School News You Can Use – October, 2014

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

CLUB News – Waits River Valley School Gets TOLD
In The News – How To Recycle Fridge Water Filters
EPA News – CLUB Endorses Food Recovery Challenge
Activity – Fall Leaves
Green Calendar

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CLUB NEWS

NRRA School CLUB Visits Waits River Valley School

E. CORINTH, VT – Waits River Valley School students enjoyed a School CLUB Trash On The Lawn Day (TOLD) recycling event on Oct. 8. Trash from a single school day is collected and sorted by the students. Everything is weighed, measured and charted to learn what could have been recycled. The students are then given strategies and set goals to expand recycling activities in their school.

Waits River Valley School is the first school to receive this training through the Universal Recycling School Grant managed by Northeast Kingdom Waste Management District. TOLD is an excellent service-learning project and school-wide waste audit that assesses environmental needs within the school community. It focuses mainly on waste management practices, purchasing policies, hauling agreements, and opportunities surrounding recycling and composting – provides a tool for creating positive change and developing student leadership.

Pictured above is Marc Morgan, the NRRA School Recycling CLUB educator who organized the TOLD presentation for over 200 students of the Waits River Valley School.

To the left, students of Waits River Valley School sorting recyclables at their TOLD event.

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Flagpole Ceremony at Woodman Park

Dover, NH – Woodman Park School made great use of one of NRRA School CLUB’s two Can Cages. They used their earnings to purchase a new flagpole. Pictured here is the school ceremony on September 17, 2014 which included an honor guard (below right) and flag raising (above right).

According to Principal Patrick Boodey, can collections continue and future proceeds are ear-marked for playground equipment.

Schools may “borrow” one of our two Can Cages for up to six months. Contact Gwen Erley at [email protected] or reserve @ Can-Cage-Reservation-Form

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C.R.A.P. Makes Cents

Litchfield, NH – Members of the Campbell High School C.R.A.P. team (Campbell Recycling Advocacy Project) show off their mini-baler .

Their efforts netted them a check for $66.95 in August.

Keep up the good work!

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Tree Ceremony Planned for Mason Elementary

MASON, NH – Mason Elementary students have gone where no students have gone since 2008. Their recycling activities have earned them the Gold Award in the Team Earth Program. By earning 100 points through completion of many recycling activities, and by establishing regular recycling of four products, they have earned the FIRST EVER NRRA/NH the Beautiful tree planting.

The planting ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 21. Babin Landscaping has generously offered to assist the CLUB by selecting the perfect tree, allowing the CLUB to purchase it at wholesale cost, and even planting the tree for us. By saving trees, Mason Elementary has earned a tree! Congratulations Mason!

If you are interested in the Team Earth Program, click here for more information: http://www.schoolrecycling.net/grant-fundraiser-contest/team-earth-awards-program/

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Would you like to host a TOLD, Garbage Guerrillas or another Workshop at your school? Let the CLUB Help!

Improves academic performance, especially in science and math
Can lead to financial savings for schools
Decreases the school’s carbon footprint through practical solutions that reduce energy and water consumption
Reduces school waste and conserves natural resources
Encourages student environmental awareness and stewardship
Increases parental involvement
Helps students and teachers develop stronger relationships with their communities

Previous EPA EE-funded research at over 200 New England schools completed by the NRRA School Recycling CLUB (the CLUB) found that the single most challenging area for school recycling programs was in providing curriculum integrations that brought recycling and sustainability into classrooms to be used as the subject matter for meeting state and local curriculum standards. The intention of the CLUB programs is to address just that issue in schools across all six New England states. Our goal is to use the CLUB’s workshops and technical assistance programs, all experiential and hands on, as a tool for educating K-12 students about consumption, proper diversion of waste, the resulting impacts on climate change and what they can do to change it. Through these offerings, we are also afforded the opportunity to link these priorities to curriculum standards. In addition, these workshops will model, for educators or community leaders, exemplary ways of teaching in creative, effective, and efficient methods about human health threats from environmental pollution as well as how to minimize human exposure to preserve good health. Click here to learn more or contact us at [email protected] or call 1.603.736.4401 ext. 19

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IN THE NEWS

Whirlpool Starts Recycling Program

for Refrigerator Water Filters

Oct 6, 2014 – By Allan Gerlat of Waste 360

Whirlpool Corp. has launched a recycling program for refrigerator water filters. The Benton Harbor, Mich.-based appliance maker has introduced its Refresh & Recycle program for consumers, in partnership with G2 Revolution, a recycling firm.

Through the program, consumers can purchase a water filter recycling kit at the G2 Revolution second life store for use in the continental United States. The kit includes a postage-paid plastic mailer. Consumers also receive a promotion code for a 10 percent discount on their next refrigerator waste filter.

The program accepts used water filters from any of Whirlpool’s U.S. brands and those of any other brand or manufacturer. The filters will be tested for material content and recycled into concrete aggregate to build roads and other concrete structures, the company said in a news release.

Whirlpool said consumers should replace their filters every six months for optimum efficiency. To learn more, go to: http://www.refreshandrecycle.com/

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Great American Can Roundup –

It’s Not Too Late!

Register your school now at http://www.cancentral.com/recycling-sustainability/programs-initiatives/great-american-can-roundup/registrationlogin for the opportunity to win up to $6,000 plus the value of the cans. The Can Manufacturers Institute will be awarding $1,000 to the school in each state and the District of Columbia that recycles the most aluminum beverage cans per student between America Recycles Day (Nov. 15, 2014) and Earth Day (April 22, 2015). The national champion recycling school will receive an additional $5,000.

