Tag Archives: recycling

The Recycle Right Program Helps Take the Confusion Out of Recycling

Recycling rules evolve all the time.  Municipalities change which plastic and paper materials they accept, and some have moved from source separating to single-stream recycling.  While most people have good intentions, there is a lot of confusion about what materials are recyclable and which are not, as well as the appropriate method to discard each type of recyclable.

The Recycle Right program helps clear up this confusion. Simply having clear labels on recycling bins can help increase recycling by 50%.  Watch the video here:  http://www.takepart.com/video/2014/06/02/awesome-campaign-takes-confusion-out-recycling?cmpid=tpdaily-eml-2014-06-03

Hastings-on-Hudson Board of Trustees Unanimously Approves Plastic Bag and Polystyrene Ban

Hastings-on-Hudson joined other municipalities in Westchester County and around the country to band single-use plastic bags and polystyrene.  As well, starting on June 18, the Hastings Department of Public Works will no longer pick up grass cuttings, and suggests that residents process the cuttings using “grassrecycling” or composting.

Click here to view a pamphlet by Westchester County on what to do with Grass Cuttings:

Congratulations to the Hastings community on these smart decisions to make their environment healthier!

GETTING RESULTS: New Rochelle BOE Provides Recycling Cans at Board meeting

Having an Exit Plan is vital to any organization, and at last nights BOE meeting, after agitating the issue for a long time, FINALLY an exit plan for the offered plastic bottles was offered. Prominently featured, right next to the table, right next to the small garbage can was a blue, large recycling bin.

And ….oh wonder, oh wonder…. when the logistics are offered and visible, the bin was used and there was not a single plastic bottle in the garbage.

I credit Dr Korostoff’s policy of open door and giving me the support in my work. I also credit the custodian Derrick Burford for embracing the concept. He has shown me how he collects bottles out of the trash throughout the BOE Central Offices and places them in one central recycling can. He was very receptive to my explanation that plastic cups also belong into the category, not just bottles, and he immediately began also placing other rigid plastics into recycling.

As Neil Armstrong so famously said: ” That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. I think the same can apply here.

Way to go.

New Rochelle Trinity Students Honored at Green Writing Contest Celebration

 

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe auditorium at New Rochelle’s Trinity Elementary school was filled with 3rd, 4th and 5th graders today and they were so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.  At 9:30 am Assistant Principal Inas Morsi Hogans and Principal  DiCarlo welcomed Ms Jean Chin and Ms Irene Schindler to their school for the first Green Writing Contest Celebration in Honor of Nina Chin.

Nina Chin was a teacher in whose honor the family is giving a grant to one school per year to host a Green Writing Contest. Anna Giordano was honored to be chosen as administrator for this grant.

Ms Jean Chin shared with the students the story of her mother and how Nina Chin has tried to always make a difference and had offered writing contest prizes from her own money for decades to encourage her students to be high achievers.  OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Trinity school has shown exemplary efforts to reduce its footprint with consistent recycling in the lunchroom and was chosen as awarded school.

26 students rose to the challenge of writing an essay or poem to the topic ” I can make a difference”. The entries were judged by three independent judges and they shared with me afterwards that there was a wealth of lovely entries and it was a really hard choice as to who would snag the coveted cash prizes.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

7 students were awarded a  cash prize and every participant got a certificate and a hug from Ms Schindler, who is a published author, a  national prize winner for many writing contests, with over 70 (!) years of teaching experience.  She spoke to the children about winning a Chevrolet Bel Air at some point, and audible gasps of surprise came from the adults in the room.

Ms Morsi Hogans read excerpts from a few essays and it was very powerful to hear their words and their commitment on how each and every single one wants to make a difference.  All parents were clutching a tissue, it was very moving.

A lovely and inspiring celebration.

 

Yonkers considering Styrofoam ban and School Lunch Recycling Program

Last night We Future Cycle had the opportunity to present the school lunch recycling program to the City Council of Yonkers.

 http://view.earthchannel.com/PlayerController.aspx?&PGD=ynkny&eID=206

Yonkers is the fourth most populous city in New York State with 24,000 students in 39 schools. All schools are using exclusively EPS (Styrofoam) disposable trays.  Which means every school is producing depending on size between 15 – 30 bags of garbage per lunch.

Every. School.  Every. Single. Day.

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Councilman Michael Sabatino is trying to change that. He has proposed to eliminate all single use food Styrofoam items over the next two years.  A wonderful proposal.

