School Sustainability.

There will be a quiz!

Recycling Overview•Recycling is gathered in homes and businesses and then placed at the curb or taken to depots for collection.•In the Albany/Corvallis area, materials are taken to a facility where the recycling is baled and made ready for transport to a material recovery facility. •Elsewhere, it may go straight to a material recovery facility. for a look at how these facilities operate, find SP Recycling (Clackamas, Oregon) on YOUTUBE.•What is accepted is directly related to demand. Materials will be recycled if there is demand for the raw material they are made from.

Recycling as a tool to teach sustainability.

•Environmental Sciences

•Math

•Communication

•Community/Team Building

Environmental Studies: •Why recycle?

•According to the US EPA, recycling: •Prevents emission of many greenhouse gases.•Prevents water pollutants.•Saves energy.•Supplies valuable raw materials to industry.•Stimulates the development of greener technologies.•Conserves natural resources. •Reduces the need for new landfills and combustors.

•Recycling also helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions that affect global climate. In 2008, the national recycling rate of 33.2 percent (83 million tons recycled) prevented the release of approximately 182 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into the air--roughly the amount emitted annually by 33 million cars, or 1.3 quadrillion BTUs, saving energy equivalent to 10.2 billion gallons of gasoline.

MathRecycling provides many opportunities to use math in practical applications.

Communication•School recycling is most effective when students communicate the process to one another.

•Posters•Classroom Presentations•Video•Facebook•Web Pages•School Newsletters

What Gets Recycled & Why?

•Recycled materials are commodities.

•Simply put, what gets recycled is based on supply and demand.

•Buying products with recycled content creates demand.

•Avoiding hard to recycling items sends a message too.

PaperJunk mailFlyersOffice PaperEnvelopes Gift Wrap & Cards (no foil)Post-it-notesPaper BagsNewspaperCardboard (please cut to fit in cart) PaperboardPhone BooksShredded paper (loose in a paper bag or cereal box)

PlasticPlease rinse first. Plastic BottlesPlastic Jugs Plastic Tubs ( yogurt, margarine)Plastic Jars (peanutbutter)Nursery Pots & Buckets (smaller than 5 gallons)

About those chasing arrows!

They just tell you what resin group the

plastic is made from, not that it will be

recycled.

MetalPlease rinse first.Tin & Aluminum Cans Tins, Aerosol Cans Clean FoilPie Pans Metal Lids

GlassPlease rinse first.

Glass Bottles

Glass Jars

2007-2009 Recycling Comparison

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

452 450 452 450

Commingle Cardboard

To

ns

Commingle/Cardboard 2007

Commingle/Cardboard2008

Commingle/Cardboard2009

On the Horizon:

Organics Composting Energy GenerationLandfill MiningAdded Materials RecycledProduct Stewardship (paint, electronics)

On the Horizon:

Conclusions: •Recycling is only a part of the solution.•Reuse of goods plays a big role.•Waste reduction, buying, getting, having less stuff is perhaps the most important thing we can do. •Your dollars are your voice when purchasing recyclable or non-recyclable items.

•

Unless someone like you

cares a whole awful lot,

Nothing is going to get

better. It's not.“Dr. Seuss, from The Lorax