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EPA NEWS

CLUB Endorses EPA

Food Recovery Challenge

EPSOM, NH – NRRA’s School Recycling CLUB has signed on to be an Endorser of the EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge. The Food Recovery Challenge seeks to reduce the amount of food wasted by being dumped in the landfill. To learn more, go to: http://www.epa.gov/foodrecoverychallenge/

If you should decide to join the Challenge, please be sure to mention the NRRA School Recycling Club!

Instead of wasting food and money, Rethink!

How much of your food and money are you literally throwing away? The Food Recovery Challenge asks participants to reduce as much of their food waste as possible – saving money, helping communities, and protecting the environment. The Challenge is part of the EPA’s Sustainable Materials Management Program, which seeks to reduce the environmental impact of materials through their entire life cycle, including how they are extracted, manufactured, distributed, used, reused, recycled, and disposed.

Did you know?
• More than 36 million tons of food waste was generated in 2011, 96 percent of which was thrown away into landfills or incinerators
• 14.9 percent of households in the U.S. were food insecure in 2011, meaning they did not know where their next meal would come from
• Wasted food means wasted money for businesses and residences
• Food decomposes in landfills to generate methane, a potent greenhouse gas
Wasted food has economic, environmental, and social impacts. Much of this “waste” is not waste at all, but actually safe, wholesome food that could potentially feed millions of Americans. Excess food, leftovers and scraps that are not fit for consumption and donation can be recycled into a nutrient-rich soil supplement.
Who can Participate?
Any business or organization can participate in the Food Recovery Challenge through prevention, donation and recycling. Organizations can join the Food Recovery Challenge as a participant, endorser, or both.
Participants agree to reduce, donate, and/or compost wasted food, and to set annual waste diversion goals. Any organization that can measure and report wasted food can join as a participant.
Endorsers agree to promote the Food Recovery Challenge by providing promotional, educational, or technical information to their stakeholders. They may also wish to recruit organizations to become Food Recovery Challenge participants or endorsers.Note: If you are a consumer, learn more about how you can reduce food waste.
Current Participants –Why take the challenge?
• Improve your bottom line through cost savings from improved purchasing and preparation practices and reduced waste disposal fees
• Support your community by using food to feed people, not landfills

• Reduce your environmental footprint and greenhouse gas emissions
• Get recognized for your achievements

•Food Recovery Challenge Awards

• Access free technical assistance for your baseline assessment and food recovery activities

Join Now at: http://www.epa.gov/foodrecoverychallenge/joinnow.htm

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These items were taken from the latest EPA New England Newsletter:

A $500 Do Something Seed Grant is given out every week to help young people engaged in community action projects. These grants can be used towards project ideas and programs that are just getting started, or to invigorate an existing project and take it to the next level. These grants are available on an ongoing basis. https://www.dosomething.org/campaigns

Teachers: Download EPA Resources for Your Classroom (August 2014)
Help students learn about environmental health and empower them to take steps in their everyday lives to protect the environment. Download EPA’s curriculum Recipes for Healthy Kids and a Healthy Environment here. http://go.usa.gov/mGwC

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ACTIVITY

Fall Leaves Inspire Imagination

Fall is truly an amazing time of year. We are blessed to enjoy the rich autumn colors throughout New England. Tourists come from all over the world to take part in this seasonal spectacular!

Take advantage of this opportunity to turn your imagination loose. While you are walking or playing outside, gather a variety of leaves of different sizes, styles and colors. Paste them to your scrap or recycled paper and see how many ideas you can come up with. You can draw around them or paste different leaves together to make new shapes.

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GREEN CALENDAR

11/06/14 – Y.E.S. Summit – The Vermont Youth Environmental Summit for grades 7-12 will be held at the Barre Civic Center in Barre, Vermont. To learn more and register, link to www.uvm.edu/extension/teenleadership and select “Programs.”

11/15/14 – America Recycles Day – An initiative of Keep America Beautiful (KAB), America Recycles Day is the only nationally-recognized day dedicated to promoting and celebrating recycling in the U.S. For ideas, contact www.americarecyclesday.org.

03/22/15 – World Water Day – To plan your event, see future newsletters and visit www.unwater.org.

04/22/15 – Earth Day – To plan your event, see future newsletters and visit www.earthday.org.

04/24/15 – Arbor Day – To plan your event, see future newsletters and visit www.arborday.org.

06/05/15 – World Environment Day – To plan your event, see future newsletters and visit www.unep.org.

06/08/15 – World Oceans Day – To plan your event, see future newsletters and visit www.worldoceansday.org.

06/09/15 – NRRA School CLUB Conference – The conference within the conference celebrates schools and students with activities and awards. It will be held at the Radisson in Manchester, NH. Details coming in future newsletters.

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WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL CLUB UP TO? The NRRA School CLUB always loves to hear what its members and other schools are doing to recycle and help the environment so we can share it through our newsletter. There are so many different things being done, and you are our best source of information about what is working in your school. It can be a new program, a long-term project that’s been proven over time, a field trip, etc. Always feel free to contact me or submit something and you may see it in the next School News You Can Use! – Gwen Erley [email protected] 1.603.736.4401 ext 19