Fact Sheet: Schools and Waste
Remember that some areas of your school may be off-limits without permission from your teacher or principal, and some projects should be done with at least one partner. Check with your teacher before beginning any of the activities or projects listed here.
Why It Matters
The cafeteria produces a lot of waste, in the form of metal, plastic, paper and even food. If it's not reused or recycled, this waste fills up our landfills and leads to pollution.
If your school is like most, kids, teachers, and staff create lots of waste every day. Much of it gets thrown away and ends up in landfills, where it takes up valuable space. Many communities are running out of places to put their garbage, so using landfills wisely is important.
But crowded landfills are just part of the problem. Think about what happens when you throw something away: Usually, a new product will be created to take its place. Do you ever throw soda cans in the trash? When you do, manufacturers have to make more cans from scratch. That means they have to dig up more aluminum, which pollutes the water and the air. And to make cans out of this new aluminum, they use more energy than they'd need if they used recycled aluminum, and that creates even more pollution.
Classrooms often generate a lot of waste, especially in the form of paper. (See our fact sheet on
Saving Paper in Schools.) Cafeterias produce a lot of waste, too. In many schools, cafeterias use disposable products like plastic silverware. They serve milk in single-use cartons, or sell soda or juice in bottles and cans. And most lunchrooms throw out huge amounts of uneaten food each day.
What Kids Can Do
The cafeteria is a great place for reducing waste, because it produces so much of it -- and so many different kinds. Here are some steps you can take to reduce the amount of waste your cafeteria produces.
- Pack your lunch in reusable items: If you bring your lunch to school in a paper bag, switch to a lunchbox or another reusable container. Whenever possible, carry your food in reusable packing, such as plastic containers that can be washed and used again.
- Sort and recycle cafeteria trash: Your cafeteria should have recycling bins. Use them! Take a minute to separate your trash according to your school's rules. (These will depend on the rules in your community.) Materials that are often recycled include paper, cardboard, milk cartons, aluminum cans and plastic and glass bottles. If it's clean, aluminum foil can be recycled, too. (If your cafeteria doesn't recycle, talk to your principal about starting a recycling program at your school.)
- Compost: Instead of throwing out food waste, compost it. Compost -- a crumbly material that looks like soil -- forms naturally when organic materials (things that were once alive) break down. Compost can be applied to soil to make it healthier without using chemicals. Your school can use the compost, or you can take it home. Be sure to learn the rules about what to include and how to store it -- otherwise you could have problems with odors, or with bugs and rodents. (See the project below.)
What Your School Can Do
Kids are great recyclers. In fact, it was the energy and commitment of kids that helped make recycling common in this country. Kids have the will, but schools need to provide the way. Every school should have a recycling policy. And there should be recycling containers in your cafeteria and throughout your school, so it's easy to do the right thing and separate your trash. If your school doesn't provide them (or enough of them), speak up.
Project Ideas
- Learn the rules on recycling: What materials are recycled in your community? How should they be sorted? To find out, check with your local sanitation department. Or visit Earth's 911, where you can enter your zip code to receive information on local recycling efforts. Then find out how your school participates in community recycling. A custodian is a good person to ask.
- Compost committee: Form a group -- maybe an entire class -- to be in charge of composting. Composting is easy, since nature does most of the work. But you need to follow some important rules to prevent odors and keep bugs and rodents away. You can get advice from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's compost fact sheet and Florida's Online composting tutorial. There are also a lot of books on composting.