The School Lunch Recycling Program offered by We Future Cycle changes the way schools organize lunch. Instead of teaching the kids to “just throw it out”, students are taught to empty extra liquids into a bucket and sort their drink container, then students empty their left over food into the compost bucket and stack their tray. Simple. Continue reading Yonkers considering Styrofoam ban and School Lunch Recycling Program

New Paltz Students making a HUGE difference with Move Out Recycling Program

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 This face book page  ( ttps://www.facebook.com/newpaltzrecycles)  was just shared with me. It contains the most amazing and heart warming stories of how students can truly make a huge difference. They have organized “Move Out Programs”  to reclaim all the things that accumulate in a dorm room over a year but may not need to be dragged home to mom and dad’s.  
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 They organized “Recycling Carnevals” and “Bike Swaps” Just incredible, check them out.

 

How to teach kids about Sustainability

Education is the key.

We only protect what we love,

We only love what we know,

We only know what we learn about.

Photo Courtesy by Shutterstock
Photo Courtesy by Shutterstock

So you want to be a good role model and teach kids—whether your own, nieces and nephews or a classroom—how to respect nature, be mindful of the waste they create and more. In short, to teach them about sustainability. And have fun doing it. Where do you start?

http://ecowatch.com/2014/04/10/teach-kids-about-sustainability/

How to Recycle (Almost) Everything

Pleasantville recycles

 

Pleasantville Recycles is an organization formed by a group of Pleasantville, NY residents to: “increase the use of Pleasantville’s current programs through better community education, enhance our current program, and identify and develop new programs and systems to reduce, re-use and recycle.

They have created a fabulous resource “A-Z Recycling Guide” that helps you figure out how to recycle those items you can never figure out quite what to do with, from packaging peanuts to useless phonebooks and from medications to batteries.  Check out the list at:

http://pleasantvillerecycles.org/recycle.html

New Rochelle Elementary School Reduces Garbage to 2 Handful Through Recycling

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The Daniel Webster Elementary School in New Rochelle rolled out the School Lunch Recycling Program.  This school has 600+ kids and generated around 13 bags of loosely mixed garbage.

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Principal Melissa Passarelli and Assistant Principal Greg Middleton are big supporters of environmental change and have volunteered to be one of the New Rochelle pilot schools to help pave the way for a general roll out in September to all remaining schools.

The program is simple. Teach children to sort their lunchroom waste into different recyclable categories.

The center aisle is now  sporting a station lining up first a bucket to dispose all left over liquids, a bin for milk cartons, a bin for Commingled Recycling, a Compost bucket and a place to stack trays.

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The students learned in class about this program and were eager to put their knowledge to the test. A lunchroom monitor helped the kids along during the learning phase and soon she will be able to take a back seat and enjoy the show of children sorting for the environment. As the kids become more and more on auto pilot when it comes to sorting, we will introduce more education around the environment.

The key to the program is adult supervision, and Dr Korostoff, Superintendent of schools authorized the additional hourly help to make this change happen.

Continue reading New Rochelle Elementary School Reduces Garbage to 2 Handful Through Recycling

New Rochelle’s Trinity School Awarded Westchester County Proclamation

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On April 29th, 2014 New Rochelle’s Trinity School was publicly awarded a Westchester County Proclamation, signed by Legislator James Maisano, Legislator Sheila Marcotte, and Legislator Catherine Parker. This is a wonderful recognition of the schools never faltering efforts to bring sustainability to the district through consistent teaching and doing.

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This award is long in the making. In September of 2011, Anna Giordano brought the school lunch recycling program to the administration and the PTA, then under the leadership of Ines Bolufer-Laurentie, tirelessly implemented it. The PTA spent countless lunches teaching the children and thus creating a culture of environmental awakening.

The School Lunch Recycling Program is very simple, instead of teaching the children to “just throw out your garbage” after lunch, they are taught to separate their lunchroom waste into different recyclable categories. This process reduces and condenses the amount tremendously. Once all the recyclable packaging, compostable food left overs and left over liquids are sorted out, there is actually very little, that does not fall into these categories.

Trinity was not the only school to implement the program in September of 2011, but it was the only one, where the school administration persevered despite of the total lack of support from Central Administration, foremost the Director of Facilities.

Fortunately, Central Administration under the leadership of Dr. Jeffrey Korostoff is now fully supporting the program and New Rochelle is looking to have all of its schools fully converted to source separation and compostable trays by September of 2014. This could not have been accomplished if it had not been for the unwavering determination  of the Trinity Administration Anthony DiCarlo and Inas MorsiHogans.

I applaud them both. This proclamation is well deserved.

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