We Future Cycle is so proud to be featured in the National Kids Science Magazine called DoGoNews. How cool is that!
And we are particularly proud to have heard from a bunch of people that their children chose that article as their current events project.
We Future Cycle was thrilled to have had our first College Intern. Dana Goldstein, a Sophomore from Oberlin called out of the blue beginning of January to ask if she can do an internship with us. She had learned about the We Future Cycle program from the recent media flurry and was fascinated as this program touches exactly on what she is focusing in school.
Human Psychology in connection to environmental sciences, in other words, how to get humans to get off their lazy butts to create change.
Dana jumped right in, with a record breaking month for We Future Cycle rolling out 5 schools, she got to experience the whole spectrum of this program. From seeing the workshops we do with teachers, to monitors and custodial staff, learning how to work with children of different age groups, setting up stations, supervising the sorting, and teaching the students and adults in the room how to source separate, to gently coaxing custodians to keep separated materials indeed separate, which is no small feat, I might add!.
She had a chance to develop and hone presentation skills, try out methods on how to gently guide adults towards changing their ways, and be surrounded by adoring first graders that were hugging her leg and thanking for teaching them how to recycle.
Dana learned that it takes a LOT of perseverance to change large scale systems like schools in order to effect change, but that the journey is worthwhile because of the students. Seeing school garbage being reduced by 98% by teaching the students to sort is instant gratification for any environmental studies major.
” I joined We Future Cycle because the organization has the power to create enduring change in our community. The success in providing green refuse streams to 30% of Westchester’s school children is a testament to the unique change that only a local organization can achieve. By establishing a presence in elementary schools, We Future Cycle instills upon tomorrow’s leaders a cultural norm to practice for the rest of their lives. Connecting with children at a young age allows us to shape the way our future citizens see trash, so instead of seeing “waste,” they see opportunity.
As a sophomore at Oberlin College majoring in environmental studies with a concentration in urban sustainable management, my time at We Future Cycle will provide me with tremendous insight into effective solutions for solid waste management in an urban setting. Additionally, as a social psychology major, I especially appreciate We Future Cycle’s experience successfully motivating students to participate in recycling and other green practices. I hope to gain a greater understanding as to what core social motives our teaching implements act upon in order to further social change. ” Dana Roe Goldstein
We Future Cycle is wishing Dana all the best in her continued studies and we are ready to welcome more College interns into the world of school waste management. Hold on and enjoy the ride!
Today was a big day at Rye’s Midland Elementary School. With great support and enthusiasm of Principal Jim Boylan, Assistant Principal Joanna Napolitano and the PTO, under the leadership of Cali Gibbs and Emily Keenan, Midland’s students made a huge splash of a difference!
The We Future Cycle team went from classroom to classroom to present the program, show the different materials, answer questions, model the process and stir up a big energetic frenzy to save the world. These students were READY to make a difference.
In the lunchroom the newly installed station was put into action, and despite the most challenging of lunch menu days, which is brunch for lunch with syrup containers, the students pulled off a flawless sorting.
The results speak for themselves. From 161 lbs of total waste:
Only 2.8% of the entire lunchroom waste was actually trash!
Sitting on the carpet surrounded by a group of New Rochelle Barnard students and doing a presentation about recycling is one of my favorite activities. I just love helping students make a very important mental transition. When I show students a bunch of empty packaging material, one will invariably sneer at it and call it trash.
Walking them through the fact that empty packaging is not trash, but rather material for new things is the most rewarding, because children get it so fast. They understand what it means to play with things over and over again, if you just put it in the right bin.
At some point, I ask the students where they think “away” is, when they talk about throwing something away. I usually get a variety of answers ranging from “the garbage truck” all the way to “the dump”.
Today, however, at Barnard Elementary School in New Rochelle, I was blown away as a 2nd grader very casually answered : “Garbage goes to the incinerator”.
And that is exactly right.
Westchester burns 2500 tons of garbage every single day at its Wheelabrator Facility located in Peekskill NY. At a price tag of close to $80 a ton to just drop the stuff onto the tipping floor, Westchester is looking at a whopping $200,000 per day cost just to burn our garbage into our air. (long pause to let this sink in)
In a school, 95-98 % of the waste can be recycled, if it is just sorted out. The same applies to Westchester’s garbage of 48% organic, 33 % paper and 16% Commingled recycling.
We have fabulous technology like an I-phone, but we cannot sort our garbage so that 95% can get recycled instead of getting burnt into our air?
Well, New Rochelle Barnard Students have just joined the growing group of schools that say “Yes, we can make a difference, a huge difference” And that is exactly what they did.
From 84 lbs of waste, only one single pound was trash, all the rest was sorted in the right bin and fed into compost, recycling or down the drain as liquid waste.
I call that making a huge difference!
This short documentary features the journey of a school from 22 bags weighing 400 lbs , to fully sorting its waste, reducing overall garbage by a whopping 98% while diverting valuable resources into recycling and composting, and sending 55 lbs of untouched food to the soup kitchen, that would have gone into the garbage otherwise.
Oscar-worthy performances by all grades at New Rochelle Columbus Elementary Students.
New Rochelle ‘s Daniel Webster Elementary School under the leadership of Melissa Passarelli and Greg Middleton has just moved back into their building.
In August of 2015 roof problems necessitated for the whole school to be moved to another building. A mammoth undertaking. Moving back into the original building offered the opportunity to do a refresher student training and recycling program set up, so that students and staff can again be the leader among New Rochelle’s schools when it comes to sustainability.
We Future Cycle staff members went from classroom to classroom and did grade level education with the students. Students learned where “away” is when one talks about throwing something away, and even kindergarten students understood very quickly, that “away” is not a nice place.
