
School News You Can You – September, 2017

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The Leaves Will Soon Be
Off and Running!
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
- 2018 Conference News – Recycling RULE$; Early Bird Discounts for Conference
- CLUB News – Welcome New Members! SMS Starts Compost Program
- Grant & SWIP News – Outreach in VT Continues
- In The News – Int’l Coastal Cleanup-Sept. 16; CT Teacher Awarded
- Contests, Scholarships & Fundraisers – Compost Council Poster
- EPA & NHDES News – EPA Food Waste & Recycling Resources
- Activity – Foliage Frame, Fall Candles & Fall Bucket List
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2018 CONFERENCE NEWS
The CLUB’s Early Bird Discounts End Soon!
Schedule your school recycling event now to take advantage of
big discounts!
Click on any of the programs below for more information. Grants available thanks to New Hampshire the Beautiful!
- Trash On the Lawn Day (T.O.L.D.) – Discount if scheduled by 10/1/17.
- Classroom workshops – Discount if scheduled by 10/1/17.
- Star Assessments – FREE to NH Schools now through 12/31/17. Get a free recycling program assessment. Also FREE with workshop or technical assistance.
- Register NOW for the 2018 NRRA School Recycling Conference on May 22, 2018. Discount applicable for all registrations received prior to 12/31/17.
Contact Gwen Erley or Sarah McGraw TODAY to schedule any of the above items. 603-736-4401 ext. 19 OR [email protected]
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CLUB NEWS
Welcome New Members:
Acceleration East High School
- Where: Orlando, Florida
- Motto: Dream, Believe, Achieve
- Grades: 8-12
- Students: 230
Somersworth Middle School
- Where: Somersworth, NH
- Motto: On the Path to Success
- Grades: 6-8
- Students: 337
On the Road with Sarah McGraw
Sarah’s been busy in the Somersworth area of late, working with the Farm to School Coordinator Wendy Berkeley, to assist the city and schools with composting. Wendy was kind enough to share her article:
Waste Not Want Not at Somersworth Middle School
By Wendy Berkeley, Somersworth Farm to School Coordinator
How much food do we waste? At home? In our schools? Turns out it’s a lot and this fall the Somersworth Middle School seeks to make a big change.
Middle School teacher John Dinger’s efforts have finally paid

