4Rs in My Wasteshed Projects
After 5th grade teacher Adriana Garcia at Longwood Elementary in Hayward received her class' Recycling Team Action Project Kit from StopWaste, she kicked off her classroom's recycling collection action project. Her class recognized that classroom recycling bins were being dumped into the landfill dumpster, and so they decided to take action by organizing fifth grade students at the end of each day to pick up classroom recycling containers and deliver them to the recycling dumpster.
Ms. Garcia is using the action project as an opportunity for students to practice measuring volume.
Their Recycling Team bins are outlined with measuring tapes, allowing students to record exactly how much recyclable materials they are diverting from the landfill everyday.
Thank you, Ms. Garcia, for your dedication to your students and to the project!
Teacher Michele Kuttner and artist Chantal Currid from the Alameda Schools Challenge with help from StopWaste.Org's Jenni Nelson developed an interactive visual tool for primary grade teachers to teach or review lunch time recycling habits, i.e. what goes in which bin.
In a sorting game, students can attach cards with images of common waste items found on campus to the correct waste categories on the poster (Compost, Recycling, Liquids, Landfill).
The poster becomes a visual aid reminding students where to place different types of waste material. One key to best using this tool is to make sure that all waste bins on campus are color coded and labeled appropriately. (Bin labels available for download here)
You can print and laminate the sheets to create a durable, reusable, interactive poster for your class. The poster sheets print on 11X17 paper and the cards and teacher key print on 8.5x11.
- Use velcro dots to attach cards to the front of the poster. You'll need 37 pairs of sticky backed hook/loop dots.
- Attach the laminated teacher key to the back of the poster using velcro dots.
- Tape the 4 poster sheets together using wide cloth-backed tape on the back side of the poster to make one large, foldable poster.
- Note: The teacher key is specific to the City of Alameda- check with your waste hauler to learn what is compostable and recyclable in your area (many places can not recycle juice boxes, for example)
Preview of the Reusable Poster for Sorting Lunch Waste below (click images to enlarge):