Learning to identify materials and realizing that one just needs to put them in the right bin for them to be recycled was easily understood. Webster students all pledged to make a difference and they put that pledge to the test at the newly rolled out lunchroom recycling station. Three 5th grade students helped us to do a waste audit afterwards, and we had a wonderful helper at the station teaching her fellow students, especially the little ones. Thank you, Webster Students.
From 163 lbs of sorted out waste only 4.5 lbs were actually trash.
That is a 97% reduction. Truly wonderful.
While this reduction is fabulous, a 4.5 lbs bag of trash containing exclusively single serve soft plastic wrappers or drink pouches is quite voluminous. Single serve packaging goes hand in hand with highly processed foods, not a good basis for a healthy diet to support good learning. Webster’s Principal Melissa Passarelli is getting ready to tackle this last piece to become a truly waste free facility.
New Rochelle Columbus Elementary School celebrated its Red Carpet Affair on Thursday evening. Students walked on a red carpet, donned in their finest to the auditorium to see themselves on the big screen.
Columbus Students were filmed as part of a documentary about how introduction of sustainability education can change a community. A film crew came in to capture the students doing a waste audit and filming the unbelievable amounts of waste generated in a school without recycling. And the film crew followed the students on their journey to learn to sort their waste in the lunchroom, all the way to the celebration to show case that Columbus reduced its garbage from 400 lbs to just 8 lbs, a 98% reduction, through diversion into recycling and composting. Students shared what they learned and how they will continue to make a difference.
Just like at the Oscar’s the “actors” were interviewed to share their thoughts. Proud students were either the interviewer or the interviewee, asking questions about what the students have learned from the on-going recycling program in their lunchroom, how their parents made differences in their households, now that the students learned about recycling. The answers were heartfelt and sincere. Clearly, Columbus students know that their actions count and each and every one can make a difference.
The lobby was filled with educational displays on how to make a waste free lunch and the PTA was offering reusable sandwich boxes, waterbottles, and shopping bags for sale.
Principal Sonia Nunez welcomed everybody warmly to the auditorium, thanked especially the green students who are unwavering in their support of the lunchroom station and explained to the parents how this documentary came about. And then lights were dimmed and the show began.
Mamaroneck’s Hommocks Middle School is the first public school in Westchester County to proudly operate a Rocket composter. Seventy-seven pounds of food waste are gobbled up daily and through the We Future Cycle sorting program, and Hommocks is now diverting 86% of its waste into composting or recycling streams.
Click on the image to view the fabulous news coverage by LMCTV:
This is what 254 lbs of lunchroom waste look like, and — believe it or not—- only 3 lbs of it, was actually trash. Everything else is being fed into food waste composting and recycling. 72 lbs went as left over liquid down the drain, and the students sorted 15.5 lbs of untouched food out to donate to the local soup kitchen.
That is a whopping 98.8% reduction. Seriously …. way to go.
Jefferson Elementary School under the leadership of Kim Nieves and LeAnn Bruno has always been on New Rochelle’s forefront to bring sustainability to their students.
Already in 2011, when the We Future Cycle Recycling program was in its infancy and New Rochelle was still serving its students on Styrofoam trays, Ms Nieves and Ms Bruno knew that making the students partners and teaching them to care and sort is a life long skill.
Fortunately, after a 5 year battle, Styrofoam is permanently off the menu in New Rochelle and We Future Cycle gives full credit for this to Jeff White, Assistant Superintendent of Business. Mr White, being new to the district, saw immediately the incredible social, educational and environmental value that the program offers to the children and understood that serving our young ones on a material that contains Styrene, a chemical that has recently been classified as “reasonably anticipated human carcinogen” was inappropriate, no matter how much less expensive it might be.
Jefferson adjusted its program to follow We Future Cycle’s guidelines, so all New Rochelle schools are set up exactly the same. We Future Cycle is enjoying working with Jefferson’s enthusiastic recyclers. There is nothing as rewarding as having a kindergarten student hug your leg and say thank you for teaching her to recycle.
7 year old JaneMarie, a second grader in Blind Brook NY just found some plastic flying around her front yard. Running outside in her slippers, catching the plastic, she saw yet another plastic bag hanging in the tree, way outside her reach. It made her very sad. She had learned in her school, that adopted the We Future Cycle recycling program about how important it is to keep our environment clean and she is ready to do her part.
Americans are using over 100 billion single use plastic bags per year and someone calculated that once down to 857 per minute in Westchester County. A tremendous number with a very sad number of a less then 1% recycled.
The environmental foot print of plastic bags is enormous. They clog up rivers and sewers, they photo degrade into smaller plastic pieces and are mistaken for food by animals. A great variety of animals, land and especially marine, can choke to death on bags, experiencing much pain and distress. If swallowed whole, animals may not be able to digest real food and die a slow death from starvation or infection.
The amount of floating plastics in the world’s oceans is increasing dramatically. The Pacific Trash Vortex is a ‘gyre’ or vortex of marine litter in the North Pacific Ocean. The vortex is characterised by exceptionally high concentrations of suspended plastics, such as plastic bags, bottles, containers and other debris, that have been trapped by currents. It is now estimated to be twice the size of Texas. Its impact on marine ecosystems is catastrophic due to its toxic nature and threat to marine life.
The convenience of people to use single use plastic bags puts a staggering economic burden on society.
Communities spent millions on litter mitigation and flood mitigation, the environmental foot print is huge from the manufacturing to the disposal, all because of short term convenience.
Westchester County is working on legislation to deal with this problem. Some communities have taken the solution already into their hands. Hastings, Mamaroneck, Rye are leaders that education and legislative support can teach community that convenience may not always be for the greater good.
We Future Cycle 