the greatest overall knowledge is selected to represent their state at the North
American Envirothon, held this year at University of Georgia in Athens, GA from July 20-24, 2014
For information more information on Environthon and specific state Environthon programs choose from the
links below:







General Envirothon Information - http://www.envirothon.org/
Connecticut Envirothon – http://www.ctenvirothon.org/
Maine Envirothon – http://www.maineenvirothon.org/
Massachusetts Envirothon – http://www.maenvirothon.org/
New Hampshire Envirothon – http://nhacd.org/wordpress/envirothon/
Rhode Island Envirothon – http://www.rienvirothon.org/
Vermont Envirothon – http://www.vacd.org/envirothon
____________________________________________
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
Researchers Work to Protect Winter from a Changing Climate
2013
By Katie Lubinsky
December
18
I am not a winter person. In fact, I would prefer 80-degree weather all the time. However, as much as I
complain and begrudgingly deal with cold weather, I understand its importance for ecosystems and the climate
(and that I also cannot escape it unless I travel between hemispheres).
Many are asking whether we’ll lose some of our winter in the coming years. Despite cold periods, researchers
report that ‘warmer than usual’ days are outnumbering ‘colder than usual’ ones. One pollutant that is
contributing to rising temperatures is black carbon, an air pollutant that may not be as well known to the public
as carbon dioxide.
Often referred to as soot, black carbon is made up of tiny,
black-colored particles that are part of particulate matter (PM).
The particles are emitted from fossil fuels, biofuels, and
biomass, and are the strongest light-absorbing component of
PM. Black carbon particles can absorb a million times more
energy than carbon dioxide while up in the atmosphere.
These particles have an enormous affect on climate change. By
directly absorbing light and heat from the sun and earth, black
carbon can warm the atmosphere, and, in turn, directly raise
temperatures. What’s more, the pollutant can also reduce the
ability for snow and ice to reflect light, primarily at the Poles
and Himalayas (the albedo effect); thus, causing the snow and
ice to warm and essentially melt faster.
EPA researchers and grantees are studying the amount of black
carbon being emitted from primary sources such as diesel
engines as well as ways to reduce the impact of the pollutant on
climate change. A recent EPA-funded report by the Health
Effects Institute shows that the Agency’s emissions standards
for new diesel engines reduce emissions, including black
carbon.
Cookstoves, another high-emitting source of black carbon, are
used in many developing countries for cooking food and heating. This results
in harmful health effects from poor indoor air quality, particularly for women
and children who spend significant time in smoky homes. EPA is testing new
and improved cookstoves that reduce emissions and use less polluting fuels and
alternative energy, like solar power.
Progress to reduce black carbon has been made. One study indicates that there
has been a 32 percent reduction in black carbon emissions from U.S. mobile
sources between 1990 and 2005, according to the Report to Congress on Black
Carbon (download at: http://www.epa.gov/blackcarbon/).
EPA’s black carbon research is making important contributions to international
efforts to reduce this air pollutant. Researchers are optimistic that by reducing
black carbon, significant progress can be made in battling climate change.
This is good news for those who love winter, snow and outdoor winter sports
like snowboarding and skiing. Though I will continue to brace myself before
venturing outside in the cold months, I also appreciate the changing seasons and the research that is being
conducted to reduce black carbon’s threat to our climate.
____________________________________________
THE CLUB
What CLUB programming can do for your school!







Improves academic performance, especially in science and math
Can lead to financial savings for schools
Decreases the school’s carbon footprint through practical solutions that
reduce energy and water consumption
Reduces school waste and conserves natural resources
Encourages student environmental awareness and stewardship
Increases parental involvement
Helps students and teachers develop stronger relationships with their
communities
Previous EPA EE-funded research at over 200 New England schools completed by
the NRRA School Recycling CLUB (the CLUB) found that the single most challenging area for school
recycling programs was in providing curriculum integrations that brought recycling and sustainability into
classrooms to be used as the subject matter for meeting state and local curriculum standards. The intention of
the CLUB programs is to address just that issue in schools across all six New England states.
Our hope is to use the CLUB’s workshops and technical assistance programs, all experiential and hands on, as a
tool for educating K-12 students about consumption, proper diversion of waste, the resulting impacts on climate
change and what they can do to change it. Through these offerings, we are also afforded the opportunity to link
these priorities to curriculum standards. In addition, these workshops will model, for educators or community
leaders, exemplary ways of teaching in creative, effective, and efficient methods about human health threats
from environmental pollution as well as how to minimize human exposure to preserve good health.
Click here to learn more or contact us at theclub@nrra.net or call 1.603.736.4401 ext. 17
WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL CLUB UP TO?
The NRRA School CLUB always loves to hear what its members are doing to recycle and help the environment
so we can share it with our other members. There are so many different things being done, and you are our best
source of information and what is working in your school. It can be a new program, a long-term project that’s
been proven over time, a field trip, etc. Always feel free to contact me or submit something and you may see it
in the next School News You Can Use!
Caitlin
theCLUB@nrra.net
1.603.736.4401 ext 17
Meaney