From our Executive Director:
Reducing Waste in Schools Pays Dividends for All

The holiday season is a joyous time as we gather with family and friends to exchange gifts and feast on all manner of sweets.  Whether we realize it or not, all of the gift wrapping, party planning, and cooking we do comes with a cost: waste.  We generate an awful lot of it this time of the year!  However, what if we were more thoughtful about the waste we create and took steps to reduce or repurpose our waste?  

Mitch Hedlund, Founder and Executive Director of Recycle Across America, explains why standardized labels for recycling bins will help schools recycle right and introduces some new initiatives from Recycle Across America.  

Recycle Across America has created a toolkit to help businesses and schools create successful recycling programs.

How to develop a realistic waste reduction program in schools.  Reprinted with permission from Green Teacher magazine and originally authored by Kary Schumpert and Cyndra Dietz.
Tommy Morales, Program Manager, Education & Litter at Keep America Beautiful relates the highlights from the 2015 Green Schools National Conference's Zero Waste Solutions Summit.
Starting a new school program, such as recycling, comes with many challenges.  How should the recyclables be sorted?  How will students know which bin to place their items?  Who is responsible for emptying the bins and where do the items go?  Now, take that same program and attempt to adapt it across an entire school district.  It may seem impossible to do.  However, the Alameda and Oakland Unified School Districts in California are proving otherwise, using a standardized process that educates students and their families, custodial and food service staff, teachers, and the community.  
Who would have thought that LEGOs and composting could have something in common?  At Good Shepherd Episcopal School in Richmond, VA, students on the LEGO Robotics team recognized a need for a composting program in their school's cafeteria.  Through research and outreach to the school community, the students have seen their vision come to fruition and are inspired by the results.  
Diana Dehm, Founder of the Trash On Your BackĀ® Challenge and host of Sustainability News & Entertainment Radio, discusses the importance of the Challenge, what is involved, and how you can participate.  
The more people I educate for sustainability, the more I am convinced that it is not our values that need adjusting, it is our thinking... Reprinted with permission from The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education and originally authored by Jaimie Cloud.  

The latest news on events, resources, and grants for December.
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