Recycling and Waste Reduction Programs

Toward Zero Waste in Schools

Contents
1 Waste Audits
2 Classroom Presentations

(on behalf of Whatcom County Solid Waste Division)

Waste Audits

Our waste auditing program offers schools the materials and instruction to perform a waste audit measuring classroom and/or cafeteria waste. By performing a school-wide or classroom waste audit, your students go through a days worth of garbage to get a comprehensive look at the waste generated by your school. That information is then used to determine actions and behaviors that will lessen the amount of garbage sent to landfills, thus shrinking your school’s environmental impact and waste bill. In addition to the audit, RE Sources’ education staff can offer:

Help and guidance with making and achieving goals to reduce landfill waste at your school
Support in attaining a Washington Green Schools certification in their Recycling & Waste Reduction category
Support of school pledge to join Sustainable Connections’ community-wide Toward Zero Waste campaign and reduce your landfill waste by 50%

This program is designed for 5^th-12^th grade and can be done in classrooms or with school clubs. Three hour-long visits are recommended: one for an introduction, one for performing the audit and one for action and behavior change planning.

To schedule an audit, contact RE Sources at 360-733-8307 or

Schools@re-sources.org.

Click here for the program flyer.

Click here to read a blog post about Squalicum High School’s environmental club and their success with the Toward Zero Waste program.

Classroom Presentations

The following hands-on, multimedia presentations are available to any school, public or private, in Whatcom County. Our recycling and waste reduction programs are offered with funding support from the Whatcom County Solid Waste Division.

All presentations are 30-45 minutes for primary grades and 1 hour for third grade and above.

"Garbology 101"
Designed for grades K-6, these presentations make age-appropriate use of puppetry, storytelling, games and poems to convey the problems with garbage, the solutions to those problems and how students can make a difference by reducing, reusing and recycling their family's trash.

Click here for Garbology 101- Presentation Materials

"Got Pulp?"
Students love getting up to their elbows in a vat of paper slurry! They make one-of-a-kind paper treasures while learning about the connections between recycling, reuse and resource conservation.
Papermaking is available to grades K-6.

Click here for Paper Making- Presentation Materials

To schedule a presentation, contact RE Sources at 360-733-8307 or Schools@re-sources.org.

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Here’s what students and teachers are saying about our recycling and waste reduction programs…

“Thank you for telling me about three R's recycle, reduce, and reuse. Also the paper I made came out great. I hope I can save a tree.” (3rd grader)

“Finally! When I said, ‘Take out a piece of scratch paper,’ they didn’t all pull out a clean sheet of lined notebook paper. Some even headed to our blue recycle tub and grabbed paper from there!” (4th grade teacher)

“I had a fun time when you came to our class, THANK YOU…I was amazed but a little grossed out. And then when you showed us how to make paper, it was very, very fun.” (6th grader)

“I was surprised that the U.S. comprises 5% of the world population, but accounts for 25% of its resource use. I’m going to start thinking more about what I need versus what I simply want.” (11th grader)

“Green is the new black!” (4th grader)

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