When some of the local high school students saw a need to increase the recycling at their school, they took action. They kept seeing recyclable materials like aluminum cans and glass bottles in the trash cans. As they observed the problem more, they saw two things they could do to address the problem. 1) Get people more informed about recycling, and 2) Make more places to recycle available.
They decided their first step should be meeting with the principal and creating a proposal that they could submit to her. They got prepared and went to their meeting with the principal ready to get her support for their project. They explained to her the need that they saw both for education and resources about recycling. They also showed her all the different areas in the school where it would be beneficial to place containers for recycling. Places like near the vending machines, out by the team benches on the different sports fields, in the common area and near the concession stands. They showed her the success of having recycling baskets in the cafeteria. And, they proposed an all school assembly on the subject of recycling.
The principal was very supportive and wanted to help in any way possible, but felt like she didn’t have a lot of time to give. So, she left the details up to the students. She did suggest that possibly this new recycling committee could join forces with the student body officers and this way, there would be more help, more communication, and a way to reach all 4 grades. The committee liked this idea too, and decided to approach the student body president. The principal also let them know that while the school could pitch in some money for supplies, the recycling committee would also have to raise a good bit of the money themselves.
When the recycling committee approached the class officers, they all thought this would be something they could get behind. They wanted to get a firmer picture of the amount of money they needed to raise though and so appointed a member of each committee to research the options for recycling baskets. The next day when the team met, they decided on these strong, durable and easy to clean wire baskets to serve as their recycling bins. These custom wire baskets could be made to any size or shape needed and could be used inside as well as out. And, the wire waste baskets were affordable. All the committee members felt that they could raise enough money to get the number of wire baskets needed for all the different locations.
The committee also was able to find a great environmental group that was willing to come do a presentation at an assembly, in exchange for a small donation and some volunteer hours. After they got the wire baskets placed around the school, and held the assembly, they noticed an increase in the recycling at school, and a decrease in the trash output. Now they are getting ready for more projects to spread the word about recycling!
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