Have you ever sat back to think about how much waste occurs within your class? A Union of Professionals found that 4.7 pounds of waste is generated every single day, with a majority of that waste coming from schools. Check out these tips to help minimize the utilization of the three R’s in waste management: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle!
Reduce
The first way to make the classroom more eco-friendly is to reduce the amount of waste you’re creating. In a classroom, waste gets produced quickly through paperwork, material, or food packaging. According to Solo Resource Recovery, it’s important to reduce your waste in order to conserve landfill space, conserve resources, and most of all save energy. For those curious about how much waste is generated, try creating a trash tracker for your classroom! For every piece of trash, mark it down and count up how many marks you have at the end of the week. This information will make everyone more aware about the idea of waste elimination and can inspire people to start making a change. Instead of bringing your lunch in different bags everyday, maybe switch to a reusable lunch box. A fun way to reduce paper waste is to create a scrap paper box using an old cardboard box. With this, students will have scrap paper available for note taking, classwork, and projects!
Reuse
The next and biggest way to cut down on waste in the classroom is to reuse! As mentioned above, bringing lunch in a reusable box is an easy way to eliminate waste. Similarly, instead of buying water bottles to bring, invest in a reusable water bottle and utilize water fountains around the school. Another way to reuse is through school supplies. Rather than buying a new set of scissors or colored pencils every year, try to hold on to them for the next school year or even donate them to the school for someone else to use. For teachers, a way to reduce paper waste is to print out assignments and laminate them. With this, less paper will be used because students can share and they can be reused multiple times!
Recycle
The final step, and the one most people are familiar with, is recycling! In order to recycle properly, it’s important to know what is recyclable. Some items in a typical classroom that are recyclable are cardboard, magazines, paper, plastic bottles, plastic bags, and aluminum cans. To identify where you can recycle these items, look for blue trash cans with the recycle symbol on them. According to A Union of Professionals, even recycling just one glass bottle can save enough energy to power a lightbulb for four hours.
Now that you’ve learned about how you can help save the environment through your school, go forth and show it off! If you enjoyed these tips, you can check out other blogs at https://www.nstem.org/blog/
Written by: Kathryn Cottingham
