Recycling Resources for Schools



1.) Kick off Your School's Recycling Program with our "Go Green" pledge! It is a great way to have each student and staff member directly involved in your school's waste reduction program. Explore the Unicycler site for more information and other resources.



2.) Go Green Initiative for Schools: Get your school involved in environmental awareness and protection on an international level. See gogreeninitiative.org for more information.



3.) Free Recycling Containers! North Bay Corporation provides free recycling crates for classrooms but there is also another resource with a different type of container. They are designed for offices, restaurants, and gyms but can definitely apply to schools. And they are totally free! Try placing in administrative offices, in the cafeteria, or use for special school events. Visit www.bottlesandcans.com for more information. Limit one per order but you can order multiple times.



4.) Environmental Awareness and Stewardship Curriculum:
The Office of Integrated Environmental Education: www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Schools/Curriculum

  • Closing the Loop (K-6 grade) and Municipal Solid Waste (7-12): These action-oriented curricula will help you incorporate waste prevention, recycling, and composting into the classroom in an engaging way.


  • The Adventures of Vermi the Worm: This animated, interactive web site is a great way to energize your lesson plan! Your students will have fun while learning the basics of vermicomposting and its benefits as well as the three R's of waste management-Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Vermi.


  • The Worm Guide: Make a worm bin for your class and watch worms transform waste into nutrient-rich compost! Feed the worms' school cafeteria waste and use the castings as soil amendment in your school garden.


  • Earth Resources (6-12 grade): Through hands on laboratory investigations students will explore scientific concepts as they learn to identify the environmental impacts of using the natural resource of oil.


The Environmental Protection Agency has an extensive library of publication and educational activities centered on Recycling, Reducing, Reusing and environmental awareness. Below is just a summary of some of the resources available. For more information: www.epa.gov/teachers/order-publications.htm.

  • Planet Protector's Club: An interactive Web site that takes you and your students on a learning adventure with challenging activity books, educational games, and fun stories. A free, hard copy Planet Protectors Club kit is also available. This kit provides guides for elementary school students, as well as for parents, teachers, and after school leaders.


  • The Quest for Less-Activities and Resources for Teaching K-8: Provides hands-on lessons and activities, enrichment ideas, journal writing assignments and other educational tools and skills relating to reusing, reducing, and recycling waste. In sequence, the Quest for Less introduces the concept of natural resources as a source for many products that become solid waste; explains the life cycle of products and the quantity and type of waste they produce; and reviews the common methods of managing waste, including composting, landfilling, incinerating, and preventing waste in the first place.


  • Make a Difference Campaign (Middle School Kit): Aimed at educating and engaging young people in resource conservation and environmental protection. It encourages youth to make informed decisions in their day-to-day lives to help protect the environment. As part of the campaign, EPA has developed a resource kit entitled Your Life, Your World, Your Choices, which inspires youth to reduce, reuse, and recycle to "make a difference" at home, at school, and in their communities.


  • Recycling Study Guide: This study guide is intended to help teachers and students understand what solid waste is, where it comes from, why it's a problem and what can be done about it. The guide includes an overview of solid waste and recycling, a glossary, suggested activities and a list of resource publications, audiovisual materials and organizations. Activities in this guide have been designed for use in grades 4 through 12.


  • Your Life, Your World, Your Choices Campaign (High School Kit): Aimed at educating and engaging young people in resource conservation and environmental protection. It encourages teens to make informed decisions in their day-to-day lives to help protect the environment.


5.) Fundraising Opportunities:

  • Motorola offers schools incentives to recycle old cell phones: Motorola, Inc. (Schaumburg, Illinois) recently announced it has renewed its "Race to Recycle" program, offering schools incentives to recycle old mobile phones. The program is available for accredited K-12 schools, with each school eligible to earn a maximum of $21,000 a year. To register a school, or for more details on the program: go to www.motorola.com/racetorecycle.


  • Rapid Refill Ink provides cash for each ink jet & laser toner cartridge recycled with their Collection Bin Program. The recycling program is a low effort, no cost fundraiser that helps the environment and earns money for your organization. For more information, contact your local Rapid Refill Ink Store on 1415 North Dutton Avenue, Suite B, Santa Rosa, 95401 at (707)571-1965 or visit www.rapidrefillink.com.


  • Office Depot provides Free Paper for Toner Cartridge Recycling: Office Depot also will provide customers with a $3.00 credit coupon in exchange for each empty ink and toner cartridge brought into the store for recycling. More information is available at any store location.


6.) Grant Information:



  • Computers for Learning encourages and promotes the re-use of computers by transferring excess computers from agencies directly to schools and educational non-profit organizations. This extends the useful life of the computer, helps a needy school, and contributes to a cleaner & greener environment. For more information: http://computersforlearning.gov/.


  • The California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) offers the Tire-Derived Product (TDP) Grant Program to promote markets for recycled-content products derived from waste tires generated in California and decrease the adverse environmental impacts created by unlawful disposal and stockpiling of waste tires. Schools are eligible to apply for this type of grant, which in the past, has provided new playgrounds, tracks, sidewalks, and sport surfacing to California Public Schools. For more information: www.ciwmb.ca.gov.


  • The Environmental Protection Agency awards grants each year for environmental education programs and efforts. For more information: www.epa.gov/teachers/grants.htm.




7.) Free & Discounted Materials for Schools:



  • Marin Computer Resource Center provides refurbished computers to teachers, schools, community programs, and non profits. For more information: www.mcrc.org.


  • The Global Book Exchange is a great resource for schools looking for books as well as looking to find homes for old and outdated books. For more info: www.bookexchange.marin.org.


  • Free used materials for schools: In response to the current economic challenges of the California School System, CalMAX created KidMAX to promote reuse opportunities within California schools. KidMAX offers schools and other non-profit organizations FREE and/or bargain-priced materials and free advertisements (for wanted or available materials) through the CalMAX Classified's. Teachers can obtain a variety of useful materials donated from all over California. To view the CalMAX Classified's or to place your listing, visit: www.ciwmb.ca.gov/calmax.


  • Computer for Schools offers certified refurbished computers to schools and non-profits at about 1/3 of the cost of new. Computers for Schools is a non-profit dedicated to providing a low cost alternative for achieving technology in the classroom. For more information: www.pcsforschools.org.




8.) Turn Junk into Art! Most students love to make art and art education is definitely an important part of our education system. Why not learn how to make art out of junk, have fun, and save a few bucks!?



  • Garbage Reincarnation promotes its "Annual Junk Art Sculpture Contest" every year at the end of June. This is a fun event for kids under 16 to participate in and could be a school project before summer. Visit www.garbage.org/events.htm for more information.


  • The Imagination Factory's Trash Matcher lists common waste materials and creative ways to make use of them. Visit www.kid-at-art.com for more information.


  • The Activity Village is a UK Web Site with many ideas, including making crafty items out of trash. Visits www.activityvillage.co.uk for more information.