School Spotlight

Your resource for school sustainability & materials management news!

Vol.5, March 2023

In this issue:

Intro

Celebrating the Earth

CSWD News

Recycle Rally Registration Open
Compost Clean Up

Upcoming Events

Earth Month EduSeries
A Future Built On Batteries Class
Food Waste Prevention Week Poster Contest
Plastic Free Lunch Day

School Highlights

Williston Central School
Smilie Memorial School
Camel's Hump Middle School

Cultivation Corner

CSWD Facility Tours

Cheers to Earth Month

For those of you who know me, I think every month is Earth Month which is why I love my job. I get to encourage kids of all ages to be stewards of this incredible earth by helping them (and hopefully inspiring them) to be the best environmental champions they can be.

There are many ways schools can celebrate Earth Month. Maybe your school has signed up for the Recycle Rally challenge or your students have submitted posters to Vermont's Green Up Day contest. This year CSWD is focused on reducing food waste, a topic near and dear to my own heart. We will be offering a backyard compost workshop and a public tour of our compost facility to help folks understand the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling food waste.

Here are two more great ideas on how to get your school involved:

Food Waste Prevention Week Poster Contest

Plastic Free Lunch Day

I am very excited to collaborate with several other solid waste experts throughout Vermont this year to bring another opportunity of learning in the Earth Month EduSeries starting March 27th. You can get more info and register your class in the Upcoming Events section below. I hope you will join us.

No matter how you celebrate Earth Month, your efforts to raise awareness about our responsibilities to take better care of this magical planet are appreciated.

Peace & Good Health--Recycle Rhonda

CSWD News

Recycle Rally Registration is OPEN

There is still time to register your school for the Recycle Rally Challenge; registration has been extended.

March 17th: Last day to register

March 13th: Recycle Rally begins

April 14th: Last day of Rally

April 18th: Last day to enter data

April 21st: Winner is announced and presented with the trophy

Register HERE

Green Mountain Compost

Just a reminder that only food scraps and paper towels can go into the compost at schools.

If your school needs assistance managing food scraps, please let me know. I am happy to help students during lunches or host an all school assembly on 'What Goes Where.'

Thank you for your hard work. Let's work together to clean up the compost!

Subscribe to the School Spotlight

Upcoming Events

Schedule and Registration

A Future Built on Batteries: a look at the battery's life cycle

Date: March 16th

Time: 10:00 - 10:45 am

Explore the life of batteries. Where do they come from? What happens to them when they run out of juice? Why should we care? What can we do to be better Planet Protectors?

School Highlights

Camels Hump Middle School-- Student-led rollout of classroom compost collection

I had the pleasure of working with Team Spark, a group of amazing 7th graders, to revitalize their classroom compost collection program at Camels Hump Middle School.

We kick started the class with a lively discussion about why composting organic matter is important. We then got up close and personal to investigate WHO is truly doing the composting using microscopes. What did we find? A bunch of decomposers from sow bugs and millipedes down to the amazing fungus that lives among us.

I was truly impressed with the engagement, excitement, and respectfulness shown by all 40+ students.

We wrapped up the learning by setting up a plan to roll out compost collection to interested classrooms using four-gallon buckets supplied by CSWD. I am happy to say that most classrooms are very interested.

Williston Central School-- Sustainability Superstars

Wow, Team Equinox at Williston Central School has all of their fingers on the sustainability button and I couldn't be prouder!

I was invited to teach the 3/4 team about what goes where, why we sort and how we can protect the planet by practicing the 3 R's but it was clear that these sharp whippersnappers were on top of their game. I even learned a thing or two during my visit: trees can give us medicine!

Check out some of the ways they reduce, reuse, and recycle:

Collect flip floppy plastic for recycling at local grocery store
Food share baskets in classrooms and at lunch
Sorting hard plastics based on type: 1,2, 5 only in the blue bin
Scrap paper bins in each team classroom
Created their own PLU sticker poster to remind everyone to remove those pesky stickers before putting leftovers into the bucket.

Smilie Memorial School: Planet Protectors

I had so much fun visiting the Pre-K, Kindergartners, and 1/2 grade kiddos at Smilie Memorial School for a little Trash Talkin' & the 3 R's.

Reuse of little, unrecyclable cups for glue
Reusing old posters to make new ones
Central compost collection for classrooms
On-site compost operation

What changes are happening after class? According to Ms. Zachary, her Pre-K students are "talking about where things go more often and kiddos are more confident in knowing where to put their refuse after snack.". Now that is a success story!

Cultivation Corner

CSWD Facility Tours

CSWD owns and/or operates 9 different facilities throughout Chittenden County. We collect, process and manage thousands of tons of recyclables, food scraps, and hazardous waste every year. A tour of one or more of our facilities gives you and your students a behind-the-scenes look at how we handle it all and an invested interest in sorting stuff out! Read more

Shoot me an email to schedule your class today!

Other CSWD Programs & Activities

Rhonda Mace

School Outreach

rmace@cswd.net

@cswdvt

@recyclerhonda