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While the three R’s have become part of our collective vocabulary, the one that is most effectively managed in schools is recycling. However establishing guidelines for recycling, composting, and garbage is only the first step to ensuring that everything is properly disposed of. Recycling and composting have to be a matter of habit for the students and staff. Turning good recycling theory into practice takes time and a lot of effort, but can be fun. Engaging students in games and challenges to see who can produce the least amount of actual garbage is a good way to build awareness around the school and teach students to “Reduce” packaging and to “Reuse” containers. Our school year began with a “Litterless Lunch” challenge between classes. This spring, a team of our students has even created a Science Fair project to find fun solutions to common dilemmas arising from sorting the waste produced around the school.

More Awareness of 'Reducing' and 'Reusing' 

Technology has been a given part of our students’ worlds since they were born. In itself, technology can be a solution to problems of waste in schools, as digitizing records, documents, and communication saves paper. However, as technology constantly develops and changes, we are then left with another problem, that of electronic waste. Toxic components make electronics environmentally hazardous if thrown away, and proper recycling facilities are inconvenient and sometimes costly. Staff and students at our school believe that recycling options for electronic devices and batteries need to be more convenient. By creating a drop-off location for these items in the school, students are made aware of the need to recycle these devices, and families can conveniently dispose of them as needed. We have partnered with a recycling facility that picks up various electronic items and recycles 100 percent of the devices into new products.

Students are gaining increasingly more awareness of the “Reduce” and “Reuse” aspects of environmental change. Consumerism and over-consumption are high in this era of easily replaceable electronics and dollar-store purchases. Recycling is far better than creating garbage, but it still consumes energy and produces waste. Reducing the amount of “stuff” that we purchase, along with reusing as much as we can, minimizes what we need to dispose of, whether recycled or “trashed.” In reality, reducing our usage and reusing items is a “greener” way to effect change and conserve our resources and should be the focus of continued efforts towards environmental awareness in schools.

Helping Students Live Out the R's

Students learn best when behaviours are modelled. Here are some simple solutions our school found that have helped the students to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle:

Reduce

• Use email and electronic newsletters to maintain effective home-school communication.
• Establish a garbage-free lunch policy to reduce waste; parents can support this by purchasing in bulk and using reusable containers.
• Use reusable food bags, like "Snack Taxis," instead of plastic zipper baggies.
• Reduce your carbon footprint by shopping locally and planting a small vegetable or herb garden for frequently used items at home; schools can also plant cooperative gardens to teach students about growing their own food.
• Reduce textbooks by purchasing online licenses or using websites for research.
• Use mini-whiteboards instead of paper for various activities.
• Combine two pages onto each side of a sheet when photocopying or printing (which may seem small at first, but young eyes adapt to this quickly).
• Use rechargeable batteries where possible in the home for toys and games to reduce toxic electronic waste.
• Continue to encourage students to turn off the water when they are not using it and to turn off the lights when they leave a room – these habits are formed at early ages.

Reuse

• Collect used paper (one-sided) in the classroom and from home for later usage.
• Parents can donate old letterhead from their offices to use for school photocopying and drawing paper.
• Photocopy and print on reused paper (single-sided).
• Encourage students to use reusable containers for snacks.
• Use travel mugs for hot drinks and reusable bottles for water and juice.
• Collect items that can be reused for art activities around the school (e.g. toilet paper rolls, margarine containers, glass jars, etc.).
• Use reusable mesh bags for loose produce when buying in the grocery store.

Recycle

• Turn recycling into a fun activity for staff and students; create challenges for classes to properly sort their recycling and compost.
• Educate students on the local guidelines for recycling to ensure that only recyclable materials are placed into recycle bins, which reduces energy spent sorting material at a later time.
• Designate an area of the school for collecting electronic waste and batteries from families and partner with a recycling company that will pick it up regularly.
• Encourage families to designate a location at home where "used up" batteries can be collected before being taken to a drop-off location (e.g. used food container or jar, labelled and kept beside the recycling bins in the home).