Reducing Waste
The Plastics Problem
The Plastics Problem
Essential Question: How can we mitigate plastic pollution at Renaissance? We don’t have a clear system for how to properly recycle in our school building. We don’t have the proper materials (bins, liquids buckets, signage) to support recycling, particularly in our cafeteria. Students and staff don’t know and/or care enough about the plastic issue to care about recycling. Students and staff don’t know what to recycle or how to recycle properly. The custodians need to be communicated with so they are aware of our plan and can support us in properly sorting and disposing of the recycling that we provide.
Essential Question: How can we mitigate plastic pollution at Renaissance? We don’t have a clear system for how to properly recycle in our school building. We don’t have the proper materials (bins, liquids buckets, signage) to support recycling, particularly in our cafeteria. Students and staff don’t know and/or care enough about the plastic issue to care about recycling. Students and staff don’t know what to recycle or how to recycle properly. The custodians need to be communicated with so they are aware of our plan and can support us in properly sorting and disposing of the recycling that we provide.
Barriers & Solutions
Barriers & Solutions
Contamination of recycling bins
Contamination of recycling bins
Teach and provide resources for cleaning our recycling bins
Ignorance of the need for recycling
Ignorance of the need for recycling
Teach people in classrooms, teachers adding to lessons, signs/posters so they know WHAT to recycle and WHY its important
Custodians don’t always come around with recycling bins
Custodians don’t always come around with recycling bins
Create a plan to recycle better and then present our plan to the custodians so they’re ready for it (teaching and inspiring them)
No recycling bins in cafeteria
No recycling bins in cafeteria
Sinks / buckets installed, adding recycling bins, putting up signs
Not enforcing recycling
Not enforcing recycling
Train teachers to train students at the start of next school year.
4 Full-Day Expedition Days.
4 Full-Day Expedition Days.
Our four full-day model for a student environmental campaign is worth exploring for other civic action projects.
Day 1: Kickoff, sustainability visioning and brainstorming. .
Day 1: Kickoff, sustainability visioning and brainstorming. .
Day 2: School Tour: Exploration, Data Gathering and Analysis
Day 2: School Tour: Exploration, Data Gathering and Analysis
IMG_0777.MOVAbove: video of all collected materials, sorted and counted, analyzed for recyclability. Also on the 5/8 day slides: research on global patterns.
Day 3: Brainstorming Solutions
Day 3: Brainstorming Solutions
Day 4: Planning our presentation to district leadership & Marriott.
Day 4: Planning our presentation to district leadership & Marriott.