John Dinger (left) of Somersworth Middle School and Toby Alves of Mr. Fox Composting (Photo courtesy of Wendy Berkeley)
off to make large scale composting a reality for the Middle School. Thanks to collaborative funds through SYC and NH Farm to School, September will start the school’s one-year contract with Mr. Fox of Portsmouth, NH. Mr. Fox services the greater seacoast area by providing bins and liners for food waste, weekly pick up, and outreach and support in order to start and sustain the process successfully. Instead of all waste going into the trash, all compostable materials will be separated out and picked up by one of Mr. Fox’s friendly drivers, brought to their facility, and turned into rich organic soil. In exchange, the Somersworth school district will receive a return-on-investment of a cubic yard of composted soil. With gardens at the Middle School, Idlehurst, Plants for Growth, and an ADA garden bed to be installed at the Maple Wood Elementary School, this soil will have plenty of uses. And our middle-schoolers will receive hands-on education on sustainability that will hopefully follow them throughout their lives.
Many thanks go to Mr. Dinger, Toby Alves of Mr. Fox for his outreach and support, Maureen Jackman, NH Farm to School, and Frisbie Memorial Hospital for residual funding. Though Mr. Fox does not service residential customers in Somersworth, the MrFoxComposting.com website provides helpful guidelines for those looking to try their hand at home composting.
The organizers for Mr. Fox Composting rollout also kicked off the program with an education day on September 8, by having a trash sort the morning of the first Mr. Fox pickup. John Dinger, who brought the idea forward for composting, also plans on weighing the food diverted to show how much food is thrown away and how money is saved for the district. The School Recycling CLUB will be assisting in the year long process by calculating diversion costs, analyzing the waste hauler information and assisting with any additional education needs. The cooperation between the Farm to School Program, the Somersworth Middle School, Somersworth Youth Connection, Mr Fox Composting, the Somersworth School District and City of Somersworth is a great example of the type of collaboration needed to make a successful transition in waste diversion. – Sarah McGraw
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GRANT & SWIP NEWS
Teacher Resources Available for Purchase!
Classic K-12 Recycling Activities with 21st Century Standards
NRRA’s School Recycling CLUB is pleased to announce that the newest editions of their school curricula 3R’s of the Common Core: A Teacher’s Resource Guide to Solid Waste and Recycling and Teaching Toxics: Creating Solutions to Household Pollution are ready for distribution! Hard copies of these resources were previewed at the Conference.
In addition, four classroom workshop modules have been updated and will be available. They are:
- Garbage Guerrillas
- Back to the Earth
- Healthy Home/Clean Waters
- Waste = Global Climate Change
Everyone who participated in the Train the Teachers program held during the production of the new editions has received their training packets (CLUB classroom workshop modules including TTs and the 3R’s).
Anyone else interested in this program and receiving our revised curricula, please contact NRRA Programs Coordinator, Gwen Erley, at [email protected].
The deadline is 10/01/17 for qualifying rural communities to receive free materials, so don’t delay!
For the Pricing Guide, click HERE.
For the Terms of Use, click HERE.
For the Curricula Descriptions, click HERE.
Rutland County SWAC SWIP Outreach Completed
Vermont – NRRA’s School Recycling CLUB has completed our school outreach efforts for the 2016-2017 School year on behalf of the Rutland County Solid Waste Alliance Communities (RCSWAC). We met with six Rutland County schools in early March. Our goal is to assist with Act 148, Universal Recycling compliance.
RCSWAC Member towns include: Benson, Chittendon, Fair Haven, Middletown Springs, Pawlet, Rutland Town, Shrewsbury, Sudbury, Tinmouth and West Haven.
Outreach will resume in the spring for the 2018 school year. School outreach consists of an NRRA Star Assessment and ANR School Recycling Scorecard. There is no cost to the schools thanks to RCSWAC funding.
For more information, please contact The CLUB at [email protected].
White River Alliance Solid Waste District School Outreach Resumes
Workshops and Technical Assistance Available
Vermont – We are beginning our second round of outreach to schools in the White River Alliance Solid Waste District in Eastern/Central, VT.
Alliance communities include: Barnard, Bethel, Granville, Hancock, Pittsfield, Rochester, Royalton and Stockbridge.
School outreach consists of four workshops and two technical assistance trainings. These are being paid for by the Alliance so there is no cost to the schools.
For more information, please contact The CLUB at [email protected].
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IN THE NEWS
From our Friends at NH Dept. of Environmental Services – Newsletter, September/ October issue
New Hampshire Coastal Cleanup
Become a part of the world’s largest volunteer event on behalf of the oceans! Join the NH Coastal Cleanup, held in conjunction with the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup, on Saturday, September 16, 2017
The International Coastal Cleanup is Saturday, September 16 (with other cleanups scheduled throughout September and October). Check out Ocean Conservancy’s website for locations, or the websites of local partners that lead ICC events at the state level in the Northeast:
- – Maine
- – New Hampshire
- – Massachusetts
- – Rhode Island
- – Connecticut
- – New York
More info on cleanup sites and times will be posted on http://www.blueoceansociety.org/beachcleanup/new-hampshire-coastal-cleanup/ and https://www.facebook.com/BlueOceanSociety
To see the entire NH DES newsletter: http://m1e.net/c?81145435-hucma48ZxQtDE%40391773959-RGFKFlBNj1YzY
CONTACT:
David Deegan (News Media Only)
[email protected]
617-918-1017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 31, 2017
EPA Honors New Canaan, Conn. Teacher with Environmental Educator Award
BOSTON – A middle school teacher in New Canaan, Conn. was one of 12 educators education professionals honored earlier this week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA award ceremony also honored and over 75 students for their exceptional contributions to environmental education and stewardship.
Laura Poidomani, a teacher at Saxe Middle School in New Canaan, was awarded

Image courtesy of EPA
a “Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators” (PIAEE) at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Monday. The event featured speakers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Toyota’s North American Environmental Sustainability Programs, and the North American Association for Environmental Education.
“Through their work, these impressive educators and students demonstrate how community partnerships — between schools, business and government — can build and sustain environmental change,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “Together, EPA and our partners are working to improve environmental literacy across the nation.”
“The educators being honored provide the foundation from which the next generation of environmental leaders will grow,” said acting NOAA Administrator Ben Friedman. “It is also heartening to recognize the achievements of the student winners, who will undoubtedly unleash more innovation in the future and serve as role models to their peers.”
A teacher with 18 years of experience teaching students ranging from kindergarten through 12th grade, Laura Poidomani currently teaches 6th graders at Saxe Middle School. Her classroom vividly reflects how she integrates direct experiences with textbook learning. A trout tank is carefully monitored and maintained by the student “Trout Club.” This experience helps students to better understand the human role impacting trout populations in the wild, as well as how people can positively affect the environment. The classroom includes model aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems that students observe and query. She uses model septic systems to help students understand how septic systems work and their role in the ecosystem. Laura Poidomani’s students take their knowledge and learning into the surrounding community. A Student Watershed Awareness Taskforce allows students to follow text and hands-on studies of watersheds, including septic and sewage treatment, movement of water through watersheds, and visible and invisible components of those waters.
The PIAEE awards recognize innovative educators who bring environmental education into their classrooms through hands-on, experiential approaches. Winning teachers led unique projects such as Student Watershed Awareness Taskforce, a school farmers’ market and food sharing program, interactive blogs for students to connect with scientists and other professionals, campus-wide recycling programs, and outdoor learning areas.
Earlier this summer EPA also recognized students in Milford and New Haven Conn. who were selected for a “Presidential Environmental Youth Award,” a program that recognizes outstanding environmental stewardship projects by K-12 youth. The Connecticut youths earned recognition for a project called “Synthesis of Low Cost, Biodegradable Masks/Bags Using Novel Material Combinations: A Sustainability Project.” The students included Arya Bairat, James Rodrigues and Eran-Avni Singer.
More information:
For details on the 2017 PIAEE winners, visit http://www2.epa.gov/education/presidential-innovation-award-environmental-educators-piaee-winners
For details on the 2016 PEYA winners, visit http://www2.epa.gov/education/presidents-environmental-youth-award-peya-winners
For information on environmental education at EPA, visit https://www.epa.gov/education
Recycling & Environmental Game Links
In our internet travels, we have found several links to recycling and environmental games and activities that students might enjoy:
- Kids Recycling Zone: The Assoc. of Plastics Recycling: https://www.kidsrecyclingzone.com/
- EPA Planet Protectors: https://www.epa.gov/students/planet-protectors-activities-kids
- EPA Recycle City: https://www3.epa.gov/recyclecity/challenge/index.html
Recycle Those Eclipse Glasses!
From our Friends at WMUR Channel 9:
Don’t throw out your eclipse glasses
Used glasses can be donated, possibly kept for next eclipse

Image courtesy of WMUR
Updated: 2:50 PM EDT Aug 22, 2017
SOURCE: Christine Wheeler/WMUR
MANCHESTER, N.H. —
Now that the continent-spanning solar eclipse of 2017 is over, have you thought about what you’re going to do with your eclipse glasses?
The protective glasses were hard to come by as Monday’s total solar eclipse neared, and with another eclipse practically right around the corner in 2024, you might be tempted to hold onto yours — and it’s possible you can.
Most paper eclipse glasses have a warning printed on them that they should be thrown out after three years and that you shouldn’t use them to look at the sun for longer than three minutes at a time. But according to NASA, those warnings are outdated for eclipse glasses that are compliant with the ISO 12312-2 safety standards adopted in 2015.
That safety standard was the one media outlets were urging people to be aware of when they bought eclipse glasses this year. Reputable eclipse glasses purchased for this year’s eclipse should be compliant with this standard, but you can check the American Astronomical Society’s list of reputable vendors to make sure.
According to NASA, as long as the lenses aren’t scratched or otherwise damaged, you can use them indefinitely. So if you want to keep them for the April 8, 2024, eclipse, which will cross the United States from Texas to Maine, store them in a safe place until then. Or feel free to take them out now and again, whenever you want to take a look at the sun.
But if you enjoyed looking at the eclipse with your special glasses, consider sharing that wonder and awe with someone else around the world. The group Astronomers Without Borders is launching a program to collect used glasses and distribute them to schools in Asia and South America, which will experience solar eclipses in 2019.
There haven’t been any details announced yet, but the organization said it will partner with corporate sponsors to set up donation sites. Your donation could inspire young scientists and astronomers around the globe.
If you want to help out locally, consider calling schools and libraries to see if they want your donated glasses. Local astronomy groups might also be able to direct you to organizations that would be interested.
The paper glasses can also be recycled. Just pop out the filtering lenses first and recycle the cardboard. Check with local camera stores to see if they have any interest in the solar lenses.
From our Friends at the National Audubon Society
Brighten Your Day with These Adorable Baby Bird Pics
Whether you’re having one of those weeks or just can’t get enough of baby birds no matter the day, these photos are sure to put a smile on your face.
From these swallow siblings to quail chicks, be sure to check out all of the baby birds in this collection from the 2017 Audubon Photography Awards.
To see the photos, CLICK HERE
Also from our Friends at the National Audubon Society:
The 2017 Audubon Photography Awards: Top 100

I enjoy the look, and challenge, of capturing creatures rising out of the water and pushing the surface tension to the max. This Ring-necked Duck at Dead Horse State Park in Arizona spent just a few minutes next to me diving down for food and rising again. It was almost impossible to capture as I had to manually focus since the auto-focus would not go through the water surface correctly. – Chris Hartzell
For the gallery of winners: http://www.audubon.org/news/the-2017-audubon-photography-awards-top-100?ms=digital-eng-email-ea-newsletter-20170721_july_wingspan&utm_source=ea&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20170721_july_wingspan#45
From our Friends at NH Audubon:
Click HERE for the full schedule of fall events.
Vermont Says Y.E.S.!
Y.E.S. (Youth Environmental Summit) is an annual event for middle and high school students who want to learn about environmental issues and find ways to take action. This year’s Summit will take place on November 2, 2017 at the Barre Civic Center in Barre, Vermont.
To learn more click HERE.
Interested in water quality?
If you would like to host a workshop in your school, please consider The CLUB’s Healthy Home, Clean Waters Workshop. For more information, please contact [email protected].
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Contests, Scholarships & Fundraisers
From our Friends at the Composting Council
International Compost Awareness Week
Poster Contest Theme Announced
Compost! Building a Better Future
By coming together with a global voice that promotes compost, International Compost Awareness Week is a call to action – composting is good for the environment now and into the future – no matter where you live! “Compost – Building a Better Future” for plants, people and our planet!
ICAW Poster Contest – Contest runs from 9/1/17 to 11/6/17
Based on this year’s theme, start getting your creative juices flowing and plan to enter the 2018 ICAW Poster Contest. Your poster design will be displayed in thousands of places across the country…and you’ll win a prize too.
For more details on the ICAW Poster Contest and how to enter Go Here or copy this link: http://compostfoundation.org/ICAW-Poster-Contest
The successful poster winner will receive a $500 prize. The contest is open to anyone from third grade to adult. There are 3 contest divisions: grades 3-7, grades 8-12, and college – adult. The best from each division will be entered into the final contest.
While We’re On The Subject …
From our friends at the US Composting Council
Who will be the face of composting excellence for 2017?
Annual Composting Awards
2017 Awards Applications Are Open Now until October 1, 2017.
Awards are given by the USCC to distinguish outstanding members of the composting community in a variety of industry categories.
- Composter of the Year
- Composting Program of the Year
- Hi Kellogg Award
- H. Clarke Gregory Award
- Rufus Chaney Award
- Clean Water Award
Let’s honor creative and dedicated people in the composting industry!
Are you a member of the USCC? Nominate a deserving composter/compost program today! (*nominations must come from USCC members)
Keep America Beautiful Announces Launch of 2017 Recycle-Bowl; Encourages Nation to #BeRecycled Ahead of America Recycles Day
Nationwide Call for Schools to Enter America’s Largest K-12 Recycling Competition; Thousands of America Recycles Day Events and Activities Expected
STAMFORD, Conn. (Aug. 16, 2017) – As students begin to gather their notebooks, backpacks and pencils for the new school year, Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s iconic community improvement nonprofit organization, plans to ignite a passion for recycling in schools across the country with the launch of its 7th Annual Keep America Beautiful Recycle-Bowl. Registration is now open for the fall recycling competition at http://Recycle-Bowl.org/.
Recycle-Bowl, Keep America Beautiful’s national K-12 school-based recycling competition, begins on Oct. 16 and culminates on America Recycles Day, Nov. 15. Champions are crowned in five categories: School Division, Community Division, District Division, Waste Reduction and Food Scrap Collection. Through participation in Recycle-Bowl and America Recycles Day, the only nationally-recognized day dedicated to promoting and celebrating recycling in the United States, Keep America Beautiful is helping communities spotlight recycling on a local level by educating students and community members on how and what to recycle, while providing an array of resources to improve recycling in America.
“Keep America Beautiful is determined to end littering, improve recycling, reduce waste and beautify America’s communities,” said Brenda Pulley, senior vice president, recycling, Keep America Beautiful. “Recycle-Bowl and America Recycles Day are key fall initiatives to educate, motivate and activate individuals and entire communities to better understand what to place in recycling bins and the many environmental, economic and social benefits of recycling.”
New this year, Recycle-Bowl is partnering with PepsiCo, a presenting sponsor, to offer participants the opportunity to concurrently sign up for PepsiCo’s Recycle Rally program. “Keep America Beautiful’s Recycle-Bowl is a great way to get schools and communities fired up about recycling, and we think Recycle Rally is a natural complement to extend that level of engagement throughout the rest of the school year,” said Tom Mooradian, PepsiCo Sustainability Manager. Recycle Rally rewards schools for recycling beverage containers and offers frequent promotions and access to free downloadable resources to help schools boost recycling .More information on this collaboration will be available in the coming weeks.
Registration for the fun and engaging four-week in-school competition is open to teachers, school administrators, school facility managers, PTA/PTO and other parent groups and local recycling advocates. Recycle-Bowl registration will remain open until Oct. 10, one week before the start of the competition. Nearly 700,000 students and teachers from more than 1,290 schools across the nation competed in the 2016 Recycle-Bowl.
Recyclables recovered during the 2016 Recycle-Bowl competition totaled 3.2 million pounds across 47 U.S. states, with Bon Air Elementary of Kokomo, Indiana, crowned as the 2016 champion. Whether a school has an existing recycling program or is looking to launch one, Recycle-Bowl is an excellent way for teachers, students and facility managers to engage their entire school community in recycling.
AMERICA RECYCLES DAY: NOV. 15, 2017
America Recycles Day, a Keep America Beautiful national initiative, takes place on and in the weeks leading into Nov. 15. Registration is open for businesses, community organizations, government entities, individuals and others planning to host an America Recycles Day-themed event. For recycling educators, the program provides an opportunity to improve recycling by reminding individuals what can be recycled.
Event organizers can access valuable resources to plan, promote and host an event on the America Recycles Day website where there are guides for hosting events, activity ideas, downloadable posters and banners, media outreach tools, sample proclamations and more. Events can be scheduled at any time during the fall leading into the official America Recycles Day celebration, Nov. 15. Learn more at http://AmericaRecyclesDay.org.
TAKE THE #BERECYCLED PLEDGE
For the second year, Keep America Beautiful is encouraging people to #BeRecycled in every aspect of their life. Available online at americarecyclesday.org/pledge/ and via paper pledges at events across the country, the #BeRecycled Pledge is a promise to actively choose to live a recycled lifestyle by committing to “Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.” in all aspects of daily life:
- Recycling at home, work/school and on-the-go;
- Buying products made with recycled content; and
- Educating and encouraging friends, family and neighbors to take the #BeRecycled Pledge.
“America Recycles Day and Recycle-Bowl are moments in time that provide the inspiration and education to make recycling a common practice, every day of the year,” said Pulley. “We encourage everyone in communities across the country – including schools, business and organizations – to participate and to take the #BeRecycled Pledge in a national effort to improve recycling in America.”
Sponsors of this year’s initiative include American Chemistry Council, H&M, Indorama Ventures, Keurig Green Mountain, and Waste Management.
Project Learning Tree Offers GreenWorks! Grants
Project Learning Tree offers GreenWorks! grants up to $1,000 to schools and youth organizations for environmental service-learning projects that link classroom learning to the real world. Students implement an action project they help design to green their school or to improve an aspect of their neighborhood’s environment.
The projects partner students with their whole school, local businesses and/or community organizations, and provide opportunities for student leadership. The funds can be used by students to implement recycling programs at their school, conserve water and energy, establish school gardens and outdoor classrooms, improve a forest, or restore a natural habitat, for example.
To be eligible, applicants must have attended a PLT workshop, either in-person or online, that provides training, lesson plans, and other resources to help integrate these projects and environmental education into your curriculum or youth programs.
The annual deadline to apply is September 30.
Funding will be distributed in December 2017.
To learn more, go to: https://www.plt.org/resources/greenworks-grants/
From our Friends at EPA Region I:
Offers School Recycling Grants to Member Communities
ecomaine invites applications for 2017/18 School Recycling Grants, apply October 31, 2017
Has your school set out to raise recycling awareness? Do you want to implement a more robust recycling program or add composting to your waste collection? Then ecomaine has a great opportunity for you! Maine’s pioneer of single-sort recycling and provider of waste-to-energy solutions is pleased to announce that any of its 65 member communities can apply for School Recycling Grants through October 31, 2017.
Grant proposals have ranged from purchasing in-school recycling bins or education materials to offsetting compost hauling fees or assisting schools to participate in tours of ecomaine. If selected, school recipients can receive up to $5,000 of $20,000 in available grant funds. Recipients are chosen based on the following criteria:
- project outline and school commitment
- ease of project replication
- likelihood of success and program sustainability, and
- how compelling and worthy the funding is.
Find out more: http://www.ecomaine.org/news-and-events/ecomaine-invites-applications-for-201718-school-recycling-grants/
Get Ready to Rally! 
Recycle Rally is a free nationwide program that directly benefits K-12 schools and students by providing valuable incentives and resources to help make recycling easy, fun, and rewarding.
Recycle Rally: Sign-Up Promotion
Program: PepsiCo Recycle Rally
Timeline: September through October
Prize: Bonus TerraCycle points
How to Win: Simply sign up for the PepsiCo Recycle Rally.
Join the PepsiCo Recycle Rally, one of the nation’s leading beverage container recycling initiatives for K-12 schools. With a revamped participation model, Recycle Rally is enabling more schools than ever before to catch the fever and earn a shot at prizes for building excitement around recycling.
By signing up for Recycle Rally, your school can compete in a series of contests which award prizes not just for dedication to recycling bottles and cans, but also for sharing artwork, photos, design skills, educational plans, and other creative ways to inspire others to recycle. Prizes range from $10 gift cards to $1,000 cash and participants have frequent opportunities to win.
Participants can also connect to a national recycling effort and gain access to educational materials, creative goal-trackers, and helpful tips and tools to make recycling fun and exciting. Recycle Rally has been making an impact since its 2010 inception, and has awarded more than $1 million in prizes on its way to collecting more than 50 million containers and counting.
Visit www.pepsicorecycling.com to join the program today, or click the button below for more information. Please note the button will take you to PepsiCo’s external website.
How many aluminum cans can your school round up?

Schools (pre-K-12) that registered by April 28, 2017 are good to go!
For more information, go to: http://www.canroundup.com/the-challenge/schools/
Hosting school events or sports this fall? Consider a Can Cage!
The CLUB is offering an opportunity for school recycling clubs to not only preserve the environment by collecting cans, but also to receive revenue on a per pound basis for the cans they collect. The goal of the program is to increase school recycling funds while increasing aluminum can recycling. As part of the program, The CLUB will provide participating schools with a large aluminum collection cage that can be parked out doors for easy access.
Thanks to the generous sponsorship of NRRA, NRRA’s School Recycling CLUB and Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc., the Can Cages (2) are available for loan to member schools for FREE!!!
For more information CLICK HERE or contact Programs Coordinator, Gwen Erley at [email protected].
Don’t forget our RecycleMobile is available for events!
The RecycleMobile was developed to help make recycling at special events low-cost, highly visible and efficient. It is a simple to use, eye-catching recycling unit consisting of a fiberglass box with six collection holes (3 per side) that is attached to a 4′ by 6′ trailer and houses six – 32 gallon barrels. You will need an 1-7/8″ ball to tow the RecycleMobile.
The NRRA has three RecycleMobiles available for community groups and organizations to use to provide recycling. Please contact the NRRA by telephone at (603) 736-4401 or by e-mail at [email protected] for more information and scheduling details.
To reserve the RecycleMobile for your community’s event, download, complete and send in the RecycleMobile Reservation Form.
Other School Grant Opportunities
(Collected from NWF Eco-Schools Newsletter)

eschoolnews.com
DonorsChoose.org – Can list on site up to 4 months
http://www.donorschoose.org/about
Helps classrooms and students in need
DoSomething.org – DoSomething.org offers many ways to earn scholarship money.
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EPA & NHDES NEWS
From our Friends at the EPA:

wikimedia commons
Food Tips for K-12 Schools: Get Kids To Eat More and Waste Less
The EPA has published this great flyer on reducing food waste with links to even more resources.
Click HERE for the document!
Also from our Friends at EPA:
The Quest for Less – Activities for Teaching

pixabay.com
K-8
We found this wonderful Teacher’s Guide to Reducing, Reusing and Recycling everything from natural resources to locker leftovers.
Click HERE to view at the EPA site.
From the EPA webinar, The ABC’s of K-12 Food Waste Reduction:
Share Tables

clipart.com
For those of you who are considering Share Tables, this flyer has helpful tips about the law with regard to the National School Lunch & Breakfast Program.
To view the flyer, click HERE.
EPA’s WasteWise encourages organizations and businesses to achieve sustainability in their practices and reduce select industrial wastes. WasteWise is part of EPA’s sustainable materials management efforts, which promote the use and reuse of materials more productively over their entire lifecycles.
To learn more, go to WasteWise Fact Sheet.
As part of EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge, organizations pledge to improve their sustainable food management practices and report their results. The FRC is part of EPA’s Sustainable Materials Management Program (SMM). SMM seeks to reduce the environmental impact of materials through their entire life cycle. This includes how they are extracted, manufactured, distributed, used, reused, recycled, and disposed.
To learn more, go to: EPA FRC
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ACTIVITY
Foliage Frame
From our friends at Allfreeholidaycrafts.com
Fall Foliage Frames

Image courtesy of twigandtoadstool.blogspot.com
Who doesn’t love the beautiful colors of leaves in Autumn? If you want to learn how to make Fall decorations that capture these bold hues, consider these Fall Foliage Frames. You’ll love displaying this lovely handmade picture frame in your home!
- Estimated Cost: $11-$20
- Time to complete: In an evening
- Primary Technique: General Crafts
- Difficulty Level: Easy
Click here for the holiday project
Fall Candles
Also from our friends at Allfreeholidaycrafts.com
Magical Fall Candles
By: Rockie from rockiescrafts.blogspot.com

Image courtesy of http://rockiescrafts.blogspot.com
These Magical Fall Candles will have you swooning this season. This is a tutorial that will teach you how to decorate candles for autumn. By simply gluing beautiful, colored leaves to your candles, you will have created new fall decor. You can also try to Mod Podge the leaves to the candle. Either way they will be beautifully preserved. By using materials you already have and leaves from your yard, this project becomes practically free to make. It’s the perfect fall craft idea because you get to go outside and you have a beautiful new decoration!
- Estimated Cost: Under $10
- Time to complete: Under an hour
- Primary Technique: Candlemaking/Soapmaking
- Difficulty Level: Beginner
Click here for the fall project
Fall Bucket List
From our Friends at National Wildlife Federation
For a printable copy, go to: http://www.nwf.org/Kids/Ranger-Rick-Fall-Bucket-List.aspx
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GREEN CALENDAR
10/04/17 – Walk to School Day – To register your school event:
http://www.walkbiketoschool.org/
11/02/17 – Y.E.S. Summit – The Vermont Youth Environmental Summit for grades 7-12. To learn more and register, contact: [email protected]
11/03/17 – Students for Zero Waste – 4th Annual “Students for Zero Waste” Conference, Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, November 3 & 4, 2017. For more info: http://www.postlandfill.org/szw17/. Note there is a small registration fee to attend this event.
11/15/17 – 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.
03/18/18 – Global Recycling Day – The first celebration of its kind from the Bureau of International Recycling! For more information, visit: www.bir.org.
03/22/18 – World Water Day – To plan your event, visit www.unwater.org.
04/22/18 – Earth Day – To plan your event, see future newsletters and visit www.earthday.org.
04/27/18 – Arbor Day – To plan your event, visit www.arborday.org.
05/09/18 – Bike to School Day – To register your school event:
http://www.walkbiketoschool.org/
05/21/18 – NRRA’s 36th Annual Recycling Conference & Expo
05/22/18 – School CLUB’s 8th Annual School Recycling Conference (the Conference within the Conference); Registration assistance available for NH schools through NH the Beautiful.
06/05/18 – World Environment Day – To plan your event, visit www.unep.org.
06/08/18 – World Oceans Day – To plan your event, visit www.worldoceansday.org.
ENJOY THE COLORS OF THE SEASON!

Courtesy of USDA Forest Service
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WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL CLUB UP TO? The NRRA School Recycling 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