The Zero Waste Schools newsletter will help you get your school on a path toward generating zero waste through waste prevention, recycling, composting, and food recovery. You’ll also find resources that connect zero waste to healthy eating, school gardens, and environmental education and action.



Share the newsletter with friends, colleagues, and students interested in zero waste.

Back-to-school is almost here!

The school year 2026-2027 is almost here! A new school year is an excellent time to make decisions and develop systems that can reduce waste throughout the rest of the year. Preventing waste can happen at every level of the school community- from getting the right supplies to planning intentional community events. Get your school on a path to zero waste with these resources from Seven Generations Ahead, and contact zerowaste@sevengenerationsahead.org with any questions!

Back-to-School Supplies: A Zero Waste Guide: Get ideas for reusing supplies and purchasing more sustainable supplies.Teachers can also find helpful hints on how to promote sustainability in the classroom.

Zero Waste Lunch Flyer: Download and share this one-pager showing how to reduce single-use plastics by packing a zero-waste lunch from home.

Zero Waste Schools Event Guide: Make all of your school events this year a good time for everyone, including the planet. With a little advanced planning, school picnics, sporting events, graduation parties, meetings, and more can produce create minimal waste.

Zero Waste Schools Playbook: This guide has all you need to be ready on the first day of school including a set up guide, links to all of our educational materials, and our newly created ZWS lunchroom checklist to help inform teachers, custodians, food service staff, and students about their roles in supporting the program.

In addition to SGA's resources, Illinois Sustainable Technology Center's Back-toSchool Guide has more tips for starting the school year with less waste.

Save the date for two upcoming SGA webinars!

On Sept. 15 at 4pm cst, the Zero Waste Schools team will be hosting Let’s Talk Zero Waste, a conversation about getting back into zero waste routines for the new school year. In addition to discussing waste reduction best practices, Katie Nahrwold, Illinois State Lead for the Illinois Climate Education Hub, will highlight free, standards-aligned classroom resources that can help educators connect waste reduction and sustainability efforts to meaningful, real-world learning.

To register for the conversation, click HERE.

Later in the month, Seven Generations Ahead and the Wasted Food Action Alliance will be hosting Decoding Food Recovery and Donation: Breaking Down Barriers and Misconceptions in Food Rescue on Sept. 28 at 2pm cst as part of the national Food Waste Prevention Week campaign.

This webinar will explore best practices for safe food rescue, highlighting successful initiatives like school share tables and donation to nonprofits. Click HERE to register.

Exciting updates about climate education in IL!

As a result of the passage of HB4895, beginning this 2026–2027 school year, the State of Illinois requires all public K–12 classrooms to incorporate instruction on the causes, impacts, and solutions of climate change into their curriculum. Below are some new opportunities to support educators with integrating climate change education into classroom learning.

Climate Change Education for Classroom Teachers
Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) approved microcredential designed for K–12 educators in response to Illinois' new climate change education requirement. This course offered by University of Illinois will support teachers in building practical resources they can use immediately, including age-appropriate conversation starters, a hope-in-practice classroom checklist, a standards crosswalk, a whole-school climate education action plan, and a lesson or unit that will be taught and reflected upon.



ISBE's Climate Education learning strand
As part of the FY 2027 Professional Learning Series, these sessions will connect educators with practical information, lessons, and resources to incorporate instruction on climate change into their classroom learning. Refer to the Professional Development drop-down on this webpage for information on individual sessions.​​

Save the date for the Chicago Youth 
Climate Justice Summit!

Oct. 27, Loyola University Chicago

Chicago's second Youth Climate Justice Summit is coming up! For youth by youth! Hosted by It's Our Future, a program of Seven Generations Ahead.

The summit is a youth-led, day-long gathering focused on climate justice and solutions. YCJS will empower, connect, and educate high school students from a variety of backgrounds to take meaningful action in their schools and communities and foster community among young activists through fun, creative, hands-on activities.

Interested students, teachers, and organizations interested in sponsoring YCJS can click HERE to find QR codes for the forms.

Join the Illinois Green Schools Project

Are you involved in a school and interested in sustainability? Then you should consider joining the Illinois Green Alliance's Illinois Green Schools Project (IGSP). The IGSP is an annual sustainability action and recognition program for K-12 schools in Illinois. Whether you're just getting started or looking to dive deeper, participation will help move your school's sustainability efforts forward through projects that reduce environmental impact and reduce energy, water, and materials usage. Registration is currently open and ends Oct. 9.

By joining the IGSP, your school will receive:

• A framework to help you design a holistic, impactful sustainability project.
• A personally assigned Green Schools Mentor to assist schools in completing their IGSP Sustainability Workbooks.
• An opportunity to apply for a mini grant of up to $1000.
• Communicative staff that are always available to help!

New share table resource!

Did you know that K-12 schools in the U.S. generate 530,000 tons of food waste each year? The Center for Green Schools has updated Sharing the Table: A Roadmap to Recovering Surplus Food in Schools to help your school reduce their contribution to this staggering statistic through food recovery and donation.

The guide includes resources such as:

• Solutions to common roadblocks faced by schools
• Explanations to many misconceptions that revolve around share tables
• Stakeholder roles and responsibilities

This resource is an excellent guide for anyone interested in preventing wasted food in schools.

Food Waste Prevention Week 
Student Poster Contest

Food Waste Prevention Week (FWPW) is next month! Get your students involved by participating in the student poster contest. Both budding and experienced artists are encouraged to share their creativity and ideas about food waste reduction. The deadline for entry is Sept. 21 and cash prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. The winners will be announced during Food Waste Prevention Week, Sept. 28- Oct. 4.

To submit an entry, click HERE.

Beyond Plastics Pollution online class

Registration is now open for Judith Enck's Plastic Pollution class. Judith Enck, founder and president of Beyond Plastics, will be teaching her online Beyond Plastics class through Bennington College once again in September. This virtual class is open to all high school and college students who want to take the class for academic credit, as well as individuals of any age who are interested in learning about plastic pollution and what we can do to address the growing problem.

The class will meet on Zoom on Wednesday evenings from 7 - 9 pm cst, Sept. 9 - Oct. 21. The cost is $100 to audit or $400 for college credit.

Click HERE to register.

The Zero Waste Schools team is here to help!

Please contact us at zerowaste@sevengenerationsahead.org if you need support 
with your existing waste reduction initiatives or if you'd like some help figuring 
out where to start.

Grants and other opportunities

Healthy School Food Pathway Fellowship School food professionals can gain experience and realize their visions for healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable school food — both locally in their home districts and at a national scale. 
Apply by Sept. 2.

Get Schools Cooking Grant helps school districts transition from a heat-and-serve to a scratch-cooking operational model so they can serve students fresher, healthier, and more appetizing meals. Apply by Sept. 30.

Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom: Teacher Grants Each fall, IAITC offers K-12 Teachers in the State of Illinois book and project grants to incorporate agriculture into their content-area classrooms. Apply by Oct. 16.

Illinois Schoolyard Habitat Action Grant Earn up to $2000 for the development of wildlife habitat at your school! Projects must emphasize student/youth involvement with planning, development and maintenance and increase the educational and wildlife habitat values of the site. Apply by Dec. 2.

USDA: Agriculture and Food Research Initiative The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Education and Workforce Development (EWD) focuses on developing the next generation of research, education, and extension professionals in the food and agricultural sciences. Apply by Dec. 31, 2026.

Chef Ann Foundation: Salad Bar Grants Salad Bars to Schools (SB2S) is a grant program that provides schools and districts with everything needed to implement salad bars effectively as a part of a reimbursable meal, while supporting a journey to more scratch cooking and values-aligned procurement. The foundation's recent survey of 170 school districts in the Salad Bars to Schools program reported a 92% increase in fruit and vegetable selection after adopting salad bars! Apply by March 31, 2027.

SWANCC Waste Reduction Grants are a great opportunity for schools, libraries, and nonprofits that serve SWANCC member communities. Funds can help cover the cost of materials and equipment that support waste-smart projects and sustainability initiatives. Apply for either $200 for clean up event supplies, NEW $300 Right NOW! Student Action Grant, or $1,000 for waste reduction themed projects. Applications are accepted year-round, based on funding availability.

Events

Real Food Needs Real Kitchens: The Infrastructure Fight

Aug. 26, 12 - 1 pm cst

Many school foodservice staff want to cook scratch-made meals, but current infrastructure limits their abilities to just reheating and serving. This webinar explores how districts are transforming their spaces and securing the funding to make it happen.

ISBE: Understanding the Meteorology Behind Climate Change

Sept. 14, 4 - 5:30 pm

This Professional Development session is part of ISBE's Climate Education learning strand for FY 2027 Professional Learning Series. Joe Bauer, from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, will teach some basic meteorology concepts that will help educators better understand and better explain what the effects of a warming atmosphere are on our Earth.

Alliance for the Great Lakes: Adopt-a-Beach Day of Action

Sept. 19

Volunteers across the Great Lakes will join people worldwide caring for their local waters as part of the International Coastal Cleanup. 

Seven Generations Ahead | Email | Website

This newsletter was created by Seven Generations Ahead.

Funding for Zero Waste Schools is provided by Food:Land:Opportunity, a collaboration between Kinship Foundation and The Chicago Community Trust and funded through the